Sunday waiting at an Ansan seafood bar for raw shrimp sashimi: Susan

The other day I went with a friend to Susan Jang, a hot spot among Gojan-dong restaurants and bars. I had to be in Gojan-dong anyway, and my friend said it's raw shrimp season and suggested we go eat some — so off to Susan Jang we went!

Susan Jang is a chain, with branches in Dongtan, Seonbu, and Gojan. I'd eaten at the Seonbu branch before and the vibe for drinking was great there too, with delicious seafood, but the Gojan-dong branch felt even fresher and tastier.

Susan Jang / Location: Gojan-dong 771-3 / Hours: 17:00 – 00:30 / Menu: Raw shrimp sashimi, flounder sashimi + salt gimbap, Cass beer

Finding Susan Jang's Gojan branch

Susan Jang, a well-known Gojan-dong restaurant and bar, sits down an alley between Lotteria and Starbucks — and once you walk in, this romantic-looking storefront appears. That's the place! The vibe is already great~~

Out front there's a tank full of live shrimp, and inside there's a variety of seafood like fan mussels and abalone. Since Susan Jang is a bar that sells seasonal seafood, I love that everything is always kept fresh and clean!

A wait even on Sunday evening

We were the last customers to walk straight in without waiting. Everyone who came after us had to register their phone number and wait — on a Sunday?! That really tells you how popular this restaurant is!!

The interior wasn't huge, but it had regular tables plus bar-style seats facing the kitchen. We took the open seats right in front of the kitchen! Getting to watch the cooking and enjoying the atmosphere — totally satisfying! And just getting in without a wait made us happy already!

Each table has a tablet for ordering, and we ordered raw shrimp sashimi, flounder sashimi + salt gimbap, and Cass beer!! My first raw shrimp of the year!! Already looking so good~~

We ordered and got ready to eat before the food even arrived! We set out the soy sauce and vinegar-chili sauce, chatted with each other, and the dishes started coming out one by one.

Grilled flatfish, the complimentary side dish

No matter which Susan Jang branch you visit, they always bring out grilled flatfish as a complimentary side dish, and it's an absolute rice thief! It's seasoned so well that you could easily polish off a whole bowl of rice with it! Soft, no fishy smell at all — fish really does taste best when someone else grills it for you~

Raw shrimp sashimi, prepped the moment you order

The moment you order, the owner heads straight to the outdoor tank to grab live shrimp and prep them — and it's incredibly fast!! Pulled straight from the tank and prepped right there, so it was extremely fresh. Nearly every table had ordered raw shrimp — that's how popular the dish is!

When the raw shrimp sashimi arrived, it was so fresh it was still alive. Check the video — it was literally flopping around...!!

We ate the raw shrimp sashimi plain with just wasabi on top, dipped in soy sauce, and also dipped in the slightly spicy sauce that came alongside it — the texture was so springy and delicious, with a subtle sweetness. The shrimp itself was tasty enough that it was great whether or not you dipped it in sauce.

Fried shrimp heads on the side

When you order the raw shrimp sashimi, you can also add fried shrimp heads — they cut the heads off the shrimp we'd ordered and fry them up. They were fried so well I ate them like a snack, they were that good!

Pull the horn on top of the shrimp head and the shell peels off cleanly — you can eat it dipped lightly in vinegar-chili sauce or just plain! Super nutty, with the shrimp's umami and flavor hitting hard!!! Crunchy texture, and the more you chew the more the nutty flavor fills your mouth!!!

Flounder sashimi + salt gimbap, ₩39,000

The flounder sashimi and salt gimbap (seaweed rice roll) arrived beautifully plated. In the middle was the flounder fin, with flounder sashimi on the side, and salt gimbap, wasabi, white kimchi, and ginger on one side.

For 39,000 won, this much food isn't bad at all!?!? The flounder had a good chewy texture, and the salt gimbap was light and nutty and warm — it wasn't sushi rice, but topping it with wasabi and soy-dipped flounder made for a really appealing bite!

We ate it with flounder on top of the salt gimbap, just the flounder sashimi on its own, and the fin with wasabi — tried it every which way, and it was the perfect drinking snack~ We had it with beer, but honestly, if it weren't for work the next day, I'd have wanted soju instead!

In summary

Susan Jang, a popular Gojan-dong restaurant and bar, was hopping even on a Sunday — the snacks were great and the cold beer hit just right for this weather! If you want to properly enjoy seasonal seafood, I highly recommend Susan Jang~ Great atmosphere, and the seafood is incredibly fresh!