10 Great Restaurants in Yeosu

Jongpo Park Nangman Pocha is a great place to visit if you want to fully enjoy the night sea in Yeosu. The red lights of the Nangman Pochas that shine across Jongpo Park near the sea every night are a speciality of Yeosu. Seventeen units of Nangman Pocha, from No. 1 to No. 17, serve fresh seafood and local cuisine.

Come and enjoy a feast of unique dishes such as seodaehoe muchim (seasoned raw tonguefish), galchi hoe (sliced raw cutlassfish) and gobchang sundae bokkeum (stir-fried beef tripe and Korean sausage). The nearby streets host various breakdancing performances, and Nangman Pochas are open from 5 pm until dawn.

The Yeosu Specialty Marine Market contains a collection of fish restaurants and also sells local specialty foods. You’ll find various fascinating products for sale on the first floor, whereas the restaurants are on the second floor.

At the market, you can choose from a variety of menus, and sample dishes like grilled fish, braised cutlassfish, crab dishes and sashimi. You’ll also find lots of interesting side dishes on offer. The fish is fresh and the aromas and flavours will have you coming back for more.

Dolsando is a Yeosu island where, between November and April, you can easily find great restaurants selling raw oysters and gul gui (grilled oyster). This island has many oyster farms, so it's a great place to try fresh oyster dishes. The oysters in this area are famous for their plump flesh, chewy texture and rich flavour and taste.

In addition to grilled oyster, you can enjoy dishes such as gul hoe (sliced raw oyster), gul gukbap (oyster rice soup), gul cho muchim (oyster with vinegar dressing) and gul jeon (oyster pancake). Drive along the coastal road and enjoy the stunning view of the winter sea as well as nutritious winter delicacies.

If you're looking for a place to enjoy raw fish in Yeosu, Dolsandaegyo Bridge Raw Fish Street is a good choice for you. Many raw fish restaurants are clustered around Dolsan Bridge and the Dolsan Park. When you order sliced raw fish, a generous selection of side dishes will be served first. You'll also be amazed by the fresh ingredients such as webfoot octopus, abalone, shrimp, skate and vegetables.

Flatfish, rockfish, sea bream, and sole are often selected for sliced raw fish dishes, and some seasonal delicacies are also available. Sliced raw pike eel (gaetjangeo hoe, also called hamo) and pike eel shabu-shabu rank among the best dishes of Yeosu and you can enjoy them during the summer season here.

Soho-dong is famous for its sailing arena and Soho-dong Bridge, but it's also home to many raw fish restaurants with talented chefs, making it one of the best places to enjoy raw fish in Yeosu. These raw fish restaurants with a sea view present the chewy and light taste of raw fish, and you'll be amazed by the number and freshness of the side dishes.

The secret to the flavour is in their freshly caught seafood and the aerated saltwater tanks. After your meal, take a slow stroll through Soho-dong Bridge Park to enjoy the view of the Dadohae or enjoy a cup of tea at a nearby café district.

The restaurants on Bongsang-dong Marinated Crab with Rice Street usually use rock crabs caught in the Yeosu sea, which are smaller than blue crabs but have firm flesh and a rich taste. Nicknamed 'rice burglars', the dish is one of the most popular in the area.

Two main dishes are yangnyeom-gejang (spicy marinated crab) with spicy and sweet flavours and ganjang-gejang (soy-sauce-marinated crab) with salty and savoury flavours. You'll also be served plenty of side dishes such as jogi tang (croaker soup), kkotge-tang (spicy blue crab stew), gat kimchi (mustard kimchi) and salted fish. Most of the restaurants offer unlimited marinated crabs so you can fully enjoy the flavour experience that awaits you.

Deokyang-ri Gopchang Alley is famous for its gopchang-jeongol (beef tripe hot pot). This place used to be crowded with visitors to the cattle market and the 5-day market, but now Gopchang restaurants that first opened during those times remain to uphold the area’s reputation. Their main dishes are sogobchang jeongol (grilled beef tripe hot pots), dwaeji gobchang jeongol (pork tripe hot pots), saeggibo jeongol (fallopian tube hot pots) and modeum jeongol (mixed hot pots).

Boiled with generous amounts of water parsley, leeks, mushrooms and starch noodles, the broth tastes refreshing and spicy with no meat odour. Don't miss out the chance to taste each restaurant's unique dipping sauce and the rice fried in the broth.

Jwasuyeong Food Street starts from the Jungang-dong roundabout by the Yi Sun-Shin Square. Here, you can find a variety of local Yeosu speciality restaurants with a tradition of more than 20 years. Popular dishes include seodaehoe (raw tonguefish), gejang baekban (marinated crab with rice), jangeo gui (grilled eel), hwareo hoe (sliced raw fish), ssugimi tang (stingfish soup) and nakji jeongol (octopus hot pot).

The raw tonguefish is the real must-try as it used to be a royal cuisine served to the kings. The fish is seasoned with makgeolli sikcho (raw rice wine vinegar) and mixed with red pepper paste and all kinds of vegetables. Its tender and sour taste is loved by gourmets.

At Gukdonghang Port Eel Soup Street, you can experience the genuine taste of local soups. While jangeo-tang (eel soup) can be enjoyed anywhere in Yeosu, the area near the Diving Fisheries Cooperatives at the Gukdonghang Port hosts the very best eel soup restaurants in the city. Eel soup is made with sea eels (also called anago) in 2 different styles: as a spicy fish stew (maeun-tang) or as cabbage soup (ugeoji).

It's a nutritious dish made with a broth of eel bones, eels, soybean paste, outer leaves of cabbage and perilla seed powder. Its light and savoury taste, with no fishy odour, is sensational.

Yeoseo-dong Ssambap Street near the Yeosu City Hall is where you can enjoy Yeosu-style ssambap (leaf wraps and rice). They're served everywhere in the country, but in the Yeosu style, they’re made with fish such as mackerel and sardine. Treat yourself to delicious leaf wraps and rice with mackerel, sardine or stir-fried spicy pork with generous side dishes of fresh vegetables, a couple of salted fish and doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew).

Leaf wraps and rice with boiled down mackerel and godeungeo ssambap (ripened kimchi) and leaf wraps and rice with jeongeori ssambap (boiled down sardine and vegetables) are fabulous delicacies of Yeosu.