Sea squirt & live octopus at Jongno sashimi bar Parang Haenyeojip

Today I want to write about my visit to Parang Haenyeojip Jongno Branch, because I was craving seafood near Jongak Station~ I really, really love seafood, so whenever I see sashimi or seafood on a menu I just can't walk past it lol. Lately sea squirt and sea cucumber have been especially delicious too, ugh. While looking for a good seafood restaurant near Jongak Station, I ended up at Parang Haenyeojip.

Location, hours, and parking at Parang Haenyeojip Jongno Branch

• ⏰ Hours: 16:00–01:30 (last order 00:30)
• 🚘 Parking: Not available
• 📍 Location: 37 Ujeongguk-ro 2-gil, 1st floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul

It was easy to find near Jongak Station Exit 4, but since there's no parking, public transit is definitely the way to go! Since it seemed to be in season, they were also selling raw shrimp sashimi and grilled king shrimp~

Packed even on a weeknight evening

The day I visited Parang Haenyeojip Jongno Branch was a weeknight, but the place was almost completely full..? Every table seemed to be a company dinner or a group of friends, and there really were a lot of group visitors!

The restaurant itself is fairly spacious, so the tables had decent spacing between them and it seemed like a good spot for a group visit too — nice if you're looking for a good bar in Jongno. Seeing how busy it was on a weeknight, I imagine there could be a wait on weekends, ugh.

Wave videos on the wall, an ocean feel in the middle of the city

And the interior at Parang Haenyeojip was pretty! There's a live wave video playing right on the wall haha. It doesn't feel like your typical seafood restaurant — more like you've come out to the sea. Being in the middle of downtown at Jongak Station but feeling like you're at the beach is so great, squeal. I love this kind of pojangmacha (street-tent bar) vibe, so I was already excited before the food even arrived lol.

Complimentary side dishes: seaweed and seaweed soup

A good water spot is a good restaurant! The water at Parang Haenyeojip was clean and pleasant to drink. Seaweed and seaweed soup came out as complimentary sides, which were nice to nibble on before ordering the seafood dishes~!

They were also running a photo review event where you get soju or beer for leaving a review! Can't just pass that up lol.

What we ordered: sea squirt, sea cucumber, and live octopus, with prices

Looking at the menu, there was such a variety from seasonal seafood to aged sashimi that it was hard to decide what to get. But as if I were the ghost of someone who couldn't eat seafood in a past life, I ended up picking seafood again today lol.

This time I ordered a set of three: 4 pieces of sea squirt (₩12,000), 2 pieces of sea cucumber (₩15,000), and live octopus (₩25,000). This right here is heaven for me...

It was also nice that Parang Haenyeojip lets you order extras like laver, perilla leaves, or garlic easily through the kiosk~!

The food didn't take as long as I expected to come out after ordering! Even with the place being crowded, the food came out relatively fast, so the turnover seemed pretty good~ Maybe because of that turnover, the seafood looked really fresh, ugh. I guess there's a reason so many people come to this Jongak Station aged sashimi spot...

Sea squirt: ocean scent, no fishy taste

Let's start with the sea squirt... yum. This was my favorite dish of the day. Not long ago I bought sea squirt at a mart and it had a stronger fishy taste than expected, so I ended up throwing most of it away, ugh.

So honestly I was a little worried ordering sea squirt again this time. But it was different...

When I put it in my mouth, a gentle ocean scent came through with no fishy taste at all — just fresh flavor. I've always liked the ocean scent of sea squirt, so I really enjoyed it that day, ugh.

Sea cucumber, dipped in sesame oil sauce

The sea cucumber also came out already cut into nice bite-sized pieces! No need to trim it yourself — you could just eat it right away. Sea cucumber is tasty plain, but I personally like dipping it lightly in sesame oil sauce.

The chewy, crunchy texture with a little sesame oil sauce added a nutty flavor that kept my hand reaching for more, ugh.

Wriggling live octopus

And live octopus can't be left out! It was wriggling around the moment it arrived, so it looked really fresh! With sea squirt, sea cucumber, and live octopus all together, I naturally started craving a drink lol...ha. If I'd come with friends, we probably would have drunk a ton lol.

What I want to try next time

Besides the seafood I ordered, Jongak seafood spot Parang Haenyeojip also had a variety of other menu items like an aged sashimi platter, a seafood platter, haenyeo octopus bossam (boiled pork wraps), and king tomaki rolls! I focused on seafood this time, but next visit I'd love to try the aged sashimi too haha. If you're looking for a great aged sashimi spot near Jongak Station, the menu variety here makes it easy to pick something that suits your taste.

If you're looking for a Jongak seafood spot with a casual pojangmacha vibe rather than something too quiet, this place would suit you well! Thanks to the wave interior, you also get an ocean feel while eating, which made the meal even more fun~ If you're someone who loves seafood like me, I definitely recommend the sea squirt, sea cucumber, and live octopus combo!