Agujjim and seafood ramyeon near Mokdong Station: Jumak Haemulchon

I heard there was a bit of the East Sea's Hupo Port vibe in Mok-dong, so I got curious and went to check it out.

While looking for seafood spots, I ended up at Jumak Haemulchon (주막해물촌).

What kind of restaurant is Jumak Haemulchon?

Jumak Haemulchon is a seafood restaurant run by an owner who's been doing business in Mok-dong for 30 years. They say they personally check the raw seafood from the East Sea and only carry good quality stuff, so I was a little curious what kind of seafood they'd have.

Apparently a lot of people have already been here and word has spread. But I've lived in Mok-dong and had no idea this place existed. So before I even went, I was already thinking, "How did I not know about this place while living in Mok-dong?"

The octopus, sea squirt and conch the owner showed us

As soon as we walked in, the owner showed us octopus, sea squirt and conch in person. Seeing it right in front of you is definitely different from just looking at a menu.

But what stuck with me most that day was honestly the huge octopus. The owner showed it to us, and it wasn't just the size — the strength on that thing was something, I stared at it for a while haha. Right then the octopus and I locked eyes, and thinking back once I got home, it kind of felt like locking eyes with a kraken. Sorry about that haha.

Inside Jumak Haemulchon: a retro East Sea seafood house

The atmosphere at Jumak Haemulchon was interesting too.

It felt less like a restaurant in the middle of Mok-dong and more like a seafood place you'd stumble into on a trip to the East Sea.

There's a retro feel that's different from the sleek, freshly renovated restaurants you see these days. Having seafood and somaek in this kind of atmosphere kind of made me feel like I was on a trip haha.

Is the small agujjim enough for two people?

Jumak Haemulchon's agujjim came in small, medium and large. Since it was just the two of us, we figured we didn't need too much, so we ordered the small. After staring at the menu for a while, we decided to start with agujjim first.

Since we were also planning to eat seafood ramyeon on top of the agujjim, we decided not to overorder at the start — go small first, then add more if it wasn't enough.

The side dishes at Jumak Haemulchon

The banchan (side dishes) came out one by one, and overall they were quite neat.

Instead of feeling thrown together, each dish was neatly plated in its own bowl, and the plating was better than I expected.

How the agujjim tasted

As soon as the agujjim arrived, the spicy sauce smell hit right away. I picked up a piece of angler fish with chopsticks, coated it well in sauce, and the flesh came apart more softly than I expected while still keeping a springy texture when chewed.

The sauce wasn't just spicy either.

At first it hits spicy, but as you keep eating there's a savory depth to the sauce that makes you keep dipping the angler fish back in.

And of course agujjim needs bean sprouts. Eating a piece of angler fish together with bean sprouts, the crunchy texture cutting through the soft fish was really good too.

The sauce soaked well into the bean sprouts too, so it was fish, then a bite of sprouts, then fish again haha.

Naturally, that made me think of somaek. With the spicy sauce still lingering, a sip of somaek hit right — that combo was as good as ever.

The owner even brings out somaek glasses

At this point, we ended up having somaek too haha.

A bite of spicy agujjim followed by a sip of somaek — that pairing really works.

When we said we were having somaek, the owner even brought out special somaek glasses. Drinking out of these somehow made it feel like a proper drink haha.

Why we added seafood ramyeon

While eating the agujjim, I found myself wanting to try the seafood ramyeon too. At first I thought, "Can we really handle ramyeon on top of agujjim?" but

once the seafood ramyeon actually arrived, there was no way I wasn't trying it haha. I took a spoonful of the broth first, and thanks to the seafood, it was refreshing with a clear seafood flavor. The noodles had soaked up the broth well too, so slurping them down and then sipping the broth went great with the somaek.

That day we ate agujjim, then seafood ramyeon, had some somaek, and ended up sitting there for quite a while. Sitting over each dish one at a time, talking as we go — isn't that the fun of eating out?

The fact that the owner's been doing business in Mok-dong for 30 years, that they personally check the raw seafood from the East Sea, and that they showed us the octopus, sea squirt and conch in person — all of that stuck with me. Especially the octopus. I still think about it. Watching it move right in front of me, the strength on that thing was really something haha.

Parking and hours at Jumak Haemulchon

Parking at Jumak Haemulchon is something to keep in mind. There is space to park in front, but it's not generous, so if you drive there it could be a bit stressful. (1 parking spot at the entrance.) So I'd say walking there is easier if you can manage it.

• Name: Jumak Haemulchon
• Address: 16 Mokdong-jungangseo-ro 1-gil, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:30–23:00
• Parking: Parking available in front but the space is quite tight

That day we started with agujjim, added seafood ramyeon, and finished with somaek — what began as just wanting one dish of agujjim ended up with extras added one by one haha. Still, once we finished, I thought, "Good thing we ordered the ramyeon." If I go back, next time I want to try the octopus I saw in person. The octopus I saw that day was so full of strength that the memory of it still stays with me.

An owner with 30 years in Mok-dong who's confident about one thing: good seafood.