Weekend night at a Seolleung sushi izakaya: abalone nigiri, Sakai

What is okonomi sushi?

A lot of people love sushi, right? Omakase had its big boom, but I heard there's a newly opened "okonomi" sushi place in Seolleung, so I went to check it out.

Okonomi is Japanese for "what you like" or "preference." It's a style where the customer picks whichever sushi they want, the opposite concept of omakase, where the chef decides everything for you. Lately the trend has shifted from omakase toward okonomi sushi, which prioritizes value for money and lets everyone choose dishes to fit their own taste.

Sakai's location and hours near Seolleung Station

Sakai is an okonomi sushi izakaya a 7-minute walk from Seolleung Station Exit 1, open daily from 17:00 until 1am. Last order is at midnight, and it's closed the first Tuesday of every month, plus September 21–27.

For office workers, weekends are precious, so picking a meeting spot gets serious consideration. Seolleung is an office district, so I figured it'd be a bit less crowded on weekends, and more than anything the reviews had me excited. If you're heading here by address alone, there's no sign, so you might just walk right past — the photo above is Sakai. (No sign makes it harder to find, but somehow it also felt more private and hip.)

Inside Sakai: the room and the chef's counter seats

Sakai's interior has a soft, ambient lighting with wood-tone walls and tables that give off an upscale feel. Walking in, you'll find 2-top and 4-top table seating, and

there's counter seating where you can watch the chef making sushi. Since you can see all the ingredients up close and the chef makes everything right in front of you while explaining along the way, the counter seats seemed to be the most popular. A little past 6pm on the weekend, the counter was completely full. There were couples, friends, solo diners, and given the nice atmosphere, some folks who seemed like they were on a first date...

The plates were so pretty too..? I wanted to take home both the dishware and the little soy sauce dishes.

What's on the menu at Sakai, a late-night Seolleung sushi izakaya

True to being a Seolleung izakaya, the menu is genuinely huge. And what makes this place special is exactly that "okonomi sushi" concept, right? So compared to other sushi izakayas, there were way more types of sushi. There are soups, fried dishes, and grilled dishes to go with the sushi too, plus a rotating today-only limited menu each time you visit. And of course, being an izakaya, there's no shortage of sake, highballs, and more.

What to know before ordering at Sakai

Please treat the printed sushi menu as reference only. Since they only make sushi with that day's fresh ingredients, some items listed on the menu might not be orderable. What's actually available that day is displayed on a wooden menu board right above the kitchen. (Use the printed menu just for pricing — order based on the wooden board!)

Cheers to myself for surviving another work week~ I went back and forth between a highball and draft beer, but went with the cold draft beer in the end. Draft beer really is amazing. Drinking a glass before the food arrived felt so refreshing. Like this week's built-up stress was melting away!

Salmon, abalone, flounder, egg and horse mackerel nigiri at Sakai

First, I ordered a variety of my favorite sushi at Sakai.

• Salmon
• Abalone
• Flounder
• Egg
• Horse mackerel

The colorful dishware made the sushi look even more delicious. The sashimi was generally thick-cut with no fishy taste, and well-aged so it was tender haha. The rice-to-topping ratio was just right, not too much rice!

Especially... the one that suited my taste best was the abalone! As you can see in the photo, they slice the abalone into about six pieces per order, and since it's cut into multiple pieces, the chewiness doubles. The abalone nigiri was so good.

Good sushi and a glass of draft beer at Sakai, a Seolleung izakaya with a great atmosphere — this is exactly the taste of weekend as an office worker...

Tips for ordering okonomi sushi at Sakai

All sushi comes out one piece at a time. If you're not treating this as a meal followed by a second round of drinks elsewhere, and want to eat it as an actual meal, order everything at once!! Besides sushi, they sell all kinds of fried and soup dishes, and during peak hours other customers keep placing add-on orders too, so even if you're ordering a lot of sushi, it's better to order it all in one go.

How does Sakai's new seafood ramyeon taste?

With the mornings and evenings turning chilly, I found myself craving soup again, so I ordered Sakai's new seafood ramyeon (ramen noodle soup).

True to its name, the seafood ramyeon is loaded with shrimp, crab, squid, and pollack roe. With all that seafood, the broth was refreshing. The flavor was somewhere between ramyeon and ramen... not quite ramen, but not quite ramyeon either. Personally it was a bit salty, but the broth was genuinely delicious. Refreshing yet savory, salty but I kept spooning it up anyway...

One last round at Sakai, and the final verdict

Since I couldn't stop myself, I ordered a bit more at the end.

• Gizzard shad
• Mackerel
• Flounder
• Sweet shrimp with kimizu (egg yolk) sauce

The sweet shrimp with kimizu sauce had a special egg yolk sauce that made the shrimp's flavor even more savory. Personally, I loved the abalone, flounder, and sweet shrimp with kimizu sauce, and I especially recommend the seafood ramyeon as the weather gets colder. It's open late into the night just steps from Seolleung Station, so it seems great both as a proper meal and as a second-round drinking spot. With that nice atmosphere, it also looks like a good pick for a date with a partner, or for the second stop of a blind date.