Hongdae sushi restaurant with aged-kimchi fish: Yu Iksang Sushi

After eating so well on our Jeju trip, my husband and I went looking for sushi saying, “Let’s keep it light today.” But of all places, we chose Yu Iksang Sushi, famous for its long-tailed sushi haha. To give you the conclusion first, our plan to eat lightly completely failed. The sushi was abundant, and they even gave us eggplant sushi on the house, so we ate incredibly well—stuffed to bursting. 🍣

Yu Iksang Sushi’s Hongdae location and Saturday wait

Yu Iksang Sushi is on Wausan-ro 23-gil near Hongdae. We strolled over from Hongik University Station Exit 9 while looking around, and it took about 10 minutes. From the Seogyo Prugio Apartments, go left with the Mapo Lifelong Learning Center beside you.

We visited around 1:30 p.m. on a Saturday and had to wait about 10 minutes rather than getting straight in. While waiting outside, I thought… this place is no ordinary spot.

Let’s eat it raw today too, like sushi.

Haha, but Chef… I wondered if you might be working a little too hard for a line like that. The food was great, of course, but the kind service made this a restaurant that left me in a good mood.

A small but distinctive dining room

The restaurant is on the small side.

Japanese-style drawings and little decorations were scattered around, and one wall was packed with handwritten notes left by customers.

It feels a little different from the neat, polished sushi restaurants that have opened recently; instead, it has a very clear personality. Customers kept coming in and waiting while we ate. The small dining room was quite bustling.

The 26-piece Couple A Plus set and sides

We ordered the 26-piece Couple A Plus set, priced at ₩56,000. Besides big sets like this, they also had plenty of eight-piece options, including value sets.

Once we ordered, salad, soup, refreshing cold soba noodles, and shrimp tempura came out too.

And then the main event finally arrived. Wow… it was even more abundant in person than it looked in photos. One plate came completely filled with sushi and rolls, and from that moment, our “let’s eat light” plan was already gone. 😂

Long-tailed sushi brushed with soy sauce

What I was most curious about was, of course, the long-tailed sushi. It really is long. It is not just a slightly oversized slice of fish on rice—it hangs far down past the rice. I compared the salmon to the length of the brush haha.

The tuna was thick and generously large too, so it really felt like eating proper slices of sashimi.

A staff member gave us a silicone brush, and at first I thought, why are they giving us a brush? Once I tried it, though, I immediately understood.

Trying to dip sushi this long into a soy sauce dish is a task in itself, haha. Just dab soy sauce onto the brush and swipe it over the fish. And my unexpected favorite was the combination of aged kimchi and white fish. With the mild fish, the aged kimchi made the tangy, savory flavor come alive—wow, why is this combination so delicious?

Crispy rolls and complimentary eggplant sushi

The Couple A Plus also includes a generous portion of rolls. They are topped with plenty of crispy fried crumbs over mayonnaise sauce. Even with a generous amount of mayo, they were not rich or cloying at all. What did they put in there? The crumbs had such a nice crunch, and both of us really enjoyed the rolls too.

But it did not end there. Eggplant sushi came out as a complimentary dish too.

The eggplant sushi was delicious too, so even though we were full, we could not leave it behind. They were busy with so many customers, but the chef came out from the kitchen midway through and even gave us a Crayon Shin-chan sticker. Haha. Looking at the handwritten notes on the wall, I thought this must be a place with many regulars; with little touches of fun like this, I could see why it stays in people’s memories.

If you are craving something unusual and abundant rather than ordinary sushi in Hongdae, this is a place worth trying. We left very full and very happy with our meal. 😊