Dongdaemun seafood restaurant with grilled shrimp heads: Simdo Hoetjip

As a huge sashimi and seafood lover, I found an incredible seafood restaurant! 🐟 It’s Simdo Hoetjip, a great spot near Gyeongdong Market and Jegi-dong. Simdo Hoetjip is run by a veteran owner who was once a head chef at an overseas embassy and has over 40 years of cooking experience. Aren’t you curious? Let’s gooo!

A great stop after exploring Gyeongdong Market

Simdo Hoetjip, a seafood restaurant near Gyeongdong Market, is 246 m from Exit 3 of Jegi-dong Station 👀 It’s in the perfect spot to visit after looking around the market.

Maybe because shrimp are in season, the live shrimp menu really caught my eye haha.

• Live shrimp ₩30,000
• Salt-grilled or butter-grilled live shrimp ₩30,000
• Small flounder sashimi ₩40,000
• Small rockfish sashimi ₩45,000
• 4-kind assorted sashimi
• A Assortment (salmon + 3 kinds), medium ₩61,000 / large ₩75,000
• B Assortment (4 seasonal kinds), medium ₩66,000 / large ₩60,000
• Live fish and assorted seafood mulhoe (cold raw-fish soup), 2–3 people ₩50,000 / 3–4 people ₩65,000
• 5 kinds of seafood ₩45,000

There are plenty of other live-fish sashimi and seafood options, too.

Ordering the A Set and sampler live shrimp

Here’s what we ordered! Simdo’s special A Set (3 kinds of assorted sashimi + 5 kinds of seafood + albap (fish roe rice) + a small maeuntang (spicy fish stew)) ₩73,000, sampler live shrimp ₩9,900, and Chamisul ₩5,000.

A table-breaking spread of banchan

Raise your hand if you love the banchan (side dishes) at sashimi restaurants? Me! Simdo Hoetjip’s spread is amazing. It comes out so varied and substantial, it feels like the table legs might snap. Clams, white kimchi, sweet corn, seaweed soup, steamed egg, kimchi pancake, grilled herring, and more... 😮

Everything was so good, but the grilled herring was honestly unreal. It was huge and meaty, piled high with shredded scallions and seasoned through, so delicious it rivaled a dedicated grilled-fish restaurant.

Couldn’t resist soju~~ 😣 We ordered Chamisul right away. Why did the alcohol taste so sweet, too... This was clearly a day for getting tipsy.

Lively sampler live shrimp and grilled heads

The sampler live shrimp sashimi came out first! 🦐 Since it’s shrimp season, they were seriously large and plump. They were flopping around so energetically that I got startled hahaha.

I cut off the live shrimp heads and diligently peeled the shells. Sorry, shrimp...

Done~~ They were springy and sweet 😋 One live shrimp sashimi, one drink: essential ^_^

Dip them in wasabi and soy sauce. Anyone who doesn’t know how good live shrimp sashimi is, is missing out.

If you hand the removed shrimp heads to the kitchen, they fry them up golden as grilled shrimp heads and bring them back. I love shrimp heads so much, too... That rich, nutty flavor is crazy good 👏

Five kinds of seafood, from abalone to clams

Here come the five kinds of seafood! Such a satisfying selection. They generously served only fresh goodies: abalone, octopus, sea cucumber, sea squirt, and clams. As a seafood lover, I was truly happy. A taste of the sea in Seoul 🌊

They even brought out maki (seaweed rice rolls) on the house. The banchan and complimentary extras just kept coming—I wondered if anything was left for the owner! Best owner ever 👍

The owner told us, “Put sashimi on top and eat it as sashimi maki,” so we made it right away. What an insane one-bite combination. Eat it as soon as it arrives, before the seaweed gets soft, for that crispy deliciousness ><

The main assorted sashimi: flounder, red sea bream, and olive flounder

Ahh, the main assorted sashimi is here. It includes three kinds: flounder, red sea bream, and olive flounder. The live fish sashimi itself was so fresh and cut wonderfully thick, with such a chewy texture. Love live fish sashimi 🫶🏻

So wildly generous, right? When I posted it, everyone asked where it was hahaha. Yep, everyone, this is Simdo Hoetjip!!

Put a thick slice of sashimi on a perilla leaf, add garlic and white kimchi, and wrap it up for the ultimate ssam (leaf wrap). It could not be a more perfect soju snack.

Finishing with fish roe rice and hearty spicy fish stew

After filling up nicely on sashimi and seafood, we capped off the meal with the albap and maeuntang included in the set. I was shocked at how much there was when the pot of stew arrived. The broth was deep and rich, and I wanted to mix rice into it, but I was way too full, so pass,, TT

The fish in that hearty spicy stew was so soft and delicious...

At last, I finished this perfect dinner with albap, whose popping texture is so charming. I was as full as if I’d eaten through a third round. Full and hap. py. happy.

Final thoughts

From the banchan to the sashimi quality, this restaurant clearly felt distinct from other sashimi places. As a seafood lover, I was so happy to enjoy such generous portions of sashimi, seafood, and spicy fish stew. If you’re looking for fresh live-fish sashimi and a plentiful banchan spread near Jegi-dong Station, Gyeongdong Market, or Cheongnyangni, make sure to stop by Simdo Hoetjip. It will be a fantastic dinner you won’t regret!!