Gwanghwamun sushi restaurant, tuna trio and mackerel solo meal: Ilpum

Hi everyone, this is Sunavi, still dating food :)

Today's story is about eating uni ikura don — sea urchin roe and salmon roe in one bowl. I went solo to Ilpum, a well-known kaisendon spot in Gwanghwamun, and added tuna and shrimp sushi, three pieces each. Even with just one bowl in front of you, every bite changes depending on whether you wrap it in seaweed or mix it into the rice, so I'll show you the different combinations too haha.

Where is Ilpum Gwanghwamun, and how do parking and reservations work?

Ilpum Gwanghwamun is on the basement 2nd floor of Lemeilleur Jongno Town. There's an underground parking lot with up to 2 hours supported, and you can also book through Naver Reservation.

The restaurant is on B2, so you just walk into the building and head down.

There are food photos and a menu board outside, so you can check out the rice bowls and sushi before going in.

Inside Ilpum Gwanghwamun: counter seats and table seats

There's a long counter facing the kitchen, and table seating further inside. Every seat had its own water dispenser, which was super convenient.

Ilpum Gwanghwamun menu and prices

These might be hard to read in the photos, so I'll type them out.

• Kaisendon ₩26,000
• Premium kaisendon ₩37,000
• Whole eel unagi don ₩40,000
• Sushi omakase platter ₩50,000
• (Special) Ilpum don ₩30,000
• Uni doro don ₩55,000
• (Special) Sashimi don ₩39,000
• Uni ikura don (mini) ₩38,000
• Fresh tuna zuke don ₩33,000
• Aburi don ₩30,000
• Salmon sake don ₩26,000
• Chicken karaage don ₩22,000
• Seasonal yellowtail don ₩33,000
• Today's sushi ₩28,000
• White fish sushi set ₩33,000
• Salmon sushi set ₩28,000
• Seasonal yellowtail sushi set ₩35,000
• Futomaki (full roll 10pcs) ₩28,000 / (half roll 5pcs) ₩17,000
• Tuna special futomaki ₩45,000
• Pressed mackerel nigiri set ₩26,000
• Nigiri sushi trio ₩7,000
• Gunkan sushi trio ₩13,000
• Tuna sushi trio ₩8,000
• Shrimp sushi trio ₩5,500
• Tuna tekka maki ₩6,000
• Sweet shrimp x2 ₩2,000 / Red shrimp x3 ₩3,000
• Salmon ₩5,000 / Smoked mackerel ₩5,000 / Sea bream ₩6,000
• Salmon belly ₩6,000 / Flounder engawa ₩7,000
• Freshwater eel (1pc) ₩7,000 / Flounder ₩5,000 / Wing squid ₩5,000
• Fresh tuna zuke ₩6,000 / Scallop (1pc) ₩7,000 / Abalone ₩7,000
• Sweet shrimp uni maki (1pc) ₩10,000 / Fresh tuna belly (1pc) ₩10,000
• Sashimi platter (1 person) ₩37,000 / (2 people) ₩62,000 / (3 people) ₩82,000
• Uni trio combo ₩69,000 / Pressed mackerel sashimi ₩25,000
• Seasonal uni (100g) ₩42,000 / (50g) ₩22,000
• Seasonal yellowtail sashimi (1 person) ₩30,000 / (2 people) ₩50,000
• Unagi & tamagoyaki ₩38,000 / Chicken karaage ₩17,000
• Geoje sea squirt fritter ₩18,000
• Hokkaido scallop cream croquette (2pcs) ₩5,000 / Crab cream croquette (2pcs) ₩5,000
• Add-ons: crab, monkfish liver, flying fish roe, sweet shrimp, tamagoyaki, ₩1,000 each
• Add-ons: flounder, salmon, mackerel, sea bream, tuna, squid, ₩3,000 each
• Add-ons: abalone, scallop, ₩4,000 each
• Add-ons: sea urchin roe 20g ₩10,000 / salmon roe 25g ₩10,000
• Dassai 23 ₩350,000 / Dassai 39 ₩170,000
• Wolgyegwan Junmai Daiginjo ₩110,000 (masuzan glass) ₩16,000
• Ippin Junmai Ginjo ₩100,000 (masuzan glass) ₩15,000
• Kamotsuru Honjozo Karakuchi ₩65,000 (masuzan glass) ₩10,000
• Gokigenjo ₩40,000 (masuzan glass) ₩6,000
• Yuzu highball ₩11,000 / Umeshu highball ₩10,000 / Suntory highball ₩10,000

What comes with the meal: steamed egg, seaweed and cold udon

The basic sides at Ilpum Gwanghwamun include steamed egg and soybean paste soup — the steamed egg was properly done, with shrimp inside too.

White kimchi and seaweed come out as well, and the seaweed was quite premium, perfect for pairing with the kaisendon! The higher the grade of seaweed, the more expensive it usually is, so I was already impressed by how they didn't skimp on ingredients before the food even arrived~

A cold udon topped with a small karaage also comes out. Since it's cold udon, the noodles are really chewy~

Uni ikura don (mini), 38,000 won

On the menu it's listed as uni ikura don mini. Since the price is high, I think they labeled it mini because it's smaller than the kaisendon! Uni means sea urchin roe and ikura means salmon roe.

The bowl isn't huge, but the uni was generously piled on. There was quite a lot of ikura too. It's about this size.

The uni had no bitterness at all — really sweet, and I was so happy to have good uni again after a while lol

The salmon roe had just the right pleasant briny taste too — I couldn't tell any difference from the quality I've had in Japan.

Since the seaweed I mentioned earlier was so good, I actually held off wrapping at first, worried it might overpower the flavor. But once I tried it wrapped, I kept doing it lol

They also gave gamtae (dried green laver) — gamtae plus uni is a famous combo.

Of course, eating it plain and enjoying the richness of the uni on its own was delicious too.

Tuna sushi trio, 8,000 won

The tuna sushi trio came with two pieces of tuna nigiri and one piece of maki topped with minced tuna.

They use red vinegar, so the rice looks slightly yellowish. It doesn't really affect the flavor much.

The seaweed was so good that I ate one piece plain and wrapped the other in it.

This place has an ilpum don (negitoro don) on the menu, and since I always visit Tsujihan whenever I travel to Tokyo, I was curious about their negitoro — so I was happy it was included in the tuna set. It was pretty good, so next time I'll have to come back just for the ilpum don.

Shrimp sushi trio, 5,500 won

The shrimp sushi trio is a plate with cooked shrimp nigiri, raw shrimp nigiri, and a maki with sweet shrimp. You get to eat both cooked and raw shrimp together, so it's a lineup worth noting if you love shrimp.

All three had different textures and were tasty. I really thought adding this for ₩5,500 was a great call.

Ordered smoked mackerel, served plain mackerel instead

I ordered the smoked mackerel, but they said the building doesn't allow smoking, so it came out as regular mackerel instead. So what I actually ate wasn't smoked mackerel but the regular kind.

It wasn't what I ordered, but the mackerel itself was still tasty. If you're picking it expecting the smoked version, it'd be good to ask about this first.

It came with lightly pickled onions, and the mackerel was delicious. I feel like I keep saying everything is delicious lol but honestly everything really was good!

I ate the whole spread and enjoyed every bit of it.

Once I was almost done, they brought out mango panna cotta too — I've had panna cotta at a few other places, but this one had the smoothest texture of them all.

Verdict: one rice bowl plus a few sushi pieces makes a solo meal

At Ilpum Gwanghwamun, I centered my meal around the uni ikura don and added tuna and shrimp sushi on the side. You can order by picking one rice bowl and adding whatever à la carte pieces you want, so it's a good setup to keep in mind on days when you want to try a little bit of several kinds of seafood.

I especially liked mixing the uni and salmon roe into the rice, or piling them onto seaweed and gamtae — it let me enjoy one bowl in several different ways. If you're looking for a Gwanghwamun kaisendon spot and also want sushi on the side, it's worth comparing the menu here. I'll be back with more food stories soon haha.