Gwanghwamun solo drinking, umeshu highball and counter seats: Ilpum

Ilpum Gwanghwamun: a Japanese restaurant for a solo holiday dinner in Jongno

Ilpum Gwanghwamun is a well-known Japanese restaurant near Gwanghwamun, and I booked a counter seat in advance through Naver Reservation before heading over alone. I don't go back to my hometown for holidays by choice haha, but I felt a bit lonely so I decided to at least eat something good by myself, and ended up in Gwanghwamun.

Dinner service starts at 5:30 PM, and since I wanted to eat at a relaxed pace, I booked for that time — but a ton of other guests showed up too...! Definitely confirms this place is legit popular.

Are the counter seats at Ilpum good for eating alone?

The counter seats at Ilpum Gwanghwamun are on the roomier side, so eating alone there wasn't uncomfortable at all. The basic setup was already in place, with utensils and water set at every seat.

For up to two people, the counter seats seem good since you also get to watch the food being made.

There are also tables set up behind the counter seats.

Chawanmushi and soup, included with every meal

Ilpum Gwanghwamun includes chawanmushi as a standard side, and it's super smooth and silky, topped with what looks like gamtae (dried laver). Even the chawanmushi has that upscale feel you'd expect from a proper Japanese restaurant.

Since I ordered sashimi that day, this was perfect for warming up my stomach before the cold dishes.

The soup was also warm and tasty.

The umeshu highball, one glass for solo drinking

The umeshu highball I ordered at Ilpum Gwanghwamun has a sweet plum flavor, making it easy to enjoy for a light drink or for people who aren't great with alcohol. Besides highballs, they also sell sake, including masu-style pours, so sake lovers can enjoy this place without hesitation too.

What comes on Ilpum's solo sashimi moriawase

This is the solo sashimi moriawase I ordered. It came with seaweed, gamtae, and what I think was a peanut sauce. The sashimi selection ranged widely, from uni to sweet shrimp to tuna, so it was fun to try a bit of everything.

The sashimi slices were thick too, which made for a great chewy bite. I still don't really know how to judge raw fish flavor, but the texture itself was springy and satisfying, so I dug in happily.

The salmon, dipped in the house sauce

Dipping the salmon in this sauce gave it a totally different flavor. Honestly, I don't usually enjoy salmon as sashimi outside of sushi — it feels too mushy to me and I'm not a fan of that particular salmon taste that only I seem to notice.

But eating it with this sauce, I could taste more of the salmon's own savory flavor rather than just the sauce's richness and that distinct taste, so I ended up enjoying it a lot.

Tuna, shiso jellyfish, uni and ikura, and steamed abalone

The tuna was — well, no words needed... just so good. How you eat it is personal preference, but I personally liked pairing it with gamtae too.

This one is shisonomi kurage, a jellyfish salad with shiso, crunchy with a distinct shiso flavor that came through nicely. That said, the taste and aroma of shiso can be a bit polarizing, so I can't promise everyone will love it. I personally love both shiso and jellyfish, so I ate it up happily.

This uni and ikura, wrapped together with seaweed and gamtae, was seriously delicious. That rich, distinct flavor was so good...! The uni was fresh with no fishy smell, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

There was steamed abalone too. I'm normally not an abalone fan, but the steamed abalone that comes with Japanese restaurant meals like this is the one exception I genuinely love. Chewy and crunchy, so good...

Three maguro sushi, ordered because one platter wasn't enough

I ate my way through everything with satisfaction, but I wasn't quite ready to be done, so I ordered three more tuna sushi. Tuna sushi is basically foolproof. Especially the one topped with negitoro — the scallion aroma really comes through, and eating it with wasabi was seriously, seriously good...!

At Ilpum Gwanghwamun, they sell things like this three-piece sushi set or individual sushi so you can eat simply, which was great — big eaters like me can order a bit more without hesitation when they still want more.

Cold udon and mango panna cotta to finish

This udon was also included as standard. The cold udon came with karaage (fried chicken) in it, which was the perfect palate cleanser after the sushi. The karaage itself was so good that I decided I need to order the karaage dish on its own next time I come!

The mango panna cotta — or was it pudding? — served for dessert at the end wasn't too sweet, and the mango puree on top paired beautifully with the pudding. I really ate my way through this meal solo, and enjoyed every bit of it!

Why Ilpum Gwanghwamun works for solo dining and solo drinking

Ilpum Gwanghwamun exceeded my expectations by a good margin. I ordered sashimi this time, but the restaurant is actually more famous for its kaisendon (seafood rice bowl). If the sashimi is this good, the kaisendon is probably even better haha.

The atmosphere is clean and upscale enough to work for a date too, and given the quality relative to the price, I'd fully recommend coming here solo for sashimi or kaisendon!