Rainy-night indoor bar seats at Jamsil sashimi pub Daegang, Seoul

I went to Daegang, a sashimi pub near Jamsil's Songni-dan-gil where the aged sashimi is really good haha. Just wanted a simple drink-and-snack night on a weekend evening.

Daegang's patio and indoor room on Songni-dan-gil

Daegang, a Korean pub in Jamsil's Songni-dan-gil, is known for its patio (yajang), and it's become a really hot spot lately as a Songni-dan-gil sashimi bar hahaha.

When I visited it had just rained so the patio wasn't open yet, but by the time I left it had opened up haha. Honestly the patio vibe at Daegang is insane haha. But I think if you come as a pair, the indoor atmosphere might actually be even better.

There's a separate self-serve bar at the entrance, and the patio only runs until 10:30 PM — they don't keep it open too late.

I'd been curious walking past this place for a while — the patio always looked so nice, and I'd heard the aged sashimi was amazing haha. As a blogger who knows Songni-dan-gil, I figured I absolutely had to try it at least once!

Can you walk into Daegang without a reservation?

I went without booking ahead, and the indoor tables were already reserved. Since the indoor seating is mostly bar-table style rather than regular tables, I'd recommend reserving ahead if you're coming as a group!

Even the small 2-seat tables indoors were completely full. If you want a table seat, book ahead! But honestly, if it's a date, the bar-table seats actually looked like they had better atmosphere.

The vibe looks great, right? Haha, don't these kinds of seats work even better for a date than a regular table? I ended up at a seat facing the wall.

There are seats along the wall like this too — I thought the chairs would be uncomfortable, but they weren't at all, actually cushioned and comfy.

It's been a while since I've seen a pub with this kind of vibe, so I really liked it. I think part of it is that even though it's a bar, it doesn't feel cramped — it's got an open, airy feel, bright lighting, and the seats aren't squeezed together, so I already thought: good find!

They even had Daegang t-shirts! Doesn't look like they sell them directly, but haha, definitely on-trend style right now!

House-made yagwanmun-ju and ginseng wine at Daegang

So why call it a Songni-dan-gil sashimi bar and not just a sashimi restaurant? Because they brew their own liquor too! They've placed bottles between the tables with the exact brewing date written on them — yagwanmun-ju (a Korean herbal liquor) was the most common one lol. My family used to make ginseng wine like this at home when I was a kid, so seeing it in a trendy spot like this felt kind of fresh haha.

I'll blur out the Wi-Fi and restroom passwords since those are only for customers! Also, table time is limited to 2 hours — probably because there isn't a huge amount of indoor seating.

Daegang's menu and how to order

I went back and forth between the mixed aged sashimi (₩29,000) and the flounder sesame oil gimbap (₩18,000), but since sashimi is the signature dish and clearly the most popular, I ordered the mixed aged sashimi.

When you order the mixed sashimi, they give you baek-kimchi (white kimchi) so you can make your own sushi, and you can also order sushi rice separately to DIY your own hand rolls haha!

There was also a gochujang zucchini pork stew that seemed like it was made for 2–3 people, so it felt like it'd be too much for me alone — apparently it's a family recipe from the head chef. Reading the menu description made me curious about the taste but ㅠㅠ I figured the portion would be too big, so I skipped it this time!

While eating the mixed sashimi I ordered griddled corn cheese as a side — I'll review that separately below haha.

Since Daegang brews its own yagwanmun-ju and ginseng wine in-house, I got curious and ordered a ginseng wine highball too haha. Aged 17 years, apparently!!! The place obviously hasn't been open for 17 years, so it must have been brewed way before opening.

And of course, the first drink has to be draft beer — that's the rule. So I started off with a draft beer too.

You order by scanning the QR code at your table, so you don't need to flag down staff — super convenient! The beer arrives right after you order haha! It's Terra, but the draft version was so smooth that whoever's pouring it must be a real pro — it tasted way smoother and better than regular Terra.

See how creamy and smooth that foam is? No exaggeration, I almost didn't believe it was Terra. The draft was genuinely so smooth, and it landed on the table with a satisfying clink~~~

The 29,000-won mixed aged sashimi platter: 8 kinds of fish

A few minutes later, the mixed aged sashimi arrived! It comes with chojang (vinegar-chili sauce), makjang (spicy soybean paste dip), and wasabi, all sorts of options. But my boyfriend and I are strictly a ssamjang(=makjang)-only crew — if you're from Gyeongsang-do, it's ssamjang, no debate haha. The sashimi comes in 8 different types total, mostly 2 pieces each, though 3 of the types come with 3 pieces. It's basically the perfect casual drinking food.

I put makjang and radish sprouts on the sashimi and just kept eating nonstop. Maybe because it's aged, the texture was incredibly chewy ㅠㅜㅜ

Same combo of ssamjang and radish sprouts, but this time with garlic added haha. Garlic is usually pretty spicy and makes your tongue tingle, but here even the garlic was mellow ;; What is this place? It wasn't just a sharp, spicy flavor at all.

Fin cuts are best enjoyed for their crunchy, chewy texture, so I skipped the radish sprouts and just added ssamjang to really feel that crunchy fin texture haha.

I'm not sure what this seaweed-looking piece was called, but it was basically flavorless haha, so apparently it's meant to be dipped in chojang. The sashimi pieces were so thick that I just piled them on and ate them wrapped up like a ssam.

Can you tell how thick the sashimi cuts are~~? Even at 2–3 pieces per type, the slices were basically all thick-cut, and the texture was so good!!!

How the ginseng wine highball and griddled corn cheese tasted

Along with the ginseng wine highball, I also ordered griddled corn cheese as a side haha. When ordering the highball you can choose the mixer — water, ginger ale, or Singha — and we went with Singha, though the ginseng wine smell still came through pretty strongly.

They cook it fresh right when you order, so the cheese kept stretching. I assumed 'corn cheese' would mean the usual sweet corn cheese you get as a free side at sashimi restaurants, but Daegang's griddled corn cheese has zero sweetness (seems like there's no sugar in it?) — instead you taste the savory richness of the mayonnaise.

So if you're expecting the typical sweet corn cheese, it might taste different than you expect. Still, since it's mostly mayo and cheese flavor, it's a savory rather than sweet corn cheese, and not overly rich or heavy at all!

Would I go back to Daegang? Final verdict

Every time I walked past I thought 'this place has such a good vibe,' and I finally made it in — the seats had enough spacing to not feel cramped, and the aged sashimi was so chewy it didn't disappoint at all! I'll probably come back again in the fall haha!