Sadang aged-sashimi izakaya: mukbap in cold mulhoe broth at Susan

Went on a date in Sadang for the first time in a while! Since we both love raw fish, we didn't even hesitate and looked up good hoe (raw fish) spots in Sadang.

While searching, we found 'Susan' Sadang Main Branch. It's near Sadang Station Exit 8, so it was super convenient to get to by bus, subway, or whatever.

What's on the menu at Susan Sadang Main Branch?

Being a proper Sadang izakaya, Susan has a wide range of menu items.

• Especially our favorites: aged hoe (sliced raw fish) and yukhoe (raw beef tartare)
• Special seafood dishes (whole steamed squid, hanchi-hoe/raw baby squid, etc.)
• Stews that go great with soju
• Sides like hotteok (sweet pancake) and mukbap (chilled jelly noodles)
• Fresh raw shrimp sashimi, which is in season right now

(A menu anyone who loves seafood and drinks would love.) You order directly through the QR code attached to the table, which is convenient, and some items not on the printed menu still had photos, which made it easier to browse.

So here's what we ordered:

• Gwangban-yuksa (flounder sashimi + beef tartare)
• Mukbap (chilled jelly noodles)
• Soju (Chamisul)

* Side note: they don't seem to carry Chum Churum soju

I really wanted the raw shrimp sashimi too, but my partner has a shrimp allergy, so we skipped it this time 🥺 (Next visit, I'm eating it no matter what.)

The welcome cup of sake before the meal

While waiting for our order, they first gave us a welcome drink — cheers 🍻 It was nice that Susan serves a cup of sake per person as a starter. (Seems like you can order more by the tokkuri flask if it's to your taste.)

The gwangban-yuksa platter: flounder sashimi plus raw beef sashimi

While we were chatting, the main dish showed up! Our gwangban-yuksa (flounder sashimi + beef tartare). It came out as a full spread with aged kimchi, sesame oil, and seaweed alongside, so it looked great and let each of us enjoy it however we liked.

When things got a bit rich for my taste, eating aged kimchi with a hot green chili together made it spicy and refreshing, so I asked for extra kimchi. (The chili is genuinely very spicy, so be careful if you can't handle heat.)

My favourite way to eat it

Beef tartare, flounder — nothing here misses. Here's my own way of eating it 💡

• Beef tartare + sesame oil + a tiny bit of chojang (vinegar-chili sauce) (mix in seaweed, aged kimchi, radish sprouts to taste as a base)
• Flounder sashimi + aged kimchi + wasabi (radish sprouts, cheongyang chili optional)

And my absolute favorite combo 💡flounder fin + soy sauce + fresh wasabi💡 If anyone reading this hasn't tried it this way, please do 🤤

The real kicker: mukbap in cold mulhoe broth

We were talking and craving something cold, so we ordered the mukbap. This is THE kicker. If you like mukbap, you have to try this at least once (I'm going back just for this).

I already liked mukbap before, but this place is different. It's a mukbap loaded with vegetables in a cold hoetguk (raw fish soup) broth — genuinely a specialty — and eaten together with the sashimi we ordered, it basically becomes hoetguk itself.

Not a secret that I told the owner a million times that the mukbap was amazing (on top of the already-great sashimi). Seriously, please!!!!!! try it. Mukbap is a must-order at Susan Sadang Main Branch, please.

Half-joking, half-serious, I said I'd come back just for the mukbap — but I definitely do plan to return, and one reason is that the owner is genuinely so kind.

Thanks to that, Susan has become the most memorable restaurant I've been to recently. Kindness and sincerity that make the other person feel good — I should learn from that too :)

My partner and I talked a lot about what we're each into these days (I'll share more on that later). I've been pushing myself hard at work lately and it's been tough, but thinking about our future made me genuinely happy. Of course tough times and happiness don't usually go together, but if we keep pushing through, better days will come, and I'm excited to see how much cooler we'll both get from here :) (Even the wet wipes said everything will be fine 🍀)

Thanks to the delicious food, my partner, and the kind owner, it was a day of comfortable happiness I hadn't felt in a while.