10 Great Restaurants in Tongyeong

Chef Jang is a Japanese-style izakaya restaurant where you can enjoy sashimi and alcoholic beverages. In addition to light dishes such as salmon sashimi, you can enjoy bean sprout dishes, rolled omelette, and grilled dishes as well. Enjoy your sashimi with cold draft beer or take your pick among premium dishes served by a former head chef of a famous hotel restaurant. With so many dishes to choose from, it can be difficult to choose.

The interior appears cosy and comfortable, seemingly optimized to those who visit at the end of their day. In the late evening, sit down at the atmospheric bar and watch the chef cook. Or, try the popular lunch specials during the day: Either way, you won't have any regrets.

Hansanseom Sikdang is a restaurant located to the east of Gangguan in Tongyeong, and is a popular place for hangover food. The restaurant uses rockfish, the most famous fish in Tongyeong, as the main ingredient. In addition to spicy rockfish stew (bollak maeuntang), filefish stew (jwichi maeuntang), and marbled rockfish stew, the restaurant also serves ridged-eye flounder and mugwort soup (dodari ssukguk) in spring, and catfish soup (megitang) and cod soup (daegutang) in winter.

The restaurant also serves bean sprout salad, kimchi, fish cakes, salted baby octopus, and other wonderful side dishes that accentuate the main dishes. Spicy rockfish stew excels with the soft flesh of rockfish. The savoury soup is made with garlic, red pepper powder, and red peppers without adding red chili paste (gochujang). The lack of red pepper paste creates a clear and refreshing soup. Spicy filefish stew is distinguished from rockfish in the plump and chewy texture of filefish. The restaurant is recommended to those who like rockfish or those who want to try a new style of fish soup.

Ttungbo Halmae Gimbap can be said to be the originator of Chungmu gimbap, one of the representatives of Tongyeong's food culture. Chungmu gimbap is plain gimbap containing no fillings outside of white rice, served with crispy radish kimchi and squid salad (ojingeo muchim). This unique style of gimbap is said to have originated in the 1930s and 40s, when it was made as a lunch that would not spoil for workers on fishing vessels going out to sea on hot days.

Here, the gimbap is served with radish kimchi and squid salad, along with dried radish leaf soup or clam soup. Radish kimchi seasoned with anchovy sauce is refreshingly tangy, while squid salad with fish cakes is spicy. Local folklore say that Ms. Eo Du-i, the "fat grandma" herself, launched the Chungmu gimbap to renown when she put forth the dish in a government festival in the 1980s, after which places serving gimbap began to sprout near the Tongyeong Passenger Terminal. Her daughter-in-law took the helm after Ms. Eo passed away in 1995.

Tongyeong Bapsang Sikdang is a restaurant famous for its seafood hot pot (haemul ttukbaegi). The seafood hot pot is filled with seafood such as octopus, mussels, scallops, crab, cockle, and conch. The restaurant is run by a couple, who make the dishes using the freshest ingredients available for the day. If the queue is long, you can take a number and wait for seating. In addition to the seafood hot pot, you can order various types of bibimbap, such as raw anchovy bibimbap, clam bibimbap, and sea pineapple bibimbap. To get a taste of the sea, get some grilled fish, raw sea pineapple, raw clam salad (bajirak muchim), and raw anchovy salad (myeolchihoe muchim). Breakfast dried radish leaf soup is good for hangovers. In spring, you can enjoy ridged-eye flounder and mugwort soup (dodari ssukguk), and spicy catfish stew (megitang), and in winter, oyster and rice soup (gulgukbap).

There is also a set menu with seafood hot pot, grilled fish, raw anchovy salad, raw clam salad, and rice bowls. If you order a set menu, you can get raw fish bibimbap with the remaining fish salad. This restaurant grinds its own red pepper powder and sesame oil. Drop by the restaurant after visiting the Tongyeong Undersea Tunnel or the Misu-dong Underwater Tunnel.

Omisa Kkulppang is a well-known place for Tongyeong-style honey bread (kkulppang). It began offering the honey bread in the 1960s. It is said that Omisa was the first place that filled the honey bread with sweet red bean paste. The bakery started as a peddler's stall serving bread coated with rice syrup, near the Tongyeong Munhwa Madang area. The name of the place, Omisa, was originally the name of the laundromat next door. When the laundromat closed, the bakery inherited the name and became Omisa Kkulppang.

The selection of honey bread here are all handmade, and their delectable combination of sweet and savoury means that the honey bread often tend to sell out even before noon. The main store in Hangnam-dong is run by the late founder's first daughter, while the branch store in Bongpyeong-dong is run by one of the sons. Tongyeong-style honey bread is made by filling flour dough with sweet red bean paste, deep-frying the dough, and coating the bread with sesame seeds and starch syrup. Other fillings include sweet potato, green pea, yuzu, and cheese.

Tongyeong Myeongga, famous for its oyster dishes, is located near Dongpirang. It is easily recognisable from its massive signboard, and the restaurant has table and chairs, which make the place more comfortable for those who are not used to Korean seating. In addition to oyster dishes such as the oyster and rice soup (gulgukbap) set menu, oyster rice (gulbap) set menu, oyster and seaweed fulvescens soup (maesaengi gulguk) set, and oyster, seaweed fulvescens, and sliced rice cake soup (maesaengi gul tteokguk) set, the restaurant also serves seafood dishes such as sea pineapple bibimbap, raw fish bibimbap, cold raw fish soup, and sea urchin bibimbap. You can order ridged-eye flounder and mugwort soup (dodari ssukguk) in spring, and cubed snailfish stew (mulmegitang) in winter. You can also taste the raw anchovy salad (myeolchihoe muchim), oyster salad (gul muchim), pan-fried battered oysters (guljeon), and deep-fried oysters with sweet and sour sauce (gul tangsuyuk).

The oyster course, which includes steamed oysters, pan-fried battered oysters, oyster salad, deep-fried oysters with sweet and sour sauce, fresh oysters, oyster rice, oyster and seaweed fulvescens soup, grilled fish, and 10 side dishes, has a minimum order of two portions. You can also opt for the oyster set, which offers pan-fried battered oysters, oyster salad, deep-fried oysters with sweet and sour sauce, one main dish, grilled fish, and 10 side dishes. Sea pineapple bibimbap is served generously with laver flakes and flying fish roe. The restaurant does not use any chemical flavorings, so dishes here do not feel artificial.

Byside Coffee is an atmospheric bakery cafe located on the 2nd floor of a building next to Port Theatre in Hangnam-dong, Tongyeong. Here you can taste various types of pasteries including scones and cookies. The bakery's unique atmosphere comes from antiques like oil paintings and old sewing machines, which are arranged as interior props. There's even a photo spot between the motorcycle and electric guitar.

You can also enjoy side dishes such as beer, cheese, and deep-fried shrimp. If you order a beer, they also serve pretzels and peanut butter as snacks. Note that side dishes are made to order, and therefore take more than 15 minutes after ordering. Don't forget to enjoy a leisurely brunch at the cafe.

MK1252 is a bakery cafe in a white building with a view of the sea. It is located near Heugyongho Wharf, just by the sea, so you can enjoy drinks and baked goods while looking out at the sea. MK1252 unusually has a pink door that resembles a vending machine. This three-floor cafe is named after its old address (1252, Anpyeong-dong).

The cafe's signature menu includes Tongyeong Sea Latte, Sunrise, Double Matcha Latte, Ice Wine Ade (green grape), and Berry Passionfruit Ade. If you want a more expansive view of the sea, head up to the rooftop. There's also window seats that face the garden inside. Outside, there is a large chair that is taller than most visitors, so you can climb up and take a picture with the sea in the background.

Paldo Gogi Maeul is run by the son of the owner of the nearby Paldo Sikdang, a 40-year local institution. This place is conveniently located across from Lotte Mart in Mujeon-dong. Eonyang bulgogi is bulgogi from Eonyang, Gyeongsangnam-do, made with thinly sliced and seasoned beef. It utilizes the seasoning to great effect, further tenderising the sirloin or tenderloin used for the dish.

In addition to Eonyang bulgogi, there are a variety of Korean beef dishes such as special cuts, specials, sirloin, rib eye, boneless galbi, and beef tartare (yukhoe). Other dishes are also available like fresh pork belly, pork galbi, and galbi soup with abalone (jeonbok galbitang) and plain galbi soup (galbitang). Of course, you also have the classics like soybean paste jjigae (doenjang jjigae) and cold buckwheat noodles (naengmyeon). For lunch specials, you get Eonyang Bulgogi and your choice of either cold buckwheat noodles (mullaengmyeon), spicy buckwheat noodles (bibimnaengmyeon), or soybean paste jjigae. As side dishes, cucumbers, garlic stems, pickled onions, and pickled sesame leaves are served.

Ullabong Cafe is famous for its rather unique concept of serving some insults with its latte. You can find the place by walking a bit in the direction of Dongmun Church from the entrance of Dongpirang in Taepyeong-dong. When you order the insult latte, you get a sentence on top of the foam. The sentence bears tailored insults, personalized from the name, gender, relationship, and stories you provide on the order form. When a group orders multiple lattes, they will get a number of different insults. You can have the rare experience of paying money to get insulted. Of course, when you drink the latte, the written swear words fade away.

If you want a large Cafe Americano, you can order a Sabalcano. Kwola Latte is a latte containing alcohol. The cafe is not very spacious with seating for only up to 4 people. The place does not serve the insult latte to groups with minors.