Cheongsapo (청사포)

Winter has finally left us.  At last we can spend weekends on the beach rather than in our tiny, cramped apartments. And nothing completes an amazing day at the beach like some seafood and soju.  Haundae and Gwangan have plenty of seafood restaurants with menus offered in English, and ajummas pushing you though the door, but these places are overpriced and usually not nearly as good as  the 식당들(restaurants) frequented by the locals, particularly in Cheongsapo, the Emerald City of seafood dining.  Located on the rocky shores of Busan between Haundae and Songjeong beach; Cheongsapo village is where seafood, nature and ambience unite for an exceptional dining experience.

Cheongsapo isn’t for the fancy folks. The restaurants offer little more than a simple table with a grill in the middle to cook your own food and some plastic chairs, but don’t let that deter you.  Being right on the rocky shore, the view in itself makes the trip worthwhile.  The dozen or so restaurants in the area mostly offer the same things: assorted shell fish, fresh fish, shrimp and eel.  Having tried all of them, I have never been disappointed.  The seafood and soju are fresh and make a perfect match.

Now on to the food, 조개 모듬구이 (mixed shellfish) is exactly what you think it is.  A variety of shellfish, left in the shell and grilled at your table.  Often, though, instead of the조개 모듬이(which includes scallops) I tend to order just the가리비 (scallops).
A heaping plate of freshly opened scallops is served to your table in the half-shell. Each scallop shell is adorned with some veggies and a hunk of butter- making the already delicious meat even more delectable.   Once the scallop is cooked it can be dipped in a wasabi-soy sauce or spicy sauce.  The mild, tender taste of scallops paired with the strong sauce creates a flavorsome delicacy.

If shellfish isn’t your thing or you stop breathing when eating them, eel might be for you.  Eel(장어구이) isn’t the best looking fish.  The first time I ate it, honestly, I had a hard time, but get past the snaky looks (which I think you get used to pretty quickly in Korea) and you have yourself one tasty dish.  Grilled eel truly has a unique, rich flavor with an equally unique texture.  Eel is also rumored to give you stamina, especially the tail, so eat up men!

Grilled shrimp (새우구이) in Korea is a little different than what you would expect back home. Shrimp are left in their entirety, like most seafood here, head and all.  Yes, your hands get dirty and it is a little strange to rip off the head and pull off the shell, but the head and shell lock the flavor in and make the shrimp taste a zillion times better than shell-less and head-less shrimp back home.

Finally, to end your meal, order a few bowls of ramen.   Shrimp and dumplings(수제비) can be added to the spicy noodle dish.  The noodles are filling and consummate a great seafood meal.

Getting to Jangsapo can be a bit difficult because there is only one windy, narrow road that leads to the restaurants.  The best way to get there is to hop in a taxi in Jangsan going toward Dalmachi and say “Cheongsapo Gachuseyo.” From Jangsan Station it should only take about 8 minutes and cost less than W3,000 by taxi.