Songdo sushi restaurant arriving 15 minutes before opening: Sushi Doku

A sushi spot perfect for a date near the Songdo Hyundai Outlet — Sushi Doku The Songdo 2nd floor, Onesta Mall, 157 Songdo-gukjedae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea 68m from Exit 2 of Technopark Station 2 hours free parking Daily 11:00–21:00 Break time 14:30–17:00 Last order 21:15 Takeout, delivery, reservations, free corkage

A friend who works in the Onesta building next to the Songdo Hyundai Outlet recommended Sushi Doku The Songdo, so I visited for weekend lunch. The price, taste, and atmosphere were all perfect, so let me start this Songdo sushi restaurant review — I'd definitely go back!

Weekend lunch wait at Sushi Doku The Songdo: when can you sit right away?

Sushi Doku The Songdo opens at 11am, but when I arrived 15 minutes before opening there were already about 3 walk-in parties waiting. The calm atmosphere and neatly plated sets attract everyone from families to couples, and chatting while waiting, I noticed a lot of regulars.

Groups with reservations went in right at 11am, and by the time we finished eating and left around noon, the line had gotten quite long. If you want to be seated right away, I'd recommend making a reservation, and groups of 6 or more can book through Naver reservations.

Curtained seats and sofa tables that work with kids

Inside, Sushi Doku The Songdo really feels like a Japanese restaurant — clean seating with curtain-like fabric dividers, so you can eat quietly with your group without feeling crowded. Further inside there's a separate sofa seating area, where families out for a meal in Songdo were eating with their kids. I'd also recommend this as a family-friendly restaurant for anyone bringing kids in Songdo!

Tablet ordering and warm plum tea

You can order from a tablet at the table. Leave both a Naver receipt review and a Naver Place save, and you get a delicious sushi event bonus! This was the most tempting Naver event I've seen at a restaurant lately!

They also had warm plum tea ready — we were starving so we drank it before the meal, and warming up with something sweet and hot first was really nice.

Ordering the Premium Sushi Set, 25,900 won for two

Sushi Doku Songdo has a wide range of set menus, all cleanly composed.

• Premium Sushi Set (명품스시 특정식) ₩25,900 — ordered 2 servings

There are also sashimi menus — assorted sashimi, salmon sashimi, and even a kids' set — so it's great for people who want light sashimi with a drink, or for anyone in Songdo looking for a restaurant with a kids' menu.

When the food came out, the staff kindly explained everything, from the order to eat things in to how to use each item.

All 10 kinds of sushi, right down to the ankimo

Flounder, red sea bream, salmon, squid, sweet shrimp, akami (lean tuna), red shrimp, snow crab, eel, and ankimo (monkfish liver) — such a wide variety, and every single piece was genuinely delicious. Usually with a set like this there's at least one piece that's just okay, but I'd order this exact combination again.

Nothing was fishy or lackluster — everything was excellent, and the slices on top were seriously thick and generous. Beyond freshness, they said all ingredients are aged and used up on the same day, and you could really taste how fresh, tender, and distinct each cut of fish was.

Can you see the thickness, size, and freshness? This was the best sushi I've had recently. The aging was excellent, and because the slices were so thick, you could really taste the fish while it still worked beautifully with the rice. I love dipping in soy sauce, and since a little brush came with the tableware, I could brush soy sauce on evenly, exactly as much as I wanted.

Udon, truffle mini chawanmushi and karaage

The udon that came with the set was so good I drank all the broth, but the mini chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) had a fragrance you can't find anywhere else — truffle chawanmushi with a soft, silky texture. Inside were tiny shrimp and ginkgo nuts, which I'd never had in chawanmushi before — it was fresh and delicious.

The karaage and shrimp tempura were also good, and next time I'd like to have them alongside sashimi. Honestly, I don't eat much sushi and it's not a food I'm crazy about, but this place made me think, 'oh, this is what a real sushi restaurant is.' The atmosphere, the friendliness, the taste, the menu composition — everything was so perfect that if someone asked me for a restaurant recommendation in Songdo, this would be it.

Floss and mouthwash before a walk to Hyundai Premium Outlet Songdo

How kind is this place? Do you see the floss and mouthwash? When you visit Songhyeon-a you usually end up walking around a lot, so it's nice to rinse cleanly and let your food settle before heading out to explore.

It's so neat and clean, and the fish is so good that I wondered why I hadn't come sooner — a Songhyeon-a restaurant I want to visit again. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a restaurant near Songdo Hyundai Outlet, anyone on a date at Triple Street, or anyone searching for a good sushi restaurant in Songdo!