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Finding the Sea in the Middle of the City,
Noryangjin Marine Products Market
hen people pass the Noryangjin station, they smell something stimulating. It is the scent of the sea. Is it possible to smell the sea in the middle of the city? In the middle of Seoul, in front of Noryangjin station, there is a marine products specialty market that covers the about 66,000 meters2. The railway runs between Noryangjin Station and the market. If you want to experience a maritime ambiance for a while, or if you want to eat some raw fish, the market is a great place to visit.
Built in 1934, the Noryangjin marine products market is very large. Some 60 % of all marine products that people consume come from the market and Noryangjin is representative of other marine product markets in Seoul. It has a building with 2 floors above the ground and 1 floor under ground. On the first floor, there are 700 stores, as well as a place for auctions. On the two upper floors there are dried fish stores and sliced raw fish stores.
In the market where customers and retail dealers come frequently, there are about 874 retail stores. The stores are divided into specialty stores such as live fish stores (230), stores where merchants sell general fish like mackerel, pike, and hair-tail (325), frozen fishes stores (100), clam stores (177), pickled sea foods stores (10) and dried fish stores (32). So, this market is convenient to use for all retail fish dealers.
The marine products available at Noryangjin are transported from deep-sea fishing vessels docking at 15 fishing ports along the South and East seacoasts. About 350-400 tons of marine products a day, including the deep-sea catch, are channeled through Noryangjin market. Early in the morning, the market is already full of merchants and consumers. They are very animated and the scenes of people bargaining and auctioning are really something to see.
The marine products are carried from the various regions each morning and sold on the same day. Thus, the marine products are fresh and 10% less expensive. Retail sales are done mostly after 10:00am. If one comes to the market early in the morning, one can watch the auctioning and buy fresh fish. In general, the market is open from early in the morning until around 8:00pm and the sliced raw fish center is open 24 hours.
If you want to enjoy sliced raw fish in the Noryangjin marine market, you don't need to go to the expensive specialty restaurant on the second floor. There is a way to get it at a lower price. If you buy fish at the one of the stores on the 1st floor, they will prepare the raw fish for you on the spot.
Then, you can bring it to a restaurant on the 1st floor which will provide you a place to eat, charging you only W3,000 for some vegetables and W3,000 won for the use of a stew pot.
Opening Hours: 02:00am-09:00pm
Whole sale: Not open on first and 3rd Sunday/ Retail sale; Open throughout the year
Tel: 814-2111
How to get there: take subway line #1 to Noryangjin station
(Sourced from WHAT'S ON SEOUL)
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