Yeonsu seafood restaurant with standout maeuntang: Veteran Fish Market

Come to think of it, I had sashimi this spring and hadn't had any since then. So I was craving it for the first time in ages, and I heard I could have fresh sashimi in Incheon, close to Bucheon, without driving all the way to Yeonan Pier. I went to Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch (베테랑 종합어시장 인천연수점) with my mom for a little drive too😋

They say the owner personally heads to Yeonan Pier at dawn every day to select live fish, then carefully prepares it with 30 years of experience. This was a seafood restaurant where the freshness felt a cut above from the start!

Weekend lunch wait and free parking

First of all, I loved how spacious and open the restaurant felt. It was busy at weekend lunch, but it never felt stuffy. There are even private rooms, so it seemed perfect for family gatherings or group get-togethers too!

We arrived at 12:56 p.m. on Saturday, with six parties ahead of us. The waitlist isn't through Tabling or a list you write yourself; a staff member writes you onto the list directly. Since the restaurant gets very busy, wait at the entrance and a staff member will come over and add parties in order.

• Wait started: 12:56
• Seated: 13:18
• Wait time: about 22 minutes

Thankfully, it moved faster than I expected👍🏻 Free parking is available in the restaurant building, with three hours covered. It goes down to B3, so there was plenty of room even on the weekend.

The couple set for two and self-cooked kimchi pancakes

There were lots of great-value menu options, and I ordered the couple set because it was a great deal and just right for two people.

Couple set for two ₩58,000: red sea bream, salmon, flounder, rockfish, seasonal live fish, sushi, assorted fried food, grilled saury, maeuntang (spicy fish stew), side dishes, and salad bar / Fanta ₩2,000

Kimchi pancakes to fry while you wait

This place has a very special, thoughtful little treat: self-cooked kimchi pancakes! You can fry up kimchi pancakes yourself while the food is being prepared, so the wait was not boring at all😆

I made mine really thick, so it doesn't look all that great haha, but the flavor was incredible! It was just perfect for waking up the appetite before the main dishes.

Thick-cut assorted sashimi and generous side dishes

At last, the main sashimi we'd been waiting for came out😋 There was so much of it, and the plating was so pretty that I gasped the moment I saw it!

Couple set side dishes

The couple set's side dishes were generous too! The hoe-muchim (seasoned raw fish salad) that came as a basic side had a wonderfully chewy bite, and the grilled saury was salty and such a rice-stealer. The miyeokguk (seaweed soup) was lightly seasoned and delicious too.

Great-value sashimi in the couple set

Each variety of sashimi—red sea bream, salmon, flounder, rockfish, seasonal live fish, and more—was thickly and neatly sliced. It looked beautiful and tasted amazing too.

Even the sushi was surprisingly delicious, on par with a decent sushi specialist👍🏻

True to the owner's philosophy that “if it isn't fresh, it isn't sashimi,” there wasn't even a hint of fishiness, and that springy texture was fully intact. Sashimi really is best when the weather is cool😆

How do you all eat your sashimi? I love trying all kinds of combinations, from perilla-leaf wraps to ginger, myeongnanjeot (salted pollock roe), aged kimchi, and all sorts of other sides👍🏻

My absolute favorite is a perilla-leaf wrap👍🏻 At Veteran General Fish Market, you can get unlimited perilla leaves and wrap vegetables from the salad bar!

The assorted fried food was delicious too😋 So crispy, with none of that sogginess or stale-oil smell!

Deep, refreshing maeuntang with no fishiness

Just when I thought I was too full to eat another bite, the maeuntang came out—and I found my sashimi restaurant's best-ever maeuntang🥹 Honestly, I usually don't eat maeuntang at seafood restaurants because of its characteristic fishy smell💦

But rather than being fishy, the broth was deep and refreshing, so I kept sipping it even though I was already stuffed😂 Paired with albap (fish roe rice), with those wonderfully popping roe textures, it made for a perfect finish👍🏻

Overall visit thoughts

From the fresh, thick-cut sashimi that showed the touch of a 30-year veteran, to generous banchan (side dishes) and my best-ever maeuntang! If you're looking for a seafood restaurant in Yeonsu, Incheon that nails both value and quality, be sure to visit Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch💙