Autumn flounder and mullet sashimi, Songdo: Songdo Jonghap Eosijang

With the cool autumn breeze blowing lately, I suddenly craved sashimi one evening, searched for sashimi places in Songdo, and ended up at Songdo Jonghap Eosijang (송도종합어시장).

Songdo Jonghap Eosijang hours and parking

Songdo Jonghap Eosijang is open 365 days a year from 10:30 a.m. to 12:40 a.m., and the underground parking lot gives you 2 hours free. It's a sashimi restaurant in Songdo, Incheon, and besides eating in, they also do delivery, so it's an easy place to enjoy at home too.

Their lunch special sashimi set is famous, and on weekdays at midday you'll see tons of office workers eating it. The tanks out front are full of fresh live fish, which was fun to look at: flatfish (gwangeo), rockfish (ureok), mullet, halibut, striped beakfish, red sea bream, sea bass and more. Pretty much every fish you'd see at a sashimi restaurant.

For autumn they had seasonal gizzard shad sashimi, grilled gizzard shad, and salt-grilled king prawns ready to go.

Even though it was a late weekday hour, the restaurant was full of people enjoying sashimi with a drink, and delivery orders kept pouring in, too many to count.

What's on the menu at Songdo Jonghap Eosijang?

The fish on offer includes flatfish, rockfish, mullet, salmon, halibut, striped beakfish, red sea bream and sea bass. You can pick just one as a single order, or choose two or three for a set. One kind of sashimi can feel a bit limiting, so it was nice to be able to try several.

Halibut and striped beakfish can also be had as sechimi (sekkosi, thin-sliced with the bones), which is good news for anyone who loves chewy bone-in sashimi.

There are many kinds of mulhoe (cold raw fish soup): live fish, abalone, mixed, squid and more. I'd recommend it if you want a cool, refreshing broth to get your appetite going, or as a hangover-style soother partway through drinking. There was also other seafood like abalone, sea cucumber, live octopus, spiny sea squirt (gaebul), sea pineapple (meongge), seasoned conch salad and steamed whole squid. With so many side dishes to go with sashimi, it's a great pick for company dinners or anyone looking for a drinking spot, with plenty of variety and big portions.

Seasonal fish and the ₩12,000 lunch sashimi set

The seasonal menu changes with the seasons, and the day I visited they had gizzard shad sashimi and grilled fresh prawns. Now that winter is starting to approach, it looks like yellowtail (amberjack) sashimi will be coming soon. New dishes every time you come is part of the charm of a Songdo sashimi restaurant.

They also have sushi and the lunch special sashimi set, which is especially beloved by office workers on weekday lunch breaks. It comes with sashimi, spicy fish stew, tempura, seafood and more, all for ₩12,000 per person.

What side dishes come with sashimi at Songdo Jonghap Eosijang?

Before the sashimi even arrived, the table was already completely full. Let's go through them one by one: grilled Pacific saury, sushi rice you shape yourself, steamed egg, and cabbage with soybean powder.

The first thing that caught my eye was the grilled Pacific saury (kkongchi-gui). Served as a side dish, it was nicely browned with a savory smell, and the seasoning was just right, a great snack to have with beer or soju while waiting for the sashimi.

Unusually, they also brought sushi rice so you can make your own sushi. You put a slice of sashimi on top and make nigiri yourself. Eaten with rice, unlike plain sashimi, it's filling and a lot of fun to eat.

Steamed egg (gyeran-jjim) came out too. It was softly steamed and easy to scoop with a spoon, and it worked as a palate cleanser when I wanted something mild between pieces of sashimi.

The cabbage is sprinkled with soybean powder and chojang (sweet-spicy chili vinegar sauce), and eaten together with sashimi it felt just like hoe-muchim (spicy mixed raw fish salad).

How did the flounder sashimi taste?

The halibut sashimi at Songdo Jonghap Eosijang was clean and mild with a faint sweetness, and nuttier the more I chewed. The main finally arrived, with halibut and mullet side by side on the plate, and the color and sheen were so good that it put me in a great mood the moment I saw it.

I first tried a piece of halibut with nothing on it, and a gentle sweetness came through the mildness. Halibut is known for a clean taste even among white fish, and the nuttiness grew as I chewed. The texture was chewy with firm, springy flesh, and you could tell it was fresh.

There was no fishy smell at all, and dipped lightly in soy sauce, lightly in chojang, or wrapped in lettuce, each way had its own appeal. Mildness is the heart of halibut sashimi, and the halibut here showed it off properly. If you're looking for halibut sashimi in Songdo, I think you'll be satisfied.

Mullet sashimi vs. flounder: how did they differ?

Where halibut is mild, the mullet sashimi was richer and softer. In the mouth a faint oiliness rises and a deep, savory flavor spreads.

Eating it right after the halibut, the difference between the two fish was clear. Halibut is clean, and mullet is nutty and soft. That made me glad I ordered half-and-half.

Just one kind can get monotonous, but alternating between two never gets old and the plate keeps disappearing. If you like mullet, definitely try the mullet sashimi in Songdo too.

Self-serve bar refills and how to enjoy the sashimi

At Songdo Jonghap Eosijang you can keep refilling side dishes from the self-bar, with everything from seaweed soup to lettuce wraps ready to go. No wonder so many office workers come for the lunch special sashimi set.

After trying several ways, I found that eating it with white kimchi (baek-kimchi) or in a wrap beats eating it plain. The crunch of the white kimchi makes you keep reaching for more sashimi.

What to order next time at Songdo Jonghap Eosijang

I didn't get to try the mulhoe or the other seafood this time, but there are many kinds of mulhoe and lots of seafood. The steamed whole squid looked rich and tender, and since it was autumn when I visited, there was gizzard shad plus seasonal grilled fresh prawns, which would go well with sashimi.

Yellowtail sashimi will start showing up soon as winter approaches, and I'm thinking of coming back in winter to try it. At lunchtime, definitely try the lunch special sashimi set too. You get lots of dishes for just ₩12,000.

• Anyone curious about halibut or mullet sashimi in Songdo
• Anyone looking for a sashimi restaurant with generous side dishes
• Anyone who wants fresh sashimi at a reasonable price