Jongno lunch restaurant with gochujang-free yukhoe bibimbap: Suksseong

I had a lunch appointment in Jongno, so I stopped by Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch. Honestly, I went in without big expectations at first. But after eating there... I walked out thinking, "I want to come back for dinner too."

I really love raw fish and yukhoe (Korean-style raw beef) in general, and every single dish I had that day was satisfying. Above all, the food let the natural flavor of the ingredients shine, which made me like it more with every bite — a real Jongno aged sashimi find.

Where is Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch, and what is it like inside?

Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch is on the 3rd floor of 16 Samil-daero 19-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul. It's near Jongak Station, so it's a great spot for lunch appointments as well as dinner gatherings.

Walking in, the interior was cleaner than I expected. The seats are partitioned, so I could eat without worrying much about the next table. And most of all, the staff were really kind. Good food matters, but a place that treats you this well tends to stay in your memory even after the meal is over.

The three lunch dishes ordered at Suksseong Susan

• Special kaisendon — ₩34,000
• Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap — ₩18,000
• Chicken nanban set — ₩17,000

Special kaisendon, 34,000 won: seasonal aged sashimi piece by piece

What I was most looking forward to was the special kaisendon (raw fish rice bowl). It's a menu loaded with a variety of seafood, including seasonal fish and fatty tuna belly, and it looked the part as soon as it arrived. I love raw fish so much that dishes like this genuinely make me happy. :)

And it tasted even better once I actually ate it. With so many kinds of aged sashimi on top, rather than mixing it all together I ate each piece one at a time, taking my time to feel out each flavor and texture. Some pieces melted smoothly, others had a chewy bite left in them. Even within one bowl, the taste and texture varied slightly, which made picking through piece by piece really fun.

On top of that, it came with pollock roe and caviar, which made me feel properly treated! It didn't feel like just eating lunch — it felt like slowly savoring a proper seafood dish. If you usually enjoy aged sashimi, I really want to recommend this menu. I savored every single piece, and I was happy the whole time I was eating it.

Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap, 18,000 won: better without gochujang

And the dish that turned out to be much more my style than expected was the Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap. It's made with 1+ grade Korean beef seolgitsal (top round) and fresh vegetables, and it's a bit different from the red gochujang-seasoned yukhoe bibimbap we usually picture. At first glance you might think, 'won't it be a bit bland without gochujang?' But for me, it was actually much better this way.

Since the seasoning isn't strong, you can fully taste the fresh yukhoe itself. I usually eat on the salty side and notice right away when seasoning is weak, but I didn't find this bland at all. The seasoning was just right. Fresh yukhoe and vegetables came together cleanly, and my spoon just kept going back for more!

Personally, this stuck with me more afterward than a gochujang-based yukhoe bibimbap would have. It paired especially well with the aged sashimi from the special kaisendon. Since no strong seasoning masked the delicate flavor of the raw fish itself, going back and forth — a bite of sashimi, a bite of yukhoe bibimbap — was a really great combination.

Chicken nanban set, 17,000 won: how is the chicken this moist?

Last up was the chicken nanban set. Honestly, since the aged sashimi and yukhoe were so much my thing, I wasn't expecting much from the chicken nanban. But this was delicious too. :)

Above all, the chicken was really moist and tender. Even though it's fried chicken, the meat wasn't dry at all — the tender texture was great. The soft cream sauce served alongside it went perfectly with it. Eating the savory, smooth sauce with the moist chicken, I understood why they included chicken nanban as a lunch option. I also thought it would be a good place to bring along a friend who doesn't eat raw fish or yukhoe.

The side dishes that came with it were excellent too. I keep thinking about that soft, jiggly tofu.

Is Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch worth going back to?

When you try a lot of new places, plenty of them just stay in your memory as 'that was fine.' But Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch is a place I want to visit again. It really matched my taste for raw fish and yukhoe, but even beyond that, after trying all three menus, none of them felt thrown together — each one was well made.

The special kaisendon was fun to savor slowly, tasting the variety of aged sashimi one piece at a time; the beef yukhoe bibimbap stuck with me more precisely because it let the flavor of the yukhoe itself come through without heavy gochujang seasoning; and the chicken nanban kept drawing me back in with its unexpected moistness and smooth sauce.

After I got home and looked it up, I found out Suksseong Susan's dinner menu looks really good too. After being this satisfied at lunch, I now want to come back for dinner and properly enjoy the aged sashimi and seafood. Especially on a day when I want to eat good food and have a drink with good people, this is a place I want to return to!

If you're near Jongak Station looking for a Jongno sashimi restaurant, an aged sashimi spot, or want proper raw fish and yukhoe even at lunch, this one's worth keeping in mind. Next time, I'm planning to bring good company and come back for dinner. :)