Tongnamujip: Raw Fish Bowl at Seogwipo Olle Market
I went to Seogwipo to run some bank errands, but it was absolutely packed—it felt like everyone in the city was there. It looked like a two-hour wait, so I gave up and headed into Olle Market just to grab a bite to eat.
I originally had my sights set on a tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) spot inside the market, but I was out of luck today—it was closed. Wondering what to do, I wandered aimlessly until I saw a place advertising hoedeopbap (raw fish rice bowl) for 10,000 KRW and just walked right in. The bowl was so incredibly good for 10,000 KRW that I had to double-check the restaurant's name: it was 'Tongnamujip'.
The food was good enough to make me think that if I had a place to stay in Seogwipo, I'd want to come back here in the evening with friends for a plate of sashimi and some maeuntang (spicy fish stew). Since it's a raw fish specialty restaurant, they made the hoedeopbap with thick, generous cuts of rough-sliced sashimi. And because it's sold in a market in a town famous for its seafood, freshness is a given.
When the side dishes came out, one unusual-looking dish caught my eye—it turned out to be a seasoned fish skin salad. Curious about the taste, I tried it with the shredded radish. It was slightly chewy yet refreshing. It wasn't meat, but it had this fascinating texture that you just keep chewing before swallowing. It's the kind of dish people might love or hate, but I was so drawn to its uniqueness that I kept reaching for it.
Honestly, the main hoedeopbap alone is more than enough. It doesn't seem like they put an overwhelming number of ingredients in it, but the fish is high quality and the portions are huge—this is what a real raw fish rice bowl should be. It tasted so good that it felt completely on another level compared to the hoedeopbap I used to eat in Seoul.
Next time, I definitely need to have a get-together here.