Shinhwa Seafood in Anyang Jungang Market: Clam Soup Review

Hi, this is Izzingne. A few days ago, I met a friend in the neighborhood for a light drink and had a solid first round on Daengnidan-gil. While walking around and wondering what to eat for round two, I thought of Samdeok Barbecue and headed into the Jungang Market street. On the way, we happened to see Shinhwa Seafood. It had such a strong good-restaurant vibe that my friend and I both said, "Hey, let's go here," and started waiting. A wait at 8:30 p.m. on a weekday was impressive.

With this pocha atmosphere and this look, how could we resist? Since it was our second stop, we could not eat sashimi, so we decided to keep it simple with clam soup and just one more bottle.

It is near the Jungang Market entrance on the Daengnidan-gil side. Hours are 15:00 to 22:00. When we visited, they said they closed at 10 p.m., but while we were eating, it passed 10. The owner came over and said they would close slowly, but asked us to pay first, so we ate a little more and then left. I was thankful they let us keep eating while they cleaned other tables.

The waiting area had a heater like this and several blankets. It was inside the market, so it was not completely outdoors, but it was still cold at night, and the heater made it warm.

The menu had sashimi, clam soup, octopus soup, seafood, and grilled fish. Large yellowtail was especially famous here for being good value with generous portions. I saw yellowtail at the next table, and it looked plentiful and really good. I promised myself I would come next time for round one and ordered clam soup.

You write your order directly on the bill. They serve cucumber, peas, beondegi, and salad as basic side dishes.

And then came egg custard and corn cheese too. People with kid-like tastes got excited and ate them well. The egg custard was so fluffy and mild that I almost ordered one more.

It was so generous. We only ordered clam soup, so I wondered why I had not known about a seafood restaurant like this before, even as someone from Anyang.

Boiling away. This is the small size. There were many kinds of clams, and the bowl itself was large, so the portion was really big. It was hard to believe this was the smallest size.

There were lots of bean sprouts inside and plenty of smaller clams too. The broth was clean and spicy in a way that felt perfect for recovering after drinks.

The clams were so big that I took a comparison shot with a soju glass.

We originally said we would have only one bottle and leave, but ended up going to two. We almost had one more, but stopped because it was closing time. If not for the closing time, I think Shinhwa Seafood could have easily taken us to three bottles. Next time, I will definitely come back for large yellowtail.