Uni pasta and free wine corkage at Ichigo, a Jamsil izakaya

Ichigo is a Japanese restaurant near Sports Complex Station with such good food and atmosphere that it's perfect for a date. The lighting is soft and the vibe is quiet and calm, so it's great for good food, a drink, and conversation. I'd recommend booking through Catch Table before you go. And Monday through Thursday, corkage is free for one bottle, which makes it even more appealing.

Where Ichigo is and how to find it

Ichigo is on the 1st floor at 6-7 Baekjegobun-ro 11-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea, and parking is available. It's in the alley across from the Jamsil Asia Village apartments — set back a little from the main restaurant strip right in front of Jamsil Saenae Station, so the surroundings are quieter too.

Actually it's closer to Sports Complex Station, and it's also convenient to get off at the 'Jamsil Neighborhood Park, Seonghyeon Church' bus stop and walk over.

Inside Ichigo: the space and seating

The interior is clean and pretty. There's a good range of drinks on offer too, which pairs well haha 😆😆 The atmosphere is so good that this would seriously boost your odds on a second date. The restroom inside the building was clean too.

Ichigo menu and prices

• Seasonal sashimi for 2 — ₩68,000
• Mackerel stick sushi — ₩26,000
• Negitoro maki — ₩26,000
• Futomaki 5pcs — ₩18,000
• Clam butter sake steam — ₩28,000
• Sushi 10 kinds — ₩35,000
• Nankotsu karaage — ₩8,000
• Sake, by the glass, from about ₩10,000
• Uni pasta — ₩32,000
• Wine, by the glass — ₩11,000

We got a welcome drink. I think it was bokbunja (Korean black raspberry wine) — it had this nice tangy, fragrant thing going on, perfect as an aperitif ❤️

Negitoro maki, 26,000 won

The negitoro maki has tuna in it, so the umami is great. Since it's minced, it's softer and more melt-in-the-mouth than a raw tuna sashimi texture. Negitoro maki. Though I think I actually prefer futomaki style haha. Anyway, I was craving tuna after a while so I ordered this, and it was so full of umami I'd recommend it!

Mackerel stick sushi, 26,000 won

The mackerel stick sushi has this green topping on the mackerel that gives it a cool, fragrant spice kick, but I honestly couldn't tell what it was haha. Some kind of herb? Sansho pepper? Feels like a mix of a few things, and there's some oiliness too 🐟🐟🐟

But it somehow works perfectly together. The mackerel barely had any fishiness, and if you're sensitive and can pick up a bit, that's just the nature of the fish — that cool, mint-like topping reins in the flavor so it ends up really delicious. Though I did think the rice could've been a little tastier haha.

Uni pasta, 32,000 won

Then the uni pasta arrived.

The uni pasta blends the sea urchin's umami with a slightly salty cream, giving it great flavor, and the noodles were nicely chewy too. The cream really brings out the rich, soft texture unique to uni, and compared to a regular cream pasta there's more seafood umami and a hint of a briny sea aroma, so if you love uni, I'd recommend this 😆❤️😆

There's a subtle spicy kick too, and it cuts right through what could otherwise get a little heavy, so I ate it all the way to the end without getting tired of it.

You could see the chefs working hard right in front of the counter seats.

You could see quite a lot of uni packed in there. Toward the end I mixed it all together with the cream and twirled it up to eat.

Is Ichigo a good Jamsil date spot for BYO wine?

We only ordered dishes substantial enough to be a full meal, but there are also small plates like kaisen cream croquettes and other bar snacks, so if you're a wine lover, I'd recommend Ichigo as a Japanese restaurant that allows wine corkage.

It had been a while since I had such a great dinner in a place with a good atmosphere, enjoying quality Japanese food and white wine and just soaking in the mood while talking — it was a really good time!