Gilpost · Jongno-gu, Ikseon-dong
Ikseon-dong Jagalchi
익선동자갈치 본점 Alley-side seafood pocha in Ikseon-dong known for chopped wild-caught fish
Korean · Jongno-gu, Ikseon-dong
Data as of · Published ·
Jagalchi is a seafood pocha on the ground floor of a Samil-daero lane in Ikseon-dong, about five minutes' walk from Jongno 3-ga station. The house dishes are chopped wild-caught fish (makhoe) and whole-whelk soup, but what people come for is the yajang — folding tables set out in the alley on either side of the shop. Every order brings a free bowl of bean-sprout soup, and the makhoe comes with laver, perilla leaves, seaweed, flying-fish roe and soybean powder to wrap it in. One warning for anyone searching: there is a second Ikseon-dong Jagalchi a few streets away on Donhwamun-ro 5-ga-gil. This is the original; the other keeps different hours and a different phone number. The posts we read run from June to September 2026.
The basics
| Address | 서울특별시 종로구 삼일대로30길 43 (익선동,1층) 43 Samil-daero 30-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul |
|---|---|
| Phone | 02-6083-1100 |
| Typical spend | ₩38,000 only 1 of 10 dishes carries a price |
| Floor area | 26 m² |
| Status | In business |
1 posts say it is walkable from the station.
What sets it apart
- The outdoor tables are the point. Folding tables go out in the alleys on both sides of the shop, and every writer who mentions them reaches for the word *yajang* first. That makes the place seasonal — the posts we read cluster in late summer and autumn, and one writer simply calls it "yajang weather." Not one post comes from winter, so we do not know whether the tables go out then.
- The free bowl of bean-sprout soup gets an unusual amount of praise. It comes with any order, and everyone who mentions it calls the broth clean and bracing. Two writers independently say it alone would carry a bottle of soju, and one asked for a second bowl and got it.
- Even the small makhoe is called enough for two. One writer ordered the small and was startled by how much arrived; another ordered the small and gave up on the whelk they had come for, because two people could not fit both. Nobody writes down what the medium or large costs.
What 6 bloggers said
We read all 6 in full. The most common claims are “Large portions” (1) and “Returning customer” (1).
What they liked
Things you can check on site
| Outdoor terrace seating | 3 of 6 posts |
|---|---|
| Complimentary starter | 2 of 6 posts |
| Free refills | 1 of 6 posts |
| Reachable by transit | 1 of 6 posts |
These are raw counts, not percentages. Someone who did not mention something is not someone who disagreed.
What people order
The most ordered dish is makhoe (자연산 막회 (소/중/대)) — 3 of 6 posts.
The prices here are what bloggers wrote down in their posts, and they may have changed since. Check Naver Place for the current menu and prices. This list is not a menu board — it counts what bloggers actually ordered and ate. Check on Naver Place
What to order
Sides, and what comes with it
To drink
Who came, and with whom
| With a friend | 3 of 6 posts |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 of 6 posts |
Getting there
Getting inside
No post describes floors or stairs. The licence gives this as a ground-floor address and one writer says it is easy to spot from the street, but nobody records whether you step up or down on the way in.
Not one post mentions a step, a ramp, or a wheelchair. The outdoor seats are folding tables in an alley and the indoor room is at street level, but nobody records whether there is a lip at the door or how wide it is. If you are coming in a wheelchair or with a pushchair, calling ahead is the only way to find out.
Not one post mentions the toilet — whether it is inside the shop or out in the building, whether it is shared. That does not mean there isn't one; it means we do not know.
No one mentioned: Second floor · In a basement · Lift to the floor · Ramp at the door · Step at the entrance · Step-free access · Toilet inside · Accessible toilet · Separate restrooms. That is not the same as there being none — it means we could not confirm it. Worth calling ahead, and do tell us: we will put it here.
How to read these posts
- Posts saying they paid themselves2 of 6 posts
- Posts saying nothing either way4 of 6 posts
When the posts appeared
Month by month
| Month | Posts |
|---|---|
| 2026-06 | 2 |
| 2026-07 | 1 |
| 2026-09 | 3 |
What we do not know
- Only one post gives opening hours: a September 2026 visit records 16:00–23:00, last orders 22:00, closed Mondays. One person's note is not a confirmed fact, so we do not publish it as one — the other six posts give no hours at all, and nobody mentions a mid-afternoon break. The second Jagalchi is described as opening at two in the afternoon and running past midnight, so the two shops' hours are easy to mix up. Better to call before you go.
- Seven posts, not thirty. Of the thirty we first gathered, twenty-three were about something else. Ten were national travel or festival round-ups that name Busan's Jagalchi fish market, or machine-written pages that paste in a nationwide pharmacy list and happen to contain a Busan street called Jagalchi-ro. The other thirteen were about the second Ikseon-dong Jagalchi, a few streets away on Donhwamun-ro 5-ga-gil, with a different phone number. The two shops are written up with different opening times, different queues and different seating, so counting them together would make every figure false. Everything below is counted from the seven posts about this shop.
Sources (6)
Every number above was counted from the posts below.
- 종로야장 익성동자갈치 본점 종로3가 막회맛집 내돈내산후기 2026-09-28 · Chacha : Archive
- 서울 종로3가 야장 맛집 추천 1차-고깃집 [종삼육] 2차-해산물 [자갈.... 2026-09-28 · a happy daily life❁
- 진짜 여름 끝났습니다... 2026-09-10 · 지수 좋은 날 · via Daum
- 누가 5월을 아름답다 했는가 2026-07-02 · Jini’s Bravo Life · via Daum
- [종로3가 맛집] 야장 감성 폭발하는 자연산 막회 찐맛집, 종로 '자갈치' 솔직후기 2026-06-15 · 꼼빠뇽의 먹고놀자 · via Daum
- 2026.05 2026-06-09 · 정긍 Blog ˃ᴗ❛ =͟͞♡ · via Daum
Of 345 candidate posts we opened 113 and kept 6 as evidence. We stop once 30 are confirmed: beyond that the counts grow in proportion without changing the answer.