Weekday dinner sashimi for two near Sunae Station: Haeseon, 30 pieces

As the weather cools down and that gentle autumn breeze starts blowing, there's one soul food that comes to mind more than any other, right? Fresh, chewy raw fish sashimi~

Where is Haeseon near Sunae Station, and is parking free?

Haeseon is a sashimi restaurant on the 1st floor of the Daedeok Glory Building, 235m from Exit 1 of Sunae Station, and there's basement parking in the building if you're driving. Free parking support is 2 hours on weekdays and 3 hours on weekends.

Around Sunae Station, where office workers are packed in, it's basically a parking war zone once quitting time hits, which always makes you hesitate about bringing a car. But Haeseon, which I'm introducing today, completely wipes out that worry!

Being right by the subway station, it's also great for public transit, and honestly it's a perfect spot for gatherings or family dinners. It's right at the entrance of the restaurant alley, sitting on the 1st floor where it's easy to spot, so there's zero chance of getting lost even with just a quick glance at the map!

Haeseon's menu: one aged sashimi course at 40,000 won per person

Haeseon is a place with real conviction, running on just one single menu: the assorted sashimi course. They say the course lineup changes a little day to day depending on the freshest catch, so it kind of feels like getting a new gift every time you visit.

It's also a small pleasure to peek at the 'today's lineup' sign posted outside the building before you go in!

I visited during weekday dinner peak hours~ There's no need to pore over a menu, since it's cleanly run with just the single ₩40,000-per-person course. You just sit down, tell them your headcount, and a flood of gorgeous dishes gets set out.

For office workers who feel like even the time spent picking a menu is a waste, isn't this the ultimate course? Maybe this coming weekend, how about heading to 'Haeseon' near Sunae Station to enjoy an assorted sashimi course that melts in your mouth?

Drinks and the two-story seating at Haeseon

It'd be a shame to have delicious food without a drink, right? True to a menu that pairs perfectly with drinking, they had soju, beer, and a whole range of alcohol stocked to hit everyone's taste.

Haeseon is also fun to just look around inside. It's built with a surprisingly nice two-story layout, and climbing the stairs opens up even cozier seating up top.

Even though it was a weekday evening, the 1st floor was already full, so I enjoyed my meal in the cozy seats up the stairs. Each table has a paper tablecloth printed with the course lineup, so you get the extra fun of wondering 'what's coming next?' while you wait. (Aged sashimi course for 2, ₩40,000 each, ₩80,000 total — flex complete!)

Course starters: beef and vegetable porridge with sea squirt

Alright, the course officially begins! First up was a beef vegetable porridge and a deep-flavored broth to warm the stomach, followed by sea squirt (meongge) bursting with ocean scent.

Before diving into the cold sashimi, warming up the stomach with soft, hot porridge felt so satisfying! The broth especially wasn't watery at all but rich and full-bodied, so my spoon kept dipping back in for more.

Mid-meal, I happened to glance over and saw a staff member busily heading to the fish tank outside the restaurant. Turns out they were pulling the sashimi fish straight out of the tank and prepping it right before it hits your table, to keep it as fresh as possible! No wonder the sashimi felt especially chewy and fresh — that level of freshness detail really makes all the difference.

One bite of the sea squirt, full of that fresh ocean scent, and my appetite kicked into gear! Since it had just been pulled from the tank, the moment it hit my mouth that distinctive sea squirt fragrance spread out along with a springy, chewy texture that was just art. I thought, 'Ah, this place is legit!'

The day's three fish: 30 pieces of sashimi for two

Alright, here comes today's main event: the sashimi!

The day's sashimi lineup was a fantastic trio: red sea bream, rockfish, and flounder. Since it's mostly built around solid white fish that everyone likes, it was a perfect match for my personal preference for a nice chewy bite.

Each type comes out beautifully plated with 5 pieces per person, and ordering for 2 gave us a whopping 30 pieces total.

Usually with sashimi course meals, you end up filling up on the sukiuki (side dishes) and leaving the main sashimi as an afterthought — but Sunae Station's 'Haeseon' is genuinely one of those rare places where you can actually fill up on sashimi itself! The portions are so generous that just eating the sashimi alone was quite filling.

First up, the rockfish, which felt especially firm and chewy — probably from being aged. Not a hint of fishy taste at all, just pure clean flavor, and I thought it'd be great to bring diet-conscious friends here for a protein boost.

Next up, flounder, the national go-to sashimi fish! With prices these days, eating flounder at a sashimi restaurant has started to feel a bit of a splurge, but this day I really got to eat my fill without any guilt. They sliced it especially thick, so that signature chewy, dense texture of aged sashimi burst in my mouth.

And the best of the best for me that day was the red sea bream! Out of the three types, it had by far the softest texture, so my chopsticks kept reaching for it nonstop until it just melted away in my mouth.

Of course, even delicious sashimi can start to feel a bit repetitive after a while, but 'Haeseon' had perfect timing with a nonstop parade of varied side dishes in between, so there was never a dull moment.

Griddled corn and grilled red sea bream head

Among these, one you absolutely can't skip — the ultimate sashimi restaurant cheat code and a crowd favorite everyone loves. The sweet and salty grilled corn cheese (cheoljan oksusu) showed up, and honestly, who wouldn't fall for it?

This grilled corn cheese, seriously, it's got that magic flavor you never get tired of, right? Sweet with that popping texture, and before you know it the plate's already scraped clean.

After the corn cheese perked up my appetite, next came the golden-brown, richly grilled red sea bream head! You could tell how big and sturdy this fish must have been in life — even as half a head, there was so much meat packed between the huge bones.

The rich, oily flavor with that soft, savory taste made it impossible to put my chopsticks down. Picking through the bones for every last bit of meat was its own kind of fun.

Beef tartare, live octopus tangtangi and assorted fritters

Surprisingly, beef tartare (yukhoe) and live octopus tangtangi (chopped raw octopus) were also included in the course! The octopus, too, was pulled straight from the tank where it had been wriggling around, and served fresh right away — that lively freshness really stood out.

Sweetly seasoned beef tartare paired with chewy, savory live octopus... this is a certified drinking-food gem that no soju lover could pass up!

And that's not all. There's also the king of crispy dishes — fried shrimp and potato, a mixed fry platter you can't skip either. The combo of crispy-outside, moist-inside fried potatoes and plump fried shrimp is the ultimate cheat code for pairing with a cold beer.

Honestly, by this point my stomach was already stuffed to the brim. But there's no way I could let freshly fried, hot, crispy shrimp go untouched, right? 'There's always room for fried food, even when full' — and I ended up cleaning it all up in the end.

The finale at Haeseon: spicy rockfish head stew

And now, the star of the finale — a spicy, hearty stew (maeuntang) with a whole giant rockfish head in it! Honestly, I was already so full that I thought, 'I'll just have a bit of the broth and leave the rest.'

But wait, why is the stew here so ridiculously good? The rich, deep broth flavor made me forget I was even full, and I ended up scraping the bottom of the pot with my spoon before leaving.

Sunae Station's 'Haeseon' was perfect down to the very last drop of broth. I don't think there's a better spot for taking your parents out or for having drinks with friends!