One of the mental scars from my trip to Seoul in March 2023 was not being able to eat at Namdaemun Market‘s Hairtail Alley—an enclosed section of the market that features many, many small restaurants that specialize in galchi jorim or hairtail/beltfish/cutlassfish stew and other related dishes. I hasten to add that it’s not that some external force prevented me from eating there; only the rare exercising of personal good judgment. At that point in that trip I had eaten several excessive meals by myself and was not up to the task of eating an order of galchi jorim by myself. And so I left it to the Feb/March trip when I would have lots of company. Well, I am happy to say that I did go back to Hairtail Alley with lots of company on this trip, and that I ate galchi jorim (and other related dishes) and it was good. Herewith the details.

One of the things I mentioned in my general post about Namdaemun Market last year was that Hairtail Alley, which I featured in that report, is hard to find. This is true only in the sense that it’s not marked clearly on navigation maps. But once you’re at the market it’s not actually very difficult. As I said last year, you enter the market from Namdaemun-ro, past the internet-famous hotteok vendor with a massive queue of people opposite them. Go into the market and take the first right turn. Start walking slowly and look up towards the left. Over the entrance to the first or second narrow alley on the left you’ll see a sign featuring a happy hairtail fish with the words “Hairtail Alley” in English at the bottom. Plunge in there, walk a bit and you’ll be in Hairtail Alley. Now keep in mind that, as with most of Seoul’s food alleys, Hairtail Alley is not a single alley. There’s an interconnected series of narrow alleys lined with restaurants, all with people preparing fish and jjigaes outside and with signs featuring hairtail fish above them. Choose one with enough space for your group and go in.

Now, I’m sure that there are some establishments in Hairtail Alley that are more lauded and/or internet-famous than others. I’m also sure those are harder to get into with larger groups. We were a group of 12 and so went into the first place that could seat us all: Nungkul. There are large pictures outside that show they’ve been visited and featured in some television show or the other but that’s no major endorsement: as far as I can make out, every restaurant in the major markets in Seoul has been featured in some television show or the other. I’m also pretty sure that the restaurants in Hairtail Alley are all very similar—not just in their menus, which are largely identical, but also in quality. At any rate, Nungkul, which we picked at random entirely for their ability to seat our large group, was quite good.

When we went in, it didn’t actually seem like they could seat us as the dining room was jammed. But it turned out there was a tiny dining room on the floor above that we accessed through very steep and narrow stairs. We had this space to ourselves and so quickly got down to business. The menu—as at every other place in Hairtail Alley—is not vast. And as the main reason to eat at Hairtail Alley is to eat galchi jorim, you have to order galchi jorim. It would also be a mistake to not get the grilled hairtail/beltfish and the grilled mackerel. These three dishes are what almost all of us ate between us. As we had a vegan in our group we also got an order of dolsot bibimbap for her (and she enjoyed it).

The banchan put out is not excessive: kimchi, seasoned beansprouts and seasoned kelp. And every table got a pot of steamed egg (one of my very favourite Korean dishes). The rest of the food came out very quickly as well. The galchi jorim was indeed very good—the best part being not the fish itself but the daikon that had soaked up all the flavour—but it was the grilled fish that most of us liked most of all. Presumably all the fish is line-caught as a wicked looking hook with a bit of line attached emerged from one of the galchi jorim casseroles (thankfully, it didn’t hook anyone).

For another look at Hairtail Alley and what we ate at Nungkul launch the slideshow below. After the meal pics there are some photos from the shopping we did at the market after: we bought shellfish from one vendor, a bunch of veg from another, and some beef from a butcher. Scroll down to see what’s coming next.

The total for 12 people came to 140,000 won, or just about $106. That comes to a little less than $9/head, which I think you will agree is a very good price, especially for a meal centered almost entirely on fish.

Alright, this is my only report from Namdaemun Market on this trip. We didn’t eat there again after this. We did eat at a few more markets. I might have a report on one of those meals this weekend. I’ll also try to post my last Bombay report—a compendium of several informal meals. Let’s see how it goes.