A Korean grilled fish set meal for under 200 RMB — comes with a generous portion of mackerel

Text & Photos /Little Dot Paine

This restaurant, Yanshi Jia, hidden in an alley near Exit 7 of City Hall Station, was something I discovered by chance while staying at a nearby guesthouse. I only looked up the shop info after finishing my meal. That noon, I was on the hunt for a decent set meal for one, which wasn’t difficult to find around City Hall Station — the area has many office workers, so most eateries serve set meals. As I strolled down the alley, I noticed this place offering a single-person grilled fish set meal for just 7,000 KRW. The tofu stew with bibimbap was 6,000 KRW, a very reasonable price. The storefront looked pretty unassuming — if it weren’t for the menu, I probably wouldn’t have dared to go in, as such places usually cater to higher-end clientele or izakaya-style dining with larger portions.

Most places with this kind of decor are either Korean-style hanjeongsik restaurants or spots serving pajeon (Korean savory pancakes) with makgeolli (rice wine). Who knew I’d find a place offering single-serving set meals here?

Business is booming during lunch hours — even as a solo diner, I got a whole four-person table to myself.

Let’s take a look at the menu. It’s simple and even includes Chinese text. Plus, you can order set meals until 7 PM — how generous is that? After 7 PM, the place gets busier with drinkers. I’d recommend coming with two people: one can get the grilled fish, and the other can try the stone pot BBQ or doenjang (fermented soybean paste) soup or spicy tofu soup. It’s a great combo, really.

At night, the drinkers usually go for pajeon or spicy stir-fried baby octopus — mostly just small bites to accompany their drinks. That “trash grill” item? That’s actually a mistranslation — it’s grilled Spam, not trash.

When the food arrived, the portions were surprisingly generous. What stood out were the side dishes — they were really thoughtful. In my past experiences with grilled fish meals, I’d usually just get some lettuce, garlic, chili, and maybe one or two types of kimchi. But here? So much more variety.

The rice was adorable too, served in a retro-style bento box (I took the lid off). It felt like it could’ve been turned into a shakeable bento. The sweet seaweed in the top right corner was delicious, and the green veggies on top of the kimchi soup were also surprisingly tasty — not your everyday fare.

The star of the show, of course, was the grilled mackerel. It wasn’t a small portion — for a 7,000 KRW grilled mackerel set meal, it’s pretty much the standard price in Seoul. That’s less than 200 TWD (around the same in Taiwan), so eating grilled fish in Seoul is actually a better deal than in Taiwan.

And the taste? Pretty great. The fish had a nice, thick fillet with moderate fat content — it didn’t get greasy or heavy even as you ate more. The portion is quite large though, so it’s ideal if two people share one fish and each order something else.

I’ve always liked Korean pancakes, but not the mung bean ones you get at Gwangjang Market. I mean the flour-based ones — I love that floury aroma. The corn pancake was especially good.

And get this — the little side dish that came sliced up was actually pork cutlet. How generous is that?! And it was delicious too. Even though I’ve only been here once, it’s rare to find a grilled fish set meal that comes with such lavish side dishes. If you live near City Hall Station, I’d definitely recommend giving this place a try. I think it’s great.

?Yanshi Jia Restaurant

Korean blog
Address: ?聘夜寄萝 ?? 粮??杠16? 3（Naver Map/Daum Map）
Phone: 02-752-3177
Business Hours: 24 hours
Map Source:Hancom Korean Map (Chinese version)(Authorized use)

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