Hongdae sushi restaurant serving wasabi on the side: Yu Iksang Sushi

Today I want to introduce a spot with delicious sushi I visited recently while out in Hongdae ~ it's Yu Iksang Sushi, a sushi restaurant near Hongdae! It's within walking distance of Hongik University Station, so it's a good place to stop by when you want good sushi while dating or hanging out in Hongdae haha.

We went for a slightly leisurely late Saturday lunch and arrived around 4pm! Maybe because it was an off-peak time, we were able to eat pretty comfortably :)

Yu Iksang Sushi hours and visitor info

• Hours: Tue–Sun 11:00–21:00 (closed every Monday)
• Last order: 20:00
• Delivery available / takeout available

How far is Yu Iksang Sushi from Hongik University Station, and is there parking?

Let me show you the outside of Yu Iksang Sushi first! It's within walking distance of Hongdae Station and fairly close to the front gate of Hongik University too!

Since it's set a bit back from the main Hongdae street, the atmosphere was calmer rather than crowded, which was nice for eating haha. There's no dedicated parking though, so I'd recommend public transit over driving! Parking around Hongdae isn't easy anyway, so taking the subway feels much less stressful haha.

Inside Yu Iksang Sushi: bar counter and table seats

Inside Yu Iksang Sushi there's a mix of bar-style seating and table seats. Once inside, the place felt cozier than I expected! But not cramped — more like a charming little Japanese-style sushi shop vibe, which I actually liked.

With both bar seats and tables, it looked good for a simple solo meal, and also great for a date like ours with two people!! Especially with the Japanese anime-related items scattered on the walls, it gave a slight feeling of having traveled to Japan haha.

The menu and what we ordered: Couple A set, 52,000 won

Yu Iksang Sushi had a range of menu options, from individual sushi pieces to set menus.

Since there were two of us and we wanted to try a good variety, we ordered a set menu! Our order: Couple A — ₩52,000.

When you order sushi, side dishes come included by default — soup, salad, and fried shrimp all came together, making for a really generous spread!!

After a short wait, our sushi finally arrived!! Wow… the table was fully loaded, so it looked pretty impressive from the start haha. With salmon, flounder, and tuna along with shrimp, octopus, crab stick, beef, rolls and more, there was a great variety to pick from according to taste!

Long-tail sushi with fish draped past the rice

What stood out most at Yu Iksang Sushi was definitely the long-piled fish! The fish was piled much longer than the rice, so when you picked up a piece, you could see the fish trailing loooong behind it.

Eating it in one bite, the fish takes up a big share of the mouthful, so it really felt like proper sushi haha. Especially if you love raw fish, I think you'd really like this style! I personally prefer sushi with generous fish over sushi that's mostly rice, so this suited me well ♥

Special sauce, tempura crumbs and soy sauce brushed on by hand

Also, sushi like shrimp, crab stick, and octopus didn't just have plain fish on top — there was special sauce and tempura crumbs added as well! With a little sauce added on top, it tasted quite different from typical sushi.

The crispy texture of the tempura crumbs on top made each bite a subtly fun combination haha. With crispy tempura crumbs paired with soft sushi, the texture wasn't plain at all and felt more layered.

And here's something that was a bit surprising! For the salmon and flounder sushi with the long trailing tails, soy sauce was brushed on directly with a brush. If you dip sushi with such long fish straight into soy sauce it can actually be awkward, but brushing on as much as you want made it much easier to eat haha.

Why Yu Iksang Sushi leaves the wasabi out

And here's another thing I liked! Wasabi isn't added to the sushi by default?! It's prepared separately, so you just add as much as you want on your own.

I'm not a fan of too much wasabi, so being able to control the amount myself was great haha. On the flip side, if you love wasabi, you can pile it on as much as you like, so everyone can eat it to their own taste!! We tried adding different amounts of wasabi to each piece as we ate, and yeah — sushi really does taste better with a little wasabi in it… ♥

Personally, what stuck with me most was the sushi topped with the special sauce and tempura crumbs! The sauce wasn't overpowering — it added a subtle savory boost when eaten with the sushi, and the tempura crumbs gave a nice crispy texture haha. If you're after something a bit different from your usual sushi, I'd recommend trying this one too ~

Is one Couple A set enough for two people?

If you're looking for a good sushi restaurant in Hongdae, I think Yu Iksang Sushi is worth a visit! There was a great variety of sushi and the portions overall were generous, so ordering just one set for two of us was still plenty filling haha.

The long-tailed sushi with the extra-long fish was especially memorable, and the sushi topped with special sauce and tempura crumbs was also unique and delicious! It'd be a great spot to visit while dating in Hongdae, or even alone for a simple, satisfying sushi meal ♥ We ate really well and left happy :)