Sokcho market takeout dinner: garlic dakgangjeong and a sashimi box

Two Sokcho Jungang Market stalls we ordered takeout from

Today I'm introducing some Sokcho Jungang Market restaurants. Let me share what we ate — and loved — during this Sokcho trip, plus the shops themselves.

Where is Seomin Gapbu Sijang Dakjip in Sokcho Jungang Market?

Seomin Gapbu Ttokine Twigim & Sijang Dakjip (서민갑부 시장닭집) is located inside Sokcho Jungang Market. Sijang Dakjip is open Mon–Thu 10am–9pm and Fri–Sun 10am–10pm, while Ttokine is open weekdays 9:30am–9pm and weekends 9:30am–10pm. For parking, use the Sokcho Jungang Market public parking lot.

Walk into the market and browse the food stalls, and you'll spot the one with rows of fried snacks on display — that's Ttokine Twigim. Turns out Seomin Gapbu Ttokine Twigim & Sijang Dakjip actually run as two shops in one spot! It's not just a few types of fried snacks — they also sell sundae (Korean blood sausage), squid sundae, jeon (savory pancakes), fried items, and fried chicken all together, so there was plenty to pick and choose from.

When we visited there was, as expected, a wait — about 20 minutes, I think. They take your order first while you wait.

Fried chicken is a must-have at Sokcho Jungang Market, so we decided to pack some again haha. Just looking at it, it looked so good...🥹

In front of the store, there's a really wide variety of fried items too. Fried shrimp, all kinds of fried vegetables, fried squid, fried peppers, gimmari (seaweed noodle rolls) and more! If you like fried food, it's not easy to just walk past haha.

Seomin Gapbu Sijang Dakjip menu and what we ordered

Looking at the menu board in the photo, there were way more options than I expected. Sundae sets / sundae à la carte / fried sets / fried à la carte / jeon sets / jeon à la carte / market fried chicken & shrimp fried chicken and so on — you can pick exactly what you want. The fried chicken alone comes in several styles beyond the basic seasoning: boneless fried chicken, boneless plain fried, garlic fried chicken, deodeok (mountain herb root) fried chicken, half fried-chicken half plain, half fried-chicken half shrimp, and more.

Here's what we ordered.

• Nurungji squid sundae ₩15,000
• Garlic fried chicken ₩24,000

For reference, you can choose up to two flavors for the fried chicken, so after some deliberation we went with honey-sweet + spicy!! They make it fresh right in front of you the moment you order, so it takes a bit of time — but that just means it'll taste even better ><

Garlic dakgangjeong 24,000 won: how was the honey-sweet and spicy split?

Seomin Gapbu Sijang Dakjip's garlic fried chicken (₩24,000) came packed half honey-sweet, half spicy. By the way, Seomin Gapbu Ttokine Twigim ships nationwide!!!

When we opened the box, the fried chicken was piled generously with nuts and sesame seeds haha. And since it's genuinely garlic fried chicken, the garlic aroma was insane.

Peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds and other nuts were mixed in, which made it look even more appetizing :) I thought sticking to one flavor might feel a bit lacking, but being able to choose two flavors half-and-half made it great for picking whatever suited our taste 👍🏻 The chicken itself was also cut into bite-sized pieces, easy to pick up one by one with chopsticks!

First, the honey-sweet flavor was, true to its name, sweet — the signature sticky-sweet fried chicken sauce came together nicely, not spicy at all and easy to eat without any burden! Eating it together with the nuts on top added a nutty flavor too, making for a great sweet-and-nutty combo. Anyone who likes sweet flavors would probably enjoy this without complaint! Kids would probably love it too.

Next was the spicy fried chicken. After the honey-sweet, the difference really stood out, which was nice :) The chicken was coated in a spicy sauce, and switching back and forth between sweet and spicy instead of eating only sweet the whole time made it feel much less monotonous. If you're two people who want different flavors like us, I'd recommend choosing two flavors!

And there's genuinely a lot of garlic in it. I usually like garlic anyway, so I really enjoyed it. If you love garlic, I highly recommend the garlic fried chicken.

How is nurungji squid sundae different from regular squid sundae?

Ttokine's nurungji squid sundae (₩15,000) — the outside is grilled golden brown, adding the distinct nuttiness of nurungji (crispy scorched rice), which is what sets it apart from regular squid sundae. You can't come to Sokcho without eating squid sundae haha. Seomin Gapbu Ttokine Twigim has both regular squid sundae and nurungji squid sundae, so we ordered it right away.

When we opened the package, the squid sundae was grilled a nice golden brown, with some spots slightly crispy on the outside — just looking at it, the nutty smell was incredible. Both the squid's body and legs were included, so while eating we could also feel the squid's signature chewy texture.

The squid itself was chewy, and the filling inside was soft and nutty, so together they went really well and tasted great. And the slightly grilled parts had a crispy, nutty texture, giving it a distinct appeal compared to regular squid sundae.

The garlic fried chicken + nurungji squid sundae combo turned out to go together better than expected — the fried chicken is sweet and salty with nutty notes from the nuts, while the squid sundae has the squid's chewy texture and the nuttiness of grilled nurungji, so the flavors never overlapped. If you're looking for a Sokcho Jungang Market restaurant, a Sokcho squid sundae spot, or a Sokcho fried chicken spot, I recommend Sokcho's Seomin Gapbu Ttokine Twigim & Sijang Dakjip.

Sokcho Golden Mulhoe Hoetjip: sashimi you can pack to go too

Sokcho Golden Mulhoe Hoetjip is a sashimi restaurant located in the middle of Sokcho Jungang Market, open Sun–Thu 10am–9pm, Fri–Sat 10am–10pm; for parking I'd recommend the Sokcho Jungang Market parking lot.

Sokcho Jungang Market restaurant Golden Mulhoe Hoetjip sits inside the market, so it's great to stop by while browsing — and best of all, it's a place where you can pack everything from mulhoe (spicy raw fish soup) to live fish sashimi to seafood, making it a solid option if you want to eat sashimi back at your accommodation.

In front of the store there was a row of fish tanks holding all kinds of live fish and seafood, so we could check them out ourselves before packing our order. The tanks seemed really well maintained too.

The mulhoe on display out front looked so good too,, I'll definitely have to try it next time haha.

We packed our sashimi to eat back at the accommodation, but you can also dine in. The interior was bigger than expected, with several tables set up, so it looked good for families or groups too!

At Sokcho Jungang Market restaurant Sokcho Golden Mulhoe Hoetjip, a large menu board was posted out front, so we could check the menu and prices before ordering. There was quite a variety, from mulhoe dishes to meal options to sashimi-to-go and various seafood. We ordered the ₩50,000 assorted sashimi box.

What comes in the 50,000-won assorted sashimi box?

Sokcho Golden Mulhoe Hoetjip's ₩50,000 assorted sashimi box is a set with rockfish + flounder + seasonal live fish. I liked being able to try several kinds at once instead of just one type of sashimi.

There was a bigger variety of sashimi than I expected, so it looked quite generous right from the start :)

We added ssam vegetables, so lettuce and other wrap greens came included, along with the basics — garlic, peppers, pickled ginger, and danmuji (pickled radish) — all packed to eat alongside the sashimi. The sashimi was neatly divided by type, with colors ranging from white fish to reddish fish, which looked great!! And the cuts weren't sliced too thin — each piece was a good size to pick up with chopsticks haha.

Eating the Sokcho market takeout back at the accommodation

Back at the accommodation, we spread out the sashimi box and really dug in ><. After a whole day out and about in Sokcho, showering off and relaxing before having a drink with the sashimi we packed from the market — that's the real charm of traveling 🤍 Eating sashimi packed to go at your accommodation has its own kind of comfort, different from eating at the restaurant itself.

We started with the flounder — the clean, mild flavor unique to flounder came through well along with its chewy texture! It was great dipped lightly in soy sauce with wasabi, and also tasty wrapped in lettuce with garlic.

Sashimi really can't go without ssam-wraps haha. Since the sashimi itself is mild, it pairs well with fragrant sides like garlic or peppers, but it was also delicious wrapped in seaweed.

And the rockfish had a firmer, chewier texture than the flounder, which I liked — the fish in the box can vary depending on the season, but being able to try several kinds of sashimi at once was better than ordering just one item.

There were also sea squirts and two shrimp included 🦐 Popping a shrimp in between bites of sashimi made the whole spread feel even more varied. For a Sokcho Jungang Market sashimi spot or a Sokcho sashimi-to-go recommendation, I'd suggest Sokcho Golden Mulhoe Hoetjip.