Gongdeok seafood pub after work: aged sashimi and abalone udon, Neoul

Where is Neoul Gongdeok Direct Branch and what kind of place is it?

Neoul Gongdeok Direct Branch (너울 공덕직영점) is a seafood and aged sashimi pocha (Korean pub) a one-minute walk from Exit 10 of Gongdeok Station. It's a great spot for office workers to hit for a first or second round, so after work today I stopped by Gongdeok and headed to Neoul~

Gongdeok is full of office workers, so... this is the perfect place for a work dinner or get-together, and then you can go straight home! Haha

How long is the weekday evening wait at Neoul Gongdeok?

We got to Neoul Gongdeok at 19:30 and there was a wait! 6 teams ahead of us, and the estimated wait said 90 minutes?!

But we got in at 20:00!! Haha I guess a lot of people give up waiting and leave!

There are quite a lot of tables inside! It seemed great for after-work dinners or group gatherings. (In fact, almost all the customers were,, office workers from nearby!!)

What did two people order at Neoul Gongdeok?

Everyone at Neoul seemed to order a seafood platter or an aged sashimi platter as a basic! So we ordered one main dish and one basic dish too.

• Small aged sashimi platter ₩53,000
• Abalone innards udon ₩23,000
• Donghae soju ₩6,000

Neoul gives you puffed corn snack (gangnaengi) as a complimentary side haha The interior,, the corn snack,, lol it all had a strong pocha vibe haha

Donghae soju, a first for me at Neoul

With sashimi it's soju, not somaek (soju-beer mix),,, right? Haha Neoul had a soju I'd never seen before!! Donghae!!! It was a distilled spirit, so it tasted a bit sweet! Delicious!!

What's in the small aged sashimi platter at Neoul?

Neoul's aged sashimi platter comes with 6 kinds of aged sashimi (red sea bream, Wando flounder, salmon, tuna, Spanish mackerel and more). There were also plenty of sides to eat with it: vinegared rice, minari (water dropwort) with roasted soybean powder, aged kimchi, seaweed, wraps and more.

The platter also comes with a mini clam soup! The broth was refreshing and went well with soju too.

There's sesame oil, soy sauce, chogochujang (sweet-spicy chili sauce), ssamjang (seasoned bean paste) and wasabi, so dip it however you like!

Taste and portion of the aged sashimi at Neoul

The sashimi comes in thick slices of lots of different fish, so picking and choosing is fun. They say they stick to a brined, low-temperature aging method?! Maybe that's why... the chewiness and the rich umami were... the best!

The fish is dripping with oil... The small platter is for 2 people, but the portion is huge! Best value,,

Tuna and salmon are in the platter too, and there's no fishy taste at all, it just melts in your mouth,, the balance of sweetness and nuttiness was perfect haha

What's the best way to eat the aged sashimi at Neoul?

Neoul has its own way of eating the aged sashimi~ Try these combinations!!!

• Perilla leaf or lettuce + aged sashimi + minari with roasted soybean powder
• Yangban gim (seasoned seaweed) + vinegared rice + aged sashimi
• Yangban gim + flounder or sea bream + white kimchi

Seriously delicious.

What does the abalone innards udon at Neoul taste like?

Neoul's abalone innards udon (₩23,000) is udon in a thick, rich abalone innards sauce with a little kick from cheongyang chili peppers. I'd had abalone innards pasta, but udon was a first! And,,, udon and abalone innards,,, go so well together!!!

They use plenty of fresh abalone for the sauce, so it's thick and rich haha And the owner clearly knows what they're doing. Abalone innards sauce can be a little,, heavy, but they add cheongyang peppers for a slight spiciness... and that's what makes it so good... you never get tired of the udon and just keep eating!!!

The sauce was creamy-smooth, with that bittersweet, nutty umami abalone innards have, perfect! The abalone was chewy too,, really delicious...!!! The noodles stayed springy and didn't get soggy the whole time, so I could enjoy it to the last bite.

Recommended combo: aged sashimi platter + abalone innards udon

Aged sashimi alone might feel a little light, but the abalone innards udon fills you up, so the two go together really well. Definitely try this combo~!