Sashimi date by Nonhyeon Station: wild stone bream set, Nonhyeon Bada

Nonhyeon Bada (논현바다) is a sashimi restaurant near Nonhyeon Station that serves a wild-caught fish course. It's open every day from 11:30 until 3 a.m. all year round, and the lunch special is limited and served 11:30-15:00.

How to get to Nonhyeon Bada, and where to park

Nonhyeon Bada is almost right outside Exit 2 of Nonhyeon Station, so it's easy to find. But it's in the middle of Gangnam, so parking space is very limited.

I wanted to knock back some sashimi and drinks with my boyfriend for the first time in a while, so we went to Nonhyeon Bada, the sashimi place by Nonhyeon Station, haha. The location was really convenient, yep.. you come out of Exit 2 and it's practically in front of you, so finding it was easy.

Being in the middle of Gangnam, parking was really tight :( If you're driving, a nearby paid lot is the easier choice, and if you're going to drink like we did, I'd just recommend public transport, haha.

What's the seating like at Nonhyeon Bada? Bar counter seats and private rooms

Inside Nonhyeon Bada there are regular tables, dacchi (bar-style counter) seats that suit solo diners, and private rooms for groups. It looks good for anything from dates to get-togethers.

Once we got inside, it was much cleaner than I expected. There are regular tables where you can sit comfortably, and dacchi seats that are great for coming alone and having a quiet drink. At the back there are private rooms too for groups, so it looked good for anything from dates to gatherings.

And the drink selection was pretty wide, haha. Seeing that always puts me in a good mood :)

They also had blankets and big power banks ready in the restaurant.

Nonhyeon Bada Sea Wild Set: price and what's included

The Sea Wild Set (바다자연산세트) is ₩55,000 per person, and the two of us ordered it for 2. It comes out in order: porridge, mussel soup, jeon (savory pancake), wild assorted sashimi, seafood, sushi, corn cheese, grilled dishes, spicy fish stew and tempura.

You order on the device at each table, which is easy. We went with the Sea Wild Set! ₩55,000 × 2 people! Once we started eating, there was way more food than I'd expected, haha..

Side dishes and seaweed porridge

First the side dishes were spread out: cabbage, garlic, ginger, wasabi and seaweeds. I liked the chewy seaweed and sea mustard, haha. The more you chew, the more a faint scent of the sea comes up and your mouth feels fresh, yep.

I started with the seaweed porridge. It wasn't a thick, heavy porridge but a smooth, moist style. The rice grains were soft and fully cooked, with finely mixed seaweed to chew, so it went down easily. It wasn't salty either, so it was perfect for settling your stomach before the main eating, haha.

Mussel soup, chive jeon (pancake), steamed egg, yuzu salad and corn cheese

The mussel soup came in a big bowl absolutely full of mussels, haha. When I opened the shells the meat inside was plump, and the broth had that cool, deep mussel flavor. One sip of hot broth and then a drink, and ahh.. this is it, haha.

The jeon came out golden, too. The edges were a bit crispy and the inside moist, and with plenty of chives it smelled great. It wasn't the kind that leaves only a heavy oily taste, so I kept picking at it.

The Japanese-style steamed egg (chawanmushi) was silky smooth on the surface, haha. When I scooped it with a spoon it came up soft like pudding, and in my mouth it melted with almost no chewing. It was rich yet mildly seasoned, good to have between other dishes.

The yuzu salad had big, crunchy vegetables with a faint yuzu aroma spreading through, so refreshing, ha.

Then hot corn cheese came out too, haha. Popping corn kernels with melted, nutty cheese, a flavor you already know but your spoon keeps going back for.

Which wild fish came out at Nonhyeon Bada?

On this day the Sea Wild Set included wild Japanese stone bream (뱅에돔) and assorted sashimi of amberjack, red sea bream and flounder. Each fish in the assortment had a name tag stuck in it, so we could compare them one by one.

Wild stone bream sashimi with the skin on

And finally the wild stone bream appeared, yep. It was sliced thick with the skin left on, and the flesh wasn't soft but firm to chew. The skin chewed along with it and added a crunchy texture, and the more I chewed, the more clean, nutty flavor came up. Rather than piling on seasoning, I liked it better with just a little, haha.

Assorted sashimi: yellowtail amberjack, red sea bream and flounder

The wild assorted sashimi came with amberjack, red sea bream and flounder. Each fish even had a name tag, so there was no confusion and it was fun to compare them one by one, ha.

The flounder was chewy, clean and light, and the sea bream had soft flesh with a slightly crunchy bit of skin. The amberjack had a bit more nutty richness than the other two! Even though it's all sashimi, the three textures were all quite different, so alternating between them was fun, yep.

A seafood plate of abalone, sea cucumber and sea squirt

Seafood like abalone, sea cucumber and sea squirt (meongge) came on one plate too. The abalone was thinly sliced and crunchy, and the sea cucumber had its signature plump, crunchy texture. The sea squirt spread a fragrant sea aroma the moment it hit my mouth, so it was nice to pick up one in between the sashimi.

Sushi, grilled shrimp with cheese, and squid sashimi with uni

In the second half of the course at Nonhyeon Bada came three kinds of sushi and futomaki (thick sushi roll), shrimp with cheese grilled, then squid sashimi with uni (sea urchin). Having a little uni on the squid sashimi was a particularly good combination.

The three kinds of sushi and futomaki came out too, and the fish on top clearly outshone the rice, haha.

The tuna sushi in particular melted softly and was nutty, and the futomaki was packed with fillings so one bite brought all the flavors together, haha.

The shrimp cheese grill was big shrimp topped with cheese and grilled until golden. Plump shrimp with nutty cheese melted on it, and the combo, well, what more is there to say, haha.

Squid sashimi and uni came out too. The squid was so clear it was almost translucent, and chewy in the mouth! Chew on and a faint sweetness comes up, yep. The uni, on the other hand, melted creamily on the tongue with a rich flavor, ha. Having a little uni with the squid let me feel chewy and soft at once, so this combo was good too, ha.

Grilled fish head and spicy fish stew to finish

The course at Nonhyeon Bada finishes with grilled fish head and a maeuntang (spicy fish stew) piled with bean sprouts. The stew broth was rich and spicy, with a refreshing finish.

The grilled fish head came out properly grilled to a golden color, and picking the meat out from between the bones was fun, haha. The outside was nutty and the meat inside moist, and the part near the skin was a little oily, which made it even richer, haha.

And the last is of course the maeuntang, yep. At first the bean sprouts were piled high, but once it bubbled up they wilted and the flavor really soaked into the broth. Thanks to the taste coming out of the fish bones and flesh, the broth was quite rich and spicy, and with lots of bean sprouts the finish was refreshing. I said I was full and kept spooning up the broth anyway, haha.

Is the Sea Wild Set enough for two? Leftovers can be packed to go

The Sea Wild Set for 2 at Nonhyeon Bada was a substantial amount for two people. When I asked if we could take the leftovers, they packed them up nicely for us.

But seriously, the amount was substantial for two, haha.. It felt a waste to leave the food, so I asked if we could take it with us, and they packed up the leftovers nicely too, which I was really grateful for :(

It's not just wild sashimi and done: seaweed porridge, mussel soup, jeon, egg custard, salad, corn cheese, wild sashimi, seafood, sushi, grilled dishes, spicy fish stew.. the lineup kept changing, so it was fun right to the end. The textures differed clearly from fish to fish, and comparing them one by one was my favorite part, ha.

Overall the portions were generous, I liked the condition of the fish, and since it's right in front of Nonhyeon Station, it was super easy to have a drink with it. A place where my boyfriend and I stuffed ourselves and left happy after a drink, haha! Next time I'm craving wild sashimi I'll probably stop by again, yep.