Grilled salt-crusted shrimp near Yeoksam Station: Sokcho Ojingeo

Craving autumn shrimp near Yeoksam Station? Sokcho Ojingeo Eosijang

There's one dish that always comes to mind once fall rolls around — jumbo shrimp. I usually stop by sashimi restaurants for raw fish, but this time of year, seasonal shrimp is a must, right? So this time I visited Sokcho Ojingeo Eosijang Yeoksam Branch (속초오징어어시장 역삼점) in Yeoksam.

Location, hours, and parking

• Location: 337 Nonhyeon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea, about a 10-minute walk from Yeoksam Station
• Hours: Daily 11:00–4:00, closing at 23:30 on Mondays only
• Parking: Available in the building's basement parking lot ⭕

Menu and prices

The storefront really stands out. I could see menu items like flounder sashimi, gizzard shad sashimi, and salt-grilled jumbo shrimp listed right out front. The entrance opens up with big floor-to-ceiling windows, so even sitting at an inner table felt a bit like eating at an outdoor pojangmacha (street tent bar).

There's a mixed sashimi platter with flounder, rockfish, flatfish, red snapper, and sea bass, plus squid, other seafood, mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), grilled dishes, and rice meals — quite a range of options. They also have separate seasonal menu items, so there'd be something new to try depending on when you visit. But our purpose that day was clear: the salt-grilled jumbo shrimp for ₩45,000!

While we waited for our order, I noticed the whole place felt clean and well-kept. Since it's a seafood spot, that's something I personally pay a lot of attention to, and the tables and interior being tidy made for a comfortable meal. If you're looking for a Yeoksam sashimi restaurant to grab a casual drink at after work, the vibe here is pretty good too.

Turn off the heat the moment they turn red — timing is everything with shrimp!

With salt-grilled jumbo shrimp, my personal rule is: don't overcook them! They came out so fresh they practically pushed the lid up haha. We started with the lid on to cook them through, then turned the heat off the moment the shrimp turned fully red, like in the photo. If you keep applying heat too long, the shrimp meat gets tough and dry, so once the color's fully come up, it's best to let the residual heat finish the job.

I counted, and there were 19 shrimp total that day. Pulling off the heads and peeling the shells one by one, the meat was already noticeably plump and springy. Maybe because they weren't overcooked, the texture was bouncy and honestly amazing 🤧

I cut all the heads off with scissors, saving them to grill separately later, and cleanly peeled the bodies to eat. What I loved most was how fresh the shrimp were that day. The meat wasn't mushy at all — it had bounce, and as long as you didn't overcook it, it stayed juicy, so I kept reaching for more. The portion was bigger than expected too.

Chojang (vinegared red pepper sauce) is the classic pairing, right? It's tasty dipped in that, but honestly it was so savory and delicious even plain 😭 Shrimp season is truly back.

Don't throw away the heads — eat them down to the last bite!

You know these make an incredible beer snack, right? At Sokcho Ojingeo Eosijang Yeoksam Branch, you can also add butter-grilled shrimp heads for ₩5,000. If you like the smell of butter, it might be worth ordering separately. We didn't add the butter-grilled option this time and just tried the heads plain!

We put them back on the pan and reheated them a bit over low heat. Since they'd already cooked once on the salt, reheating them slightly over low heat made the heads a little crispy and brought out a much deeper savory flavor. The saltiness had naturally soaked in already, so they were plenty tasty even without any added butter!! Paired with a beer, that salty, savory combo worked really well.

If you love that distinct savory butter aroma, add ₩5,000 for the butter-grilled heads — but if you'd rather keep it lighter, reheating the leftover heads on low heat in the pan, like we did, works just as well.

A Yeoksam sashimi restaurant with plenty of choices, from raw fish to seasonal seafood

We only had shrimp this time, but looking at the menu, I could see coming back for sashimi next. From basic sashimi like flounder and rockfish to seasonal mixed platters, squid, mulhoe, other seafood, grilled dishes, and stews — there was a solid range of options all in one place. The seasonal menu was displayed prominently too, making it easy to pick whatever seafood you're craving at the time.

If you're looking for a spot to properly enjoy jumbo shrimp in season, check out this Gangnam sashimi restaurant, Sokcho Ojingeo Eosijang Yeoksam Branch, near Yeoksam Station.