Changwon clam stew restaurant near Bansong Market at 8pm: Dwaeji Jogae

Where is Dwaeji Jogae Changwon Main Branch?

Dwaeji Jogae Changwon Main Branch is a basement-level seafood clam stew restaurant that comes into view right as you walk in through Entrance 2 of Bansong Market in Changwon. The address is 20-3 B1, Wonidae-ro 473beon-gil, Seongsan-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam, and if you use the Bansong Market parking lot you get 1 hour of free parking.

I'm a Changwon native but I think this was my first time at Bansong Market haha. Walking in through Entrance 2, Dwaeji Jogae, a well-known spot in the market, comes right into view. We parked in a paid lot on the street and walked over!

The Dwaeji Jogae shop is downstairs in the basement! The lavish visuals of the seafood stew hit you starting from the stairwell, 🤤

On the way down the stairs I noticed they do takeout too! They give you plenty of broth and noodles too apparently haha. Loosen the belt, diet starts tomorrow. Reading this you're probably thinking 'won't you pop a button eating that much,' and honestly, it was so filling I regretted wearing jeans that day — I actually undid the button while eating, haha 🥹

An 8pm reservation: what Dwaeji Jogae looks like inside

The inside of Dwaeji Jogae Changwon Main Branch was way bigger than expected. We'd booked an 8pm slot on Naver a few days ahead, and I worried we'd be the only ones there so late, but there were plenty of other guests!

Apparently they were even featured on a TV food show! Why am I only finding this out now, 🤢

Seafood clam stew for 3: large-medium instead of large-large

Here's the Dwaeji Jogae Changwon Main Branch menu! There were 3 of us so we ordered the large-large, but the large-medium arrived instead due to a mix-up..!! We didn't realize until we thought the portion seemed huge, and only found out when we paid!

The portion was still generous and delicious, and the owner apologized so much that we told her, honestly at that price you can't be making any profit, that's weird, but it was so good, hehe, we didn't feel shortchanged at all!!

The potato side dish at Dwaeji Jogae is the real surprise

The basic side dishes were boiled potato, seasoned bean sprouts, kimchi, acorn jelly, cucumber, and two dipping sauces!!

This potato, seriously, it's ridiculously good. Just a basic side dish potato but genuinely so, so delicious. Secret confession — when we paid, I actually asked if I could buy some to take home,,, because the potato was so good I wanted to buy extra if they had any, lolㅜ It was really that good ㅠㅠㅠ

What goes into the large-medium haemul jogaetang?

While we were busy demolishing the potatoes, out came the large-medium haemul jogaetang (seafood clam stew)!! Clams, scallops, keojogae (fan mussels), blue crab, mussels, octopus, abalone — all kinds of seafood piled up so generously it was almost overwhelming, 🥹🥹

Normally squid goes in, but they'd run out of squid so they swapped in octopus instead, which was totally fine by me since I like octopus even more. The visuals were absolutely insane!??? I genuinely gasped when it arrived.

Look at that fresh abalone,,

The owner came over and prepped some of it for us to make eating easier! She cleaned the abalone, removed the mouth part, and her knife work was so fast we just sat there going wow, wow, 👏🏻👏🏻

After prepping some of it for us, she said 'for the ones that aren't cooked yet, take off the shell once they cook through and eat carefully~~' and whoosh, off she went haha. As it kept bubbling away, the scallops and clams cooked fast and their shells popped open on their own. We were told the octopus needed a bit more time so we waited. I tried the broth and it was fully spicy-savory and refreshing ㅠ My fiancé's younger sibling who came with us ordered soju right away lol.

From blue crab and scallops to abalone and octopus

First we tried the cooked blue crab and scallop!? The crab meat was packed full and so tasty,, and the plump scallop dipped in vinegar-gochujang sauce was truly amazing ㅠ💚💛

My fiancé piled a whole plate for me with my favorites — bean sprouts, scallop, mussel, and well-cooked radish haha

Dipping abalone, clam, mussel and octopus into vinegar-gochujang sauce and wasabi soy sauce bite after bite, I kept craving the broth too, so I alternated a sip of broth, a bite of octopus, a sip of broth, a bite of mussel, that kind of thing haha

Scallop with kimchi, and adding minari (water dropwort)

The combo I ate the most of was scallop with kimchi — that pairing was the best! The kimchi tasted freshly made, the seasoning was good enough to sell on its own,, honestly the kimchi alone with white rice would be enough, a certified kimchi spot,, 👏🏻

After we'd eaten a good amount, the owner brought over some minari (water dropwort) to add in, so we did — does everyone love minari!? I tend to love pretty much any food with a strong aroma, so I'm a huge minari fan too!! Once we added it and let it boil, the broth took on that minari fragrance, gasp, I don't drink but I suddenly wanted just one sip of beer!! 😝

Restroom location and the potatoes packed to go

The restroom at Dwaeji Jogae Changwon Main Branch is a shared restroom you reach by passing the kitchen and following the signs up the stairs. We went before paying, once we'd finished eating.

Like I mentioned earlier,, I really did ask if I could buy some potatoes to take home, and since we were the last customers, they wrapped up all the leftover potatoes for us!!ㅠㅠ The owner's generosity is just too much,, 🥹💛 I got to enjoy them all over again as my breakfast the next morning.

Honest verdict on Dwaeji Jogae Changwon Main Branch

Having visited Dwaeji Jogae, a well-known Bansong Market restaurant in Changwon, even with such a spacious dining room, there was still a wait during evening hours. That's how well-known this place already is, with plenty of regulars it seems. Just watching the two owners, so generous and kind, I could totally see why people become regulars,,!? haha

The taste, well,, it holds its own. I visited as part of a sponsored campaign, but still.

The seafood stew portion was so generous we couldn't fit in the noodles,, that's my one regret,, adding noodle sari would've been the perfect finish!! Next time I'm definitely getting the noodles too haha