Sangsu Vietnamese restaurant with tabletop-grilled chả cá: Rua Zin

A Seoul date with my mom, our first in a long while!

If you're a little tired of the usual date spots these days, I recommend hunting for somewhere unusual! haha This time I went to Rua Zin (루아 진), a hidden gem in the alleys between Hapjeong and Sangsu, run by real Vietnamese owners. It was my first outing with my mom in ages~

Where is Rua Zin and what are its opening hours?

Rua Zin is at 9 Dongmak-ro 8-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul, right between Hapjeong Station Exit 7 and Sangsu Station Exit 4. It's open daily 11:00–23:00, and there's no parking.

• Location: 9 Dongmak-ro 8-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• Hours: daily 11:00–23:00
• No parking
• Highlight: the owners are Vietnamese and cook the food themselves, so the flavors are truly authentic!

Since it's in Hapjeong/Sangsu, it's easy to grab a café afterward or catch a movie, which makes it a great Sangsu date-course restaurant.

Inside Rua Zin

With its colorful lights and decor, the moment you step in it feels like you've been teleported to a night market in Da Nang or Hanoi. The owner and all the staff are Vietnamese, and even the smells drifting from the kitchen were already full of Vietnam.

What did we order from the Rua Zin menu?

Besides the pho everyone knows, the menu has lots of intriguing local dishes. After some deliberation, we ordered chả cá (turmeric fish grilled at the table) and a beef bánh mì (Vietnamese baguette sandwich).

My mom said let's try something new, hahaha!

How is Rua Zin's chả cá served, and how do you eat it?

Rua Zin's chả cá (2 servings) comes with a burner set up so you can cook right at the table, topped with tender fish coated in yellow turmeric and a heap of vegetables including fragrant dill. It's served with rice vermicelli, a special sauce, and crispy crackers that look like puffed rice snacks.

The chả cá we'd been waiting for has arrived! All set!

How to eat chả cá (2 servings)

You sizzle the turmeric fish and vegetables on the burner, then put the stir-fried fish and veggies on top of the crispy cracker served alongside and eat it in one big bite! It felt very unfamiliar at first, but after the first bite my mom and I laughed at how interesting it was haha. The crunchy cracker, the fish melting softly in your mouth, and the sauce that really captures local Vietnamese flavor all come together, and the balance of textures and flavors is seriously crazy T_T

Now and then, tossing the vermicelli in the sauce and eating it with the grilled fish and vegetables doubled the fun, a perfect combo. Rice paper comes out too so you can wrap it like Vietnamese spring rolls, so there are lots of ways to mix and match.

Turmeric-coated fish was new to me too, but the more I ate, the more familiar it became!

Between this unfamiliar-but-delicious exotic flavor and the exotic interior, it genuinely felt like we were traveling haha.

How is Rua Zin's beef bánh mì?

Rua Zin's beef bánh mì is a Vietnamese baguette, crackly outside and chewy inside, packed with savory beef, so even one is very filling. It arrived just as we were falling for the chả cá! Coming to eat Vietnamese food and skipping the bánh mì would be a shame haha.

The baguette alone is a work of art at Rua Zin. It's that Vietnamese baguette so crackly it might scrape the roof of your mouth (?) yet chewy inside! The savory, well-seasoned beef is packed in with no gaps at all, so when you take a big bite, the meat juices and the crunch of vegetables fill your mouth. They're so generous with the ingredients that this one sandwich alone left me really full.

Overall verdict on Rua Zin, a Sangsu date restaurant

• A Vietnamese night market vibe in Sangsu! A hip, unusual date
• Vietnamese owners' hands make the original Vietnamese flavor 200% authentic
• Grilled turmeric fish + vermicelli + crispy cracker combo, a distinctive signature worth trying

I was sick of the usual Western or barbecue dates, and at Rua Zin I got the thrill of traveling while tasting different local Vietnamese dishes. If you're looking for an unusual, atmospheric date course near Sangsu Station, or want to experience truly authentic Vietnamese flavors, I recommend Rua Zin :)

As we left, the owners seemed to be developing new menu items (?), which was so fun to see, Rua Zin hahaha