Gomjangeo is grilled hagfish — skinned, cut into chunks, and cooked in a sweet-spicy gochujang sauce — and the east-coast city of Samcheok is one of the best places in Korea to eat it. Chewy, smoky, a little springy, and weirdly addictive, it's the kind of regional specialty adventurous eaters travel for. Pair it with Samcheok's dramatic coast and you've got a great, offbeat food day. Here's how to do it.
What exactly is gomjangeo?
"Gomjangeo" is the common name for hagfish (kkomjangeo) — a primitive, eel-like sea creature that's prized on the southeast and east coasts. It's sold skinned (the tough skin is used for leather), then grilled live-fresh at your table, usually either:
- Yangnyeom (seasoned): chunks tossed in a sweet-spicy gochujang sauce with garlic, chili and sesame — the most popular style.
- Sogeumgui (salt-grilled): plainer, letting the chewy, savory flesh speak.
It's rich, dense and chewy — closer to a firm BBQ meat than to typical fish — and it's drinking food through and through.
How to eat it
- Order it seasoned (yangnyeom) your first time — the sauce is the easiest way in.
- Wrap pieces in lettuce or perilla with garlic and a dab of ssamjang.
- Finish with bokkeumbap — fried rice in the leftover spicy sauce, the standard and best ending.
- Drink soju or cold beer. This is not a quiet solo meal.
Samcheok and the wider Gangwon/Gyeongsang east coast have long-running gomjangeo restaurants, many near the harbors where it comes in fresh.
New to hagfish? Go seasoned, order one portion to start, and add a safer grilled seafood or pork as backup. Most people who try it end up ordering a second round.
Pair it with the coast
Samcheok is worth the trip for scenery alone, so build the meal into a coast day:
- Chuam Beach and the Candlestick Rocks (Chotdaebawi) — the dramatic sea stacks that appear on Korean postcards and even the back of an old banknote.
- Haesindang Park — the famously eyebrow-raising "penis park," a quirky folk-tradition sculpture park by the sea.
- Hwanseongul Cave — one of Asia's largest limestone caves, inland from the coast.
- The coastal rail bike / ocean cable car around Samcheok's shore.
When to go
Year-round for the food; the east coast is at its best for scenery in late spring through autumn, and Samcheok's beaches draw summer crowds. Sunrise over the East Sea is a Samcheok ritual worth setting an alarm for.
Getting to Samcheok
- Train/bus: reach Donghae/Samcheok via the east-coast line or intercity bus; from Seoul it's roughly 3–4 hours as of 2026 (the KTX to Gangneung plus a connection is one route).
- It pairs with Gangneung up the coast for a wider east-sea trip.
- Local buses and taxis connect the harbors, beaches and sights.
How to do it
- Get to Samcheok (via Gangneung/Donghae) on the east-coast route.
- Eat gomjangeo — seasoned, by a harbor, with soju.
- Finish with bokkeumbap in the pan.
- See Chuam's candlestick rocks at sunrise if you can.
- Add Hwanseongul Cave or the coastal cable car for a fuller day.
Sorting your rail-and-bus connections to the east coast in advance makes the trip down painless.
Sort trains & passes for your Korea trip
Come for the strangest, most moreish BBQ in Korea and a stretch of spectacular coast. Samcheok's grilled hagfish is exactly the kind of thing you travel to a specific town to eat.