Sadang bar with ankimo maki: Susan Sadang Main Branch

Susan Sadang Main Branch near Sadang Station

Susan Sadang Main Branch is on the first floor at 17 Nambusunhwan-ro 271ga-gil, Dongjak-gu, just a five-minute walk from Exit 8 of Sadang Station. Hours are 16:00–01:00 Monday through Thursday, 15:00–02:00 Friday and Saturday, and 15:00–01:00 Sunday.

Today I want to introduce Susan Sadang Main Branch, an izakaya near Sadang Station where you can enjoy aged sashimi and yuk sashimi (Korean-style raw beef). There are so many bar snacks too, including ankimo (a Japanese monkfish liver dish) maki, which is not something you see everywhere.

Why I chose ankimo maki and sweet shrimp soba

There are really so many kinds of snacks, right!? There were lots of seafood-focused choices—yukhoe, salmon, flounder, shrimp, and more—plus chicken, creamy udon, and muksabal (acorn jelly in chilled broth), so I had a hard time deciding. But the ankimo maki, something I had never seen at a bar before, kept catching my eye!

I narrowed it down to sweet shrimp soba noodles or ankimo maki, then went, “Why not just eat both!!!!” and ordered the two signature dishes haha. Wasn't that an excellent choice? Hehehe.

The space is cozy, but the tables are not packed tightly together, so there was a comfortable amount of distance from other groups and it was nice for drinking ^^

When you order, they give you a pre-meal drink like a welcome drink, and it was a clean sake that went down so smoothly!!

• Ankimo maki ₩23,000
• Sweet shrimp soba noodles ₩23,000

My first rich, creamy ankimo maki

Even the name ankimo maki was unfamiliar to me, and monkfish liver was something I wondered if I had ever eaten with agujjim (braised spicy monkfish). I think this was my first time really trying it through Susan Sadang Main Branch. There was such a generous heap of monkfish liver on it that it felt like I was finally tasting it properly haha.

There was absolutely no fishiness, nor the dry texture liver can have. It was rich and nutty, like egg yolk blended incredibly smooth haha.

There was plenty of it—enough to pile an almost excessive amount of ankimo onto the gimbap (seaweed rice roll) and still not run out ^^

The seasoned sauce pooled lightly at the bottom, along with the cheese, was super delicious too!

By this point, you know what has to come in, right? They gave us soju glasses, but the sake cups from the pre-meal drink were prettier, so we decided to pour our drinks into those instead haha.

Soba noodles loaded with sweet shrimp

Sweet shrimp soba noodles

It came topped with lots of sweet shrimp, and there was such a generous serving of soba that I practically ended up coming to a bar for a full meal hahaha.

Adding the ankimo we ordered as a topping on the sweet shrimp soba noodles gave it a totally new texture and flavor—something I had never tried before—and I loved it haha. I was tired of the same old bar snacks every time, so if you are looking for new flavors like I was, stop by Susan Sadang Main Branch and enjoy a variety of fresh, new snacks haha.

The snacks were so generous and tasty that it felt like the drinks poured themselves.

This was an izakaya where my first encounter with ankimo maki started off wonderfully, thanks to its approachable flavor and generous portion of monkfish liver, making me want to enjoy it again next time. The sweet shrimp soba noodles were seafood too, and perhaps because they were made with fresh ingredients, there was no fishiness at all; I was very satisfied with them as a drinking snack.