Jonggak sashimi restaurant: business-trip kaisendon lunch, Suksseong

Why Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch for a business-trip lunch at Jonggak Station?

On my Seoul business trip day, I solved lunch with a pre-booked lunch special kaisendon at Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch (숙썽수산 종로본점) near Jonggak Station. I had an important appointment at 1 p.m., so I took an early KTX from Daejeon Station to Seoul Station.

As soon as I arrived at Seoul Station, I met my trusty junior colleague from our team and we headed to Jonggak Station, close to the meeting place. After running around since the morning, we were getting hungry. So off we went to the Jonggak restaurant I'd reserved ahead, "Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch."

Where is Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch, and how do you book?

Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch is about a 5-minute walk from Jonggak Station, on the 3rd floor of a building inside the food alley. It's already so famous as a Jongno sashimi restaurant that I booked a week before our visit.

I heard it's crowded even at weekday lunchtime, so a reservation felt essential.

Inside Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch: dark private seating and fish tanks

The interior is a stylish black-toned space where each table is separated for privacy. The first thing I noticed on stepping in was the huge fish tank, and watching the fresh fish glide around, my expectations were already rising.

The lighting was soft and the partitioned sections looked good for a quiet meal or a date.

I could see why it's famous as a Jonggak sashimi pub. We were shown to a window seat. Maybe because we came right at our reservation time, the table was already neatly set.

Suksseong Susan lunch menu

Kaisendon vs. special kaisendon: what's the difference?

We ordered the lunch specials we'd reserved, the kaisendon and the special kaisendon~! 🥳 Kaisendon is a rice bowl that packs fresh seafood and aged sashimi into one bowl so you can enjoy a variety, and the special kaisendon adds seasonal fish and fatty tuna belly for an even richer savory flavor.

• Kaisendon: a rice bowl with fresh seafood and aged sashimi in one bowl
• Special kaisendon: kaisendon plus seasonal fish and fatty tuna belly

After a little while, the food we'd been waiting for arrived. The moment I saw it, I couldn't help but gasp. 👏👏👏

The bowl was piled with colorful aged sashimi, and every piece of fish had a creamy, glossy color.

It was plated so prettily, like a work of art, that it almost felt a shame to eat it. No wonder it's famous as a Jongno aged sashimi spot. 🫶🎵 The lunch special is served privately on a single full plate. Basic sides and the don, ta-da~! 🥳🩵🥰💜

How to eat Suksseong Susan kaisendon with egg and soy sauce

For Suksseong kaisendon, you mix the egg that comes with it into the base soy sauce, pour it over the rice bowl, and stir it all together. 🎵 Simple enough.

Or you can pick up the aged sashimi separately and eat it with wasabi, which was great too. I liked that everyone can enjoy it their own way.

A warm mini fish cake soup (odeng-guk) came as a side.

Neat side dishes like white kimchi, salted seafood and namul (seasoned greens) came too. 🎀 Especially, putting aged sashimi on rice with a little wasabi and then eating it with white kimchi was the best combo. 👏👏👏 Totally my style~!!🧡

It tasted clean and light, yet the savory flavor just exploded.

My junior and I were so into the food that at some point our conversation stopped and we just focused on eating. With our eyes wide, we only traded "so good" looks and ate like crazy. The chewy texture and deep flavor typical of aged sashimi filled my mouth, and the freshness of the seafood came through too.

Is Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch good for an office lunch near Jonggak Station?

Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch was satisfying not only as a dinner sashimi restaurant but also for its lunch special kaisendon. I'd always thought of sashimi restaurants as places for an evening drink, but this visit showed me you can enjoy a kaisendon this good at lunch too.

I'd really recommend it to office workers wondering where to have lunch. After the meal, I naturally started thinking I'd like to come back for dinner and enjoy aged sashimi with sake. The atmosphere is good and the food quality is excellent, so it looked fine for a company dinner or a date too.

• If you're looking for tasty aged sashimi near Jonggak Station, Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch
• A place that satisfies from the lunch special kaisendon to aged sashimi at dinner