₩55,000 half-and-half sekkoshi set in Daegu: Hanjan Meokgo Gajami

Today's post is about a flatfish sashimi place I visited a few days ago. I don't usually go for sekkoshi (bone-in sliced sashimi) because of the bones, but this time I felt a little differently. I was looking for somewhere to have dinner and ended up at Hanjan Meokgo Gajami.

The name itself is fun, and the sign had 'sekkoshi specialist' written in big letters, so I got curious about what kind of place it was.

I'd also been wanting to eat marbled sole flatfish, so I decided on this place that day.

Inside Hanjan Meokgo Gajami in Pyeongni-dong: seating and atmosphere

Hanjan Meokgo Gajami is a sekkoshi-specialist sashimi restaurant at 29 Tonghangno39-gil, Seo-gu, Daegu, South Korea (1F). Since it was dinner time, there were quite a few customers inside, and the staff kindly showed me to my seat.

The restaurant has table seating on the first floor, making it a comfortable spot for a meal.

The walls had the menu and prices posted in large letters, so it was easy to browse before ordering. True to a sekkoshi specialist, there was a wide variety of flatfish menu items, divided into small, medium, and large sizes, which made it convenient to choose according to the number of people.

Hanjan Meokgo Gajami menu, prices and opening hours

Hanjan Meokgo Gajami

• 📌 Address: 29 Tonghangno39-gil, Seo-gu, Daegu, South Korea (1F)
• ⏰ Hours: 11:00–23:00 (break 15:00–17:00, last order 22:00)
• Closed 2nd and 4th Monday of each month
• 🚗 Parking: 2 spots in front of the restaurant
• Group seating, reservations, takeout, separate restrooms, high chair
• Small marbled sole, sekkoshi + sashimi combo: ₩55,000
• Maeuntang (spicy fish stew): ₩2,000
• Rice: ₩1,000

Small marbled sole, half sekkoshi and half sashimi: were the bones a problem?

I ordered the small size of marbled sole flatfish, half sekkoshi and half regular sashimi, for ₩55,000. Even the small size came with a generous amount. Honestly, I don't often go out of my way to eat sekkoshi. Slicing it with the bones in tends to leave that bone-catching feeling in your bite, which makes me a bit hesitant.

But the prep here was really cleaner than I expected.

The crunchy texture that sekkoshi is known for was still there, but there was much less of that bone-catching feeling, so I could eat it comfortably.

It was also clean-tasting with almost no fishy flavor.

The sashimi on the other side was sliced thick, giving it a nice chewy texture. Dipped in ssamjang mixed with chojang (vinegar-chili sauce), the seasoning was just right and it was really savory.

Alternating between the sekkoshi and the sashimi was kind of fun, since the texture was so different even though it was the same marbled sole.

The banchan spread at Hanjan Meokgo Gajami, soy-marinated crab included

The table was filled with soy crab (ganjang gejang), braised potatoes, seasoned gungchae, corn cheese, steamed egg, whelk, stir-fried peanuts, green peas, salted pollock roe, grilled saury, and mixed vegetables.

Seaweed soup came along too, which was nice to have on the side while warm.

The soy crab and whelk in particular were salty with deep savory flavor, pairing well as drinking snacks.

Soft dishes like the corn cheese and steamed egg were also good to eat between bites of sashimi.

There was plenty of lettuce and perilla leaves too, so I topped a piece of sashimi with ssamjang and a bit of rice and wrapped it up.

Eating it wrapped like this was more filling than I expected. They said banchan refills were available, so I comfortably got more of whatever was running low.

While looking around the restaurant, I noticed a sign explaining that they use wild-caught sashimi as the base and make their soy crab in-house. The soy crab wasn't too salty and was delicious, so I got some to take home.

Seeing the variety of banchan actually laid out on the table after reading that sign made me pay a little more attention to the food. On one side, there were also Angel Sharing and Good Shop certification plaques.

It said that a portion of the proceeds goes toward helping people in need. Seeing that while out for a meal left an impression on me.

Finishing with maeuntang spicy fish stew for 2,000 won

After eating my fill of sashimi and banchan, I ordered a maeuntang stew at the end. It was ₩2,000, and it came out spicy and hot, making it a great way to finish after the sashimi with a warm bowl of soup.

Is Hanjan Meokgo Gajami worth it for marbled sole sekkoshi in Daegu?

Overall, what I liked about Hanjan Meokgo Gajami was being able to enjoy marbled sole flatfish two ways, both as sekkoshi and as regular sashimi.

What stuck with me most was that even someone like me, who usually hesitates because of the bone-catching feeling in sekkoshi, could eat it comfortably here. If you're looking for a sashimi restaurant in Pyeongni-dong and marbled sole or sekkoshi comes to mind, it's worth a visit. I'd like to go back and try their other flatfish menu items next time.