Jeongbalsan-dong sushi date in Ilsan: two 12-piece sets, Hwangje Sushi

Today I'm reviewing a sushi restaurant located in Jeongbalsan-dong, Ilsan!!

Hours 11:00–21:50 / Parking available

Where is Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch, and is there parking?

It's close to Jeongbalsan Station and Ilsan Lake Park in Ilsan, so I ended up going for a walk and then eating sushi. There was plenty of parking too, which made things easy.

The exterior was so cute and charming that it seems like a great date course in Ilsan. There were actually a lot of couples on dates inside too haha.

Ordering the Luxury and VIP sushi sets at the kiosk

Ordering was simple via kiosk~ I picked two sets, Luxury sushi and VIP sushi!

What is the wood-tone interior like?

The interior had such a great atmosphere! It felt like something between a luxurious wood-tone izakaya and an emotional-vibe restaurant, so I felt good just walking in~ It didn't feel like an ordinary sushi place—it felt like dressing up the mood at a really nice spot!! It seems like a great date course in Ilsan~

The sides: abalone porridge, pickles and braised salmon

The basic side dishes at Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch were abalone porridge, cucumber and seaweed onion pickles, and braised salmon. The basic side dishes were really upscale. It's rare for a sushi place to give sides like this~ The pickles were sweet and tangy, great alongside the sushi, and the abalone porridge was packed with abalone innards, so it was rich and smooth and settled my stomach!

First off, this braised salmon was really delicious. The salmon was soft, not fishy at all, and had plump, generous flesh. It was an appetizer, but it was filling enough to be a meal on its own. And the seasoning was a sweet soy sauce that anyone would like. The first side dishes that came out were already so good that it built up my expectations even more.

What comes in the Luxury 12-piece and VIP 12-piece sets

Here are the Luxury sushi and VIP sushi I ordered. The visuals alone were amazing!!

The sushi I ordered had a lot of variety, so it was fun picking through them, and the rice-to-fish ratio was just right, not heavy at all. Especially the pieces topped with sashimi were really fresh and soft, feeling true to the basics. Adding soy sauce or wasabi made it even cleaner to enjoy~

This is the Luxury sushi. It's 12 pieces, and the set apparently consists of sea bream, aged-kimchi flounder, flounder fin, salmon belly, grilled red shrimp, soy-marinated shrimp, grilled beef, torch-seared shrimp, otoro, chutoro, mekadoro, and akami.

This is the VIP sushi. It's 12 pieces total, consisting of sea bream, flounder, seasonal live fish, salmon, akami, mekadoro, abalone, grilled red shrimp, grilled beef, and grilled freshwater eel.

It really felt like receiving a luxurious full spread.

How the tuna cuts and aged-kimchi flounder sushi taste

First, this tuna sashimi in the Luxury sushi just melted!! It was on a totally different level from cheap tuna sashimi... I don't really know the cuts, but the level of quality was on a different plane. It tasted like sushi you'd get at omakase. The sushi rice was also seasoned just right, so it clung nicely to the palate.

The tuna pieces disappeared in an instant.

The aged-kimchi flounder sushi was also a special treat. The crunchy, tangy aged kimchi paired well with the chewy flounder...

The flounder and salmon were also really delicious. The basics are delicious after all. The amount of sushi rice was just right and the sashimi was fresh, so there wasn't a single miss!!

The grilled sushi pieces were also torch-seared, so they had a smoky flavor and just the right amount of sauce, making them great to enjoy as a special item~

Udon, croquette and the self-serve soup

A side of udon came out, so the meal ended up even more filling.

The croquette that came with it was also great to enjoy alongside everything~

I also had the self-serve broth, and it went well with the meal haha.

Is Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch worth a visit?

Hwangje Sushi in Ilsan was a satisfying sushi restaurant where I could enjoy upscale sushi and atmosphere at a reasonable price. I'd already heard it's a well-known delivery restaurant with lots of orders on Baemin too~ It was so good I want to order it again at home next time haha.