Gwanghwamun à la carte sushi and yogurt ice cream: Elephant Sushi

Elephant Sushi Gwanghwamun

Where is Elephant Sushi near Gwanghwamun Station, and how do you book?

I went to Elephant Sushi, a Japanese restaurant famous as a Gwanghwamun favorite ☺️ I really love sushi, so I went there to eat alone. Coming out of Exit 2 of Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5, it's on B1 of the KT connected tower, so it was very convenient to reach by public transport. If the restaurant is busy, you wait through Catch Table before being seated, but since I'd already made a Naver Reservation, I could walk straight in.

Inside: a Japanese-style sushi room with counter seats

Elephant Sushi, famous as a Gwanghwamun station favorite, is decorated to feel just like a Japanese sushi restaurant — honestly it felt like I'd traveled to Japan? There was a painting of a small, cute baby elephant carrying sushi on its back, which seems to be the mascot of this Gwanghwamun favorite 🐘

This popular Gwanghwamun sushi restaurant has tables for 2 and for 4, plus sushi-bar (dachi) seats in the back — good for couples or solo diners alike 👍

What's on the Elephant Sushi menu, and what do reviews get you?

Let me introduce the various menu items at Elephant Sushi, famous as a Gwanghwamun favorite 😌 The signature menu items are the Elephant A, B and C sets, which come with a variety of sushi and cold soba. You can also order sushi à la carte — mackerel, flounder, engawa (fatty flounder fin), red seabream, salmon, seared salmon and more are all available. There are also rice-and-soup meals and sashimi platters, plus a side of fried shrimp, so you can order to your taste.

If you write a Naver receipt review, you get a free potato croquette (3pc), and if you follow the restaurant on Naver Place, you get a free glass of sake, apparently. Since you're already there for sushi, make sure to write the review and set up the notification to grab these free perks ✌️

Side dishes and orange juice to start

After I finished ordering on the tablet at Elephant Sushi, a Gwanghwamun favorite, the staff first brought out cabbage salad and miso soup ✨ While waiting for my sushi, I poured out some pickled ginger and tsuyu soy sauce into small dishes.

Del Monte orange juice (glass) / ₩3,000 Since I visited on a hot summer day, I wanted something cool, so I ordered a glass of Del Monte orange juice — it came with ice, so it was refreshing and sweet.

À la carte sushi: sweet shrimp, saltwater eel, butter-grilled scallop

Sweet shrimp (1pc) / ₩5,000 Saltwater eel (1pc) / ₩7,000 Butter-grilled scallop (1pc) / ₩6,000 I ordered these à la carte sushi pieces at this Gwanghwamun sushi favorite. They come as one piece each of sweet shrimp, saltwater eel and butter-grilled scallop, and each had this soft yet savory taste that was just outstanding in the mouth. The sweet shrimp especially melted away softly on the tongue, and the saltwater eel had been lightly torched with a sauce whose umami paired perfectly with the eel 👍 The butter-grilled scallop had that rich, savory butter flavor that paired really well with the plump texture of the scallop.

Doesn't the sushi make your mouth water just from looking at it?

Elephant B set: 12 pieces plus cold soba for 28,000 won

Elephant B set (12 pieces + cold soba) / ₩28,000 I ordered the Elephant B set, the main menu item at this Gwanghwamun sushi favorite. It comes in just the right amount for one person, with a total of 12 pieces including soy-marinated shrimp, tuna, flounder, salmon, squid and futomaki (thick rolled sushi) 🍣

I wanted to savor the flavor of each piece carefully, so I ate slowly, one piece at a time. There was a bit of wasabi tucked inside each sushi, and the sharp, spicy kick paired really well with the fish and rice — and when I wanted a little extra umami, dipping lightly into the not-too-salty tsuyu soy sauce made it even more delicious 😋

I mixed in the buckwheat soba that comes as a side with the Elephant B set and took a bite — it was refreshing and the buckwheat noodles were nice and chewy, so I ended up very full 😆

Dessert: blueberry yogurt ice cream for 2,000 won

Blueberry yogurt ice cream / ₩2,000 After eating my fill of delicious sushi, I finished with blueberry yogurt ice cream as a palate cleanser, and the sweetness in my mouth lifted my mood along with it 🍨 I'd definitely recommend visiting Elephant Sushi, famous as a Gwanghwamun sushi favorite, and eating your fill of delicious sushi 🙌