Jamsil sashimi bar counter seats and a yagwanmun highball: Daegang

Jamsil food spot ㅣ Daegang ㅣ Songni-dan-gil sashimi bar with aged sashimi and a patio date course

1F, 42-8 Baekjegobun-ro 41-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul · 10-minute walk from Seokchon Station

Why the couple swapped Garak Market takeout for Daegang on Songni-dan-gil

Normally, whenever we're craving sashimi, our go-to move as a couple is to dash to Garak Market and grab something cheap to take home — that's our unwritten rule. But this time we wanted a proper sit-down dinner date to enjoy the autumn air, so we went to Daegang, well known as a sashimi bar on Songni-dan-gil.

We both love sashimi and eat it often, but sitting down and watching the plating happen right in front of you is a whole different kind of fun. This place is already famous for its patio seating among Jamsil foodies, so we went in half excited, half curious.

Patio full? The central bar counter inside Daegang

The day we visited, there was a wait for the patio, so since we wanted a quiet time just the two of us, we were seated in the indoor hall — and honestly, we were completely satisfied with that.

We ended up at the central bar seat, right where the chef fillets and plates the sashimi, so we got to watch him prep gapo flatfish (참가자미) and olive flounder up close — surprisingly fun to watch.

The interior made heavy use of aged wood, giving it a cozy, old-house feel,

and dotted around were bottles of homemade infused liquor — turned out to be yagwanmun (야관문, a Korean herb). Since we happened to be drinking a yagwanmun highball that day, it felt like a nice little coincidence, and we thought it was clever how they used their signature ingredient as decor too.

What two people ordered at Daegang, and what it cost

That day we ordered the small aged sashimi platter, grilled chicken, griddled corn cheese, a glass of Gyeongju beopju, and a yagwanmun highball. The portions were just right for two and the prices reasonable, so we could try a variety of dishes without worrying about the bill.

Aged sashimi platter (small), 29,000 won

The platter is made up of seasonal fish — gapo flatfish, olive flounder, sea bream, salmon, herring, mullet, conch, and more — and that day ours came with flounder and red sea bream.

The flounder had that chewy, springy bite you only get from proper aging, while the sea bream was firm on the outside but soft and flaky inside, which kept our chopsticks coming back for more. No fishy smell at all, just a clean, savory richness filling the mouth — flounder and sea bream happen to be my favorite raw fish anyway, so this made it even better.

Grilled chicken, 11,000 won

Plump chicken wings and thigh meat grilled crispy with butter on top. It had that smoky, crispy-outside-juicy-inside texture, with the surface nicely charred and the meat still full of juice inside.

Dipped lightly in cheongyang chili soy sauce, it got a spicy, sharp kick added on top — we could see why it's such a popular drinking snack.

Griddled corn cheese, 7,000 won

A sweet-and-salty, sashimi-bar-classic corn cheese, with pops of corn kernels and cheese that stretched beautifully when melted. That salty-sweet balance kept us reaching for our spoons over and over.

Gyeongju beopju by the glass and the yagwanmun highball

Gyeongju beopju (glass, 100ml), ₩4,500 — the witty description on the label, something like 'lamenting a world where the law has collapsed,' stuck with us. The taste itself was crisp with a subtle sweetness, which paired really well with the sashimi.

Yagwanmun highball, ₩8,000 — a highball made with house-infused yagwanmun liquor and ginger soda, with a faint herbal aroma but a clean finish. Drinking it somehow made us feel weirdly healthy 😋, and since it's fairly low in alcohol, it went down easily.

For anyone curious about the dishes we didn't get to try, here's a rundown of the signature menu items with prices. Seasonal dishes (yellowtail, pomfret, shima-aji, bonito squid, mul-hoe) change price with the market, so it's best to check in person when you visit.

The drink lineup is pretty solid too — beyond the basics like soju and draft beer,

• Leegangju ₩36,000
• Solsongju ₩15,000
• Andong soju (glass bottle) ₩9,000
• Saranghal Ttae ₩9,000
• Bokbunja highball ₩9,000
• Jim Beam highball ₩8,000
• Yagwanmun whisky shot ₩3,000
• Terra draft beer ₩5,500

they've got everything from traditional liquors to highballs. We especially liked the traditional liquor lineup for pairing with sashimi.

Solo drinks, date night or a group? Who Daegang suits

It's great for a date with someone who loves sashimi, but there are also separate counter/solo seats for a quiet solo drink, plus private rooms and group seating that make it work well for office dinners or gatherings too.

For us, a couple usually stuck with takeout from Garak Market, this was a refreshingly different way to enjoy sashimi with proper plating — we're already thinking about booking the patio seats for next time.