Itinerary
- Jagalchi Market
- Millak Raw Fish Center
- Gijang Crab Market
- Songjeong Clam Grills
- Gwangalli Beach
Busan eats better than any city in Korea if you like seafood, and this two-day course is built around nothing else. Come hungry; every stop is a meal.
Day One: The Raw Fish Circuit
Start at Jagalchi Market for a late breakfast — go upstairs, order the hoe set (sliced raw fish with lettuce wraps, gochujang, and the spicy maeuntang soup made from the bones at the end). The full ritual runs about 30,000–40,000 KRW for two and is the essential Busan meal.
Walk it off through Gukje Market, then take the subway to Millak-dong, at the north end of Gwangalli Beach. The Millak Raw Fish Center is the locals' Jagalchi — a working fish market where you buy downstairs and eat on the rooftop terrace overlooking the Gwangan Bridge. The setting fee is a few thousand won; the view is free. Go for sunset and stay through the bridge lights — this is the single best dinner setting in Busan.
Day Two: Crabs and Clams
Take the Donghae Line north to Gijang, the fishing town at Busan's edge famous for snow crab (daege). The Gijang Crab Market is a strip of tank-fronted restaurants — pick your crab live, they steam it, and a whole crab with sides runs 60,000–100,000 KRW depending on size and season. It is not cheap; it is worth it. The servers will show you how to crack it, and the fried rice they make in the shell at the end is the best part.
Afternoon back down the coast to Songjeong Beach for the second act: jogae-gui, grilled shellfish. The beachfront restaurants set a charcoal grill in your table and bring a platter — clams, scallops, mussels, still popping open over the coals, with butter and ramen to finish in the shell broth. About 40,000–50,000 KRW for two.
End at Gwangalli Beach with a convenience-store beer on the sand — legal, normal, and the correct way to close a seafood weekend.