Squid sundae with hallabong juice at Sokcho market: Ddogi-ne Twigim

What we ordered at Ddogi-ne Twigim in Sokcho's Jungang Market

Whenever I go to Sokcho, Jungang Market is one of those places I always end up stopping by. There's so much food to choose from that it's hard to decide what to eat, so this time I dropped by Ddogi-ne Twigim, well known as a Sokcho Jungang Market go-to spot. Squid sundae was the one dish I'd been wanting to try ever since arriving in Sokcho, so I ordered it along with hallabong juice and danhobak sikhye to try a little of everything.

Walking around Sokcho Jungang Market, you see all kinds of food — fried snacks, dakgangjeong (sweet crispy fried chicken), seafood — and Ddogi-ne Twigim is an easy market stop to add to the list. It was also featured on a show about self-made small business owners, so a lot of people probably looked it up before their Sokcho trip. I went to try squid sundae after researching Sokcho Jungang Market restaurants myself, and picking out one snack to try inside the market was genuinely fun — a good fit for a travel itinerary. Search for squid sundae at Sokcho Jungang Market and several places come up, but this time I ordered directly from Ddogi-ne Twigim. It works well as a snack when visiting the market, and it's a good size to share between a couple of people if you get hungry while traveling.

How does the squid sundae taste, and how chewy is it?

What we ordered was the squid sundae. It's one of the signature dishes people want to try once they're in Sokcho, so I'd been looking forward to it even before getting to the market.

With the filling stuffed inside a plump whole squid, it looks quite different from typical sundae (Korean blood sausage). Eating the squid together with the filling was fun — you get the squid's distinctive chewy bite and the soft filling inside at the same time.

You can eat inside the store too!~~

Compared to eating plain squid alone, having the filling inside gave the bite a richer texture. If you're trying Sokcho Jungang Market squid sundae for the first time, it's worth experiencing at least once just for this style of dish.

There's always a lot you want to eat once you're at the market, but squid sundae felt like a truly local dish you can only really get in Sokcho, which made it a good pick for a travel meal.

Are the hallabong juice and danhobak sikhye worth adding?

It felt like a shame to order just the squid sundae, so I picked out a couple of drinks as well. The hallabong juice had a nice tangy flavor and went well with the squid sundae.

After trying a few different market foods your palate can start to feel a bit heavy, but sipping hallabong juice in between felt refreshing and reset things nicely.

We also ordered the danhobak sikhye, which had a sweet, toasty flavor quite different from regular sikhye (sweet rice punch). If you want to enjoy traditional market food while traveling in Sokcho, pairing it with drinks like this is a good move. The hallabong juice and pumpkin sikhye had completely different vibes, too, so it was nice to pick between them depending on what you're in the mood for.

Is Ddogi-ne Twigim worth a stop on a Sokcho market food route?

Sokcho Jungang Market has so much food that it's more fun to wander around and pick out dishes one at a time than to plan on just one spot. Among those options, if you're looking for squid sundae at Sokcho Jungang Market, it's worth checking out Ddogi-ne Twigim too. Squid sundae is a dish that lets you soak in the atmosphere of a Sokcho trip, and it was easy to share without any pressure on a family trip or a trip with friends.

Above all, I liked that it gave a real sense of being in Sokcho. If you're looking for Sokcho Jungang Market restaurants and want something beyond the usual market foods like dakgangjeong or fried snacks — something you can only really try in Sokcho — I'd recommend the squid sundae too~~