Seolleung izakaya alcohol-free: non-alcoholic beer and otoro at Sakai

Seolleung izakaya recommendation! The sushi sakaba 'Sakai'

I went to Sakai, a sushi sakaba near Seolleung, not long ago!

*What's a sushi sakaba? A bar that serves sushi + drinks!

Where is Sakai? A 5-minute walk from Seolleung Station, with no sign

It's about a 5-minute walk from Seolleung Station, right next to a coffee shop building.

There's no big sign out front so I got a bit lost, but if you're heading there, just look for the entrance right beside that big coffee shop and duck in there!

Counter seats and 4-person tables: solo drinks or a date at Sakai

I ran straight over after work so I was the first one there haha! Seolleung Sakai has counter seats plus 2-top and 4-top tables, so it works for solo drinking, dates, or a round of drinks with friends after work!

Sakai menu and prices, including off-menu non-alcoholic beer

First, let's look at the menu — there's a wide range from sashimi to nigiri (sushi) to fried dishes.

For nigiri, only the types listed up on the board are available, so check before you order!

Today's order

• Sashimi moriawase (assorted sashimi platter) — ₩34,000
• Uni (sea urchin) — ₩10,000 ×2
• Otoro (fatty tuna belly) — ₩6,100

They had a huge variety of sake, but since I'm off alcohol these days, it was Cass Zero for me 😭😭 It's not on the menu, but non-alcoholic beer is also sold — good to know if you're cutting back on drinking!

What comes in Sakai's 34,000-won sashimi moriawase

First up, the sashimi moriawase! I actually debated getting blue-back fish sashimi instead, but went with the moriawase so I could try a bit of everything at once. This is the perk of counter seats — you get to watch it being made right in front of you haha.

It wasn't too busy yet so it came out fast — sweet shrimp, scallop, salmon, egg, mackerel, greater amberjack, a white fish I can't remember the name of, and wasabi too!

Each type came in two pieces, so two people can share without fighting over it.

Sweet shrimp with Sakai's own sauce, the best near Seolleung

They gave us this sauce specifically for dipping the sweet shrimp — wow, this was my first time ever trying sweet shrimp, and honestly I regret not trying it sooner. They even had sweet shrimp sashimi and fried shrimp heads on today's menu, and now I'm kicking myself for not ordering those too. The sauce is sweet yet somehow savory, and paired with the shrimp it was a completely new flavor I'd never had before — so good 🥺 Sakai is genuinely a sweet shrimp spot near Seolleung.

The mackerel had zero fishiness, and this greater amberjack was rich and fatty — totally my style!

Ah, this was also my first time having scallop, and it melted in my mouth too. I dipped it in the leftover sweet shrimp sauce with a bit of wasabi on top — absolute heaven.

Can't remember the name of this one either 🥺 a slightly oily fish! Oh, and the most shocking one was the salmon — on a totally different level from the salmon sashimi you get at a supermarket.

The white fish pieces were chewy and delicious too, but since I tend to prefer red fish or fattier cuts, the salmon and amberjack were still my favorites of the bunch haha.

Otoro 6,100 won and uni 10,000 won, ordered on a memo slip

Then I ordered some nigiri too! Being able to keep adding orders as you eat is another perk of a sakaba. Just jot it down on a memo slip and you're done!

This is the otoro (₩6,100) — fatty tuna belly nigiri! No exaggeration, this was the best sushi I've had in my life. There wasn't a hint of fishiness at all, and the fattiness just spread through my mouth — you could count the individual grains of rice it was so precisely made. I've had plenty of sashimi, but this was my first time trying this level of high-end sushi, and now I get why it costs what it does. Genuinely a sushi spot worth going to near Seolleung.

And then uni! They roll it up like this for you—

This one also just melted the second it hit my mouth. I once had a bad experience with overly fishy uni before and regretted it, but there was none of that here. They also grated fresh wasabi separately, and it tasted completely different from the wasabi that came with the sashimi! Piling it on generously made it even better haha.

Potato salad free from Sakai's photo review event

And this potato salad came from a Naver photo review event haha. Potato salad can easily turn out greasy, but this one was none of that — smooth and soft, and genuinely delicious. The bacon bits were the finishing touch!

What to order next time at Sakai: sweet shrimp sashimi à la carte

Anyway, Sakai near Seolleung was genuinely delicious! The sweet shrimp and tuna nigiri especially blew me away. I saw they also sell sweet shrimp sashimi as a standalone dish — I'll have to come back just for that next time 🥺