Songdo sushi restaurant: onion & egg tempura add-on, Sushi Doku

Sushi Doku The Songdo, the Songdo sushi place worth queueing for

I went last time with my mom and loved it so much that this time I brought my husband back to Sushi Doku The Songdo :)

How long is the wait at Sushi Doku The Songdo?

Sushi Doku The Songdo is on the 2nd floor of Onesta Mall in Songdo. We arrived around 11:20 a.m. on a Sunday and there were already 5 groups waiting. I figured right after opening would be fine, but nope... you have to expect a wait.

Parties of 6 or more can reserve on Naver. Smaller groups enter their phone number on the Catch Table machine in front of the restaurant and wait. I waited about 15 minutes, and since a sky bridge leads straight to Triple Street, the time flew by while window shopping.

Atmosphere and seating at Sushi Doku The Songdo

Sushi Doku The Songdo is known as a 100% live restaurant where the chef cooks right in front of you. It's fun to watch, and the staff left an impression too. When customers leave, everyone calls out "Thank you~ See you again~!" and it felt so lively and put me in a good mood.

Seating is mostly tables for 4, with softly dim lighting and a classy, Japanese-style interior. There are no private rooms, but the tables feel separated enough that we could eat calmly without being disturbed.

What comes in the Premium Sushi Set (10 pieces, 25,900 won)?

The Premium Set at Sushi Doku The Songdo is ₩25,900 and includes 10 pieces of sushi plus chawanmushi (steamed egg), salad, half udon and karaage (Japanese fried chicken). I fell for it last time and picked it again. You get a good variety: flounder, red sea bream, salmon, akami (lean tuna), sweet shrimp, eel, ankimo (monkfish liver) and more. With the sides it's even more filling, so I especially recommend it!

Steamed egg can turn out a bit eggy-fishy, but here a subtle truffle oil aroma makes the flavor much better. The half udon has plenty of noodles and sweetly simmered fish cake, so it's not just there to fill out the set but is very well done. The salad's nutty sesame dressing really whets the appetite too, and I thought, since we're waiting anyway, I'm glad I got the set.

Is the assorted tempura (15,900 won) worth adding?

The set alone at Sushi Doku The Songdo is hearty enough to leave you full without extras, but this time I added the assorted tempura (₩15,900). (I remembered the tempura being really good last time.) The batter was sooo crispy, and I'd never had onion tempura or egg tempura before. I thought, "Who knew just frying an onion and an egg could taste this good..."

The shrimp tempura is much bigger than it looks in the photo, so after 10 pieces of sushi plus the shrimp tempura I nearly burst T_T haha. If three of you are going, or two big eaters, I recommend ordering the assorted tempura too!

How does the sushi at Sushi Doku The Songdo taste?

The biggest surprise in the sushi at Sushi Doku The Songdo was, unexpectedly, the shrimp. Personally I don't really like the shrimp in assorted sushi. (It feels like a budget filler and kind of kills the mood T_T) But the shrimp here was totally different: juicy and plump, with the texture really alive :0

Brushing soy sauce onto the sushi

At Sushi Doku The Songdo you brush the soy sauce on with a brush, and I was impressed by that too. Usually you pick the sushi up with chopsticks and dip it, and the rice can loosen or the shape fall apart. With a brush you just lightly paint it on, so the sushi stays intact. It seems like a small thing, but you can feel the restaurant's polish in every detail.

Tuna, salmon and ankimo, which can easily be fishy, weren't fishy at all and kept a rich, nutty flavor. The salmon had a long tail cut, so the generous slice filled my mouth, which was very satisfying. The eel sushi had a faint smoky aroma and a melt-in-your-mouth texture, so there wasn't a single bad piece.

Why this Songdo sushi restaurant is worth the wait

At Sushi Doku The Songdo, after the meal you can cleanse your palate with plum tea as dessert, and they even have mouthwash (Garglin), dental floss and toothpicks ready, which was thoughtful. Both when I came with my mom and now with my husband, the taste was unchanged.

It felt like they had fixed every complaint I have about ordinary sushi places (fishiness, the udon portion, the soy sauce), so I understood why the wait is a must haha. If you're looking for a proper sushi place in Songdo, go!