Yeonsu seafood lunch with grilled prawns: Veteran General Fish Market

I heard there was a restaurant that goes to the coastal pier every dawn to choose seasonal live fish itself, then prepares and ages the fish that day before serving fresh sashimi, so I had to go and see it for myself.

Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch

This is a seafood restaurant in Yeonsu Gwangjang Plaza where you can enjoy live-fish sashimi, seafood, sushi, mulhoe (cold raw-fish soup), and a wide range of meal dishes.

A seafood restaurant on the third floor of Yeonsu Gwangjang Plaza, with parking

Three hours of free parking are available in the building basement. The restaurant is on the third floor. Take the elevator up to the third floor and you will see it immediately on the right, so it is easy to find. Once inside, it was larger than I had expected. The overall atmosphere was clean and pleasant, making it comfortable for a meal. The tables were spaced well apart and there were partitions too, so it also looked like a great choice for family meals and all kinds of gatherings.

Ordering the lunch special sashimi set and salt-grilled raw prawns

Looking over the menu, the autumn-season gizzard shad and prawn dishes were the first things that caught my eye.

There was a broad selection of live-fish sashimi, including flounder, rockfish, red seabream, salmon, and mullet, along with sushi and set menus.

Beyond sashimi, there were plenty of meal dishes too, including seodeori-tang (spicy fish-bone soup), albap (fish roe rice), and hoe-deopbap (sashimi rice bowl). We ordered salt-grilled raw prawns for ₩30,000 and the lunch special sashimi set (Mi) for ₩13,900 × 2.

The vegetable self-service bar and DIY kimchi pancakes

While we waited for our food, I looked around the restaurant.

There was a separate vegetable self-service bar on one side, so you can help yourself to any side dishes you need without feeling self-conscious. There was a generous, neatly arranged selection of things that go well with sashimi, including wrap vegetables, salad, peppers, garlic, kimchi, ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), and corn salad. Even more surprisingly, everything was set up so you could make your own kimchi pancakes. I could not possibly pass that by, so I made one right away. The batter was just the right consistency and loaded with kimchi—it looked delicious even before cooking.

Fresh off the griddle and still warm, it was crispy, savory, and so good.

Coffee and ice cream were available for dessert as well. When you write a Naver review, they provide dried persimmon, abalone, or fried shrimp. It felt as though they were giving every last thing they possibly could without holding back.

A lunch special spread from sashimi to fish roe rice

By the time I returned from making the pancake, this huge spread had already been laid out. Lunch special sashimi set (Mi) (assorted sashimi + sushi + fried items + spicy fish soup + fish roe rice + basic side dishes) Since we were at a sashimi restaurant, the sashimi was what drew my eye first. It was mullet and rockfish. They had a springy, firm texture, and a subtle sweetness emerged the more I chewed, with the freshness of the sashimi coming through just as it was. Hearing that they personally select live fish at the coastal pier every dawn and serve it after preparation and aging made it completely understandable why the sashimi tasted so fresh. The salad generously topped with salmon roe was a real standout.

The popping salmon roe and crisp vegetables made each bite even fuller. Wrapped together with the fresh sashimi, the nutty and refreshing flavors came together for something a little different.

Sushi topped with fresh sashimi and fried items

Next, I reached for the sushi. Perhaps because the fish was so fresh, it was clean and mild with no fishy taste. The thick slices still had that springy texture, and the freshness really stood out even as sushi.

The warm, rich seaweed soup I had between bites was also a treat. Freshly fried items were served too. They were fried crisp and came in a variety of kinds, adding the fun of choosing what to try.

Springy grilled king prawns and spicy seodeori-tang

Autumn is king prawn season, so this was a dish I simply could not skip.

The live king prawns were actively wriggling around and looked incredibly fresh and plump. Once grilled to a delicious finish, the flesh was springy and full, and they tasted wonderful.

Even the tastiest grilled king prawns can start to feel rich if you eat a lot, but luckily the seodeori-tang arrived at just the right time.

It had a pleasantly spicy kick without being muddy or overly salty, clearing the palate nicely.

Finishing with savory, crusted fish roe rice

Finally, the fish roe rice arrived. A nice layer of rice had crisped onto the bottom, and as I mixed it, the savory aroma wafted up.

The warm rice was generously filled with flying-fish roe, giving a lovely popping texture with every spoonful. It tasted so good that, even though I was full, I could not put my spoon down. I finished cleanly and perfectly with ice cream and coffee as a final palate cleanser.

As I enjoyed every dish, I ended up clearing every bowl completely. Everything felt carefully prepared throughout the meal. With seasonal seafood and such a generous variety of dishes, it was an immensely satisfying meal with nothing lacking right through to the end. I think this will be the first place that comes to mind whenever I want fresh sashimi. It is on the third floor of Yeonsu Gwangjang Plaza, 106 Beotkkot-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea, 109 m from Exit 4 of Yeonsu Station. Hours are daily from 11:00 to 23:00, with last orders at 21:00.