Hwagok-dong sashimi spot for salt-grilled shrimp: Eochongye 1beonji

What kind of sashimi restaurant is Eochongye 1beonji near Hwagok Station?

Eochongye 1beonji is a sashimi restaurant at 123 Hwagok-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, a 6-minute walk from Hwagok Station. It's open daily from 15:00 to 01:30 the next day, and parking is free after 5:30pm.

You know how shrimp is in season right now? I just cannot resist seasonal food, I have a real problem haha... and raw shrimp especially, I really can't say no;; After finishing up for the day, I wanted a light drink with my boyfriend — light !!!! but won't-make-you-fat !!!! — so we went for seasonal sashimi and grilled raw shrimp at Eochongye 1beonji, a well-known spot near Hwagok Station. Psst... this place is legit good...

The storefront and fish tanks at Eochongye 1beonji

I'd walked past before, saw the raw shrimp festival banner, and made a mental note to come back. From grilled shrimp to fried food, ramen, and gizzard shad sashimi, they had a lot of options at reasonable prices!

Outside the restaurant there's a clean tank full of shrimp — how could you not look? They're flopping around, so alive. Sorry little guys.

Not just shrimp — all kinds of fish were kept fresh in there too, so my expectations were already sky-high before we even walked in!!!

Seating and tablet ordering at Eochongye 1beonji

The restaurant was actually pretty spacious! They had everything from 4-person tables to large group seating.

There's a big menu board right in the middle of the room. The AC was blasting too, which I appreciated.

The tables weren't packed too close together either, so it was easy to focus on chatting with my company.

Every table has a tablet — you check the menu and prices right there and order through it.

Next to each table you'll find spoons, chopsticks, napkins, and wet wipes.

Eochongye 1beonji menu and prices

The seasonal live-fish sashimi platter runs from ₩32,000 for mini to ₩62,000 for large — pretty reasonable, right? With main sashimi, seafood dishes, mul-hoe (cold raw fish soup), fried food, grilled dishes, steamed dishes, and side dishes, the menu is so huge I can't even list it all~! Basically the 'there's got to be something you like in here' technique lol. We put our heads together and deliberated for a long time...

After much deliberation, here's what we ordered!

• Salt-grilled raw shrimp 500g — ₩35,000
• Mini seasonal sashimi platter — ₩32,000
• Butter-grilled shrimp head — ₩3,000

Side dishes and heotgaesu served with the meal

Here are the basic side dishes ~ the special sauces, seaweed soup, and the salad were especially good.

And the house water was heotgae tea (Hovenia dulcis water), which sobers you up the moment you drink it — basically an invitation to keep pouring the drinks lol.

So thanks to that, we poured the somaek (soju-beer mix) worry-free ~!

Mini seasonal sashimi platter, 32,000 won for five kinds of fish

The mini seasonal sashimi platter at Eochongye 1beonji is ₩32,000 for a total of 5 kinds of fish. Going clockwise from salmon: salmon, flatfish (dodari), mullet (sungeo), red seabream (chamdom), and flounder (gwangeo).

① Salmon

Look at the quality of this salmon.... genuinely fresh, you could tell it was firm just by looking.

② Fine-spotted flounder (dodari)

The chewy, crisp texture of the flatfish was the charm here. You know flatfish is in season starting September, right? This is when it's plumpest and tastes best.

③ Mullet (sungeo)

Our best of the day was the mullet...... the thickness of the slices was so satisfying to chew, and the sweetness that came through as you chewed was just so good ㅠㅠㅠ

④ Red seabream (chamdom)

Red seabream, need I say more...... it's just always good. Mild but chewy — such an appealing texture.

⑤ Olive flounder (gwangeo)

You can always count on flounder. Honestly it's my favorite for texture — chewy and dense, just perfect.

Being able to mix and match the 5-fish seasonal platter with different sauces meant we never got bored and it felt fresh the whole time. The best combo was aged kimchi with the shiitake sauce !!!! If you're looking for a good sashimi restaurant near Hwagok Station or Sinwol-dong.... trust me, come here.

Salt-grilled raw shrimp, 500g and 12 shrimp for 35,000 won

The salt-grilled raw shrimp at Eochongye 1beonji is ₩35,000 for 500g, and when we ordered it, there were about 12 shrimp in total. These are the same live raw shrimp we saw outside earlier, served fresh right after being caught.

Is Eochongye 1beonji only good for sashimi? No way..... The shrimp were flopping around and I felt so bad ... lol ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ but I promise, I'll turn you into the tastiest shrimp in the world.

While the salt-grilled shrimp are cooking, you eat the seasonal sashimi in the meantime ~~~~~~

SEXY FOOD. The visual is seriously wild. This is the place for raw shrimp in Hwagok-dong.

We ordered 500g and got about 12 shrimp total! Plump shrimp, perfectly seasoned so even without any dipping sauce they were so savory and sweet........... ah, I want more already.

When you salt-grill raw shrimp like this, apparently the shell peels off really easily too.

They even give you cotton gloves and plastic gloves so you don't burn your hands. Eating freshly grilled shrimp — how good could it possibly be...........?

Shrimp is love......... you all need to enjoy it while it's in season. If you miss this window, you'll have to wait a whole year. If you keep chasing seasonal food, a whole year flies by just like that. Busy, busy.

Shrimp, you were truly a good shrimp. It was so good that we pinky-promised each other we'd come back regularly....

Off-menu butter-grilled shrimp heads for 3,000 won

The butter-grilled shrimp head at Eochongye 1beonji is ₩3,000, and even though it's not on the menu, they made it for us anyway. My boyfriend said it was such a waste to throw away the shrimp heads lol he really peels them well (?) so we asked if they could do a butter-grilled shrimp head, and they said yes. Yay.

The heads fried crisp in butter were also excellent. ... . . If anyone's ordering the salt-grilled shrimp, request the head too!!!! Definitely !!!!!!

Verdict: is Eochongye 1beonji good for dates and group dinners?

Eochongye 1beonji, a 6-minute walk from Hwagok Station! The restaurant is spacious and clean, so it comfortably works for everything from a date to a larger group gathering. It's hard to find restaurants with parking near Hwagok, but they actually have dedicated parking space, which made getting there really convenient!

With seasonal sashimi, fresh live fish, steamed dishes, grilled dishes, soups, and mul-hoe all on offer, you can go from dinner straight through the second and third rounds without ever leaving — a true one-stop restaurant.... Both the seasonal sashimi and the raw shrimp were super fresh, the portions were generous, and the quality was great — and being able to enjoy all of this at such reasonable prices was the best part.

Would I come back? 10 out of 10, there's no reason not to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!