Hapjeong sushi date, no fishy taste: ₩24,000 Hap set at Sushi Sakaba

Why we chose Sushi Sakaba for sushi in Hapjeong

Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong is a sushi spot that was already known as a good sushi place in Hapjeong and reopened under a new name after a renovation. I heard the owner-chef comes from overseas fine dining, and I knew I had to go.

I go to Hapjeong and Hongdae all the time, for weekend dates or to meet friends, and I love hunting for good restaurants and cafés, so I end up there a lot! But thinking about it, I almost never ate sushi around here. I like sushi, but I never knew where to go in Hapjeong, and since I kept eating something different every time, sushi kept getting pushed back haha..

Then I heard that a well-known sushi place in Hapjeong had reopened as Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong. On top of that, the owner-chef is said to come from overseas fine dining, so I thought, I have to visit this place!!

Where is Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong?

Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong is on the 2nd floor of a building less than a 5-minute walk from Exits 3 and 4 of Hapjeong Station. If you're meeting someone near the station, it's easy to find. The sign is easy to spot, so I found it right away.

Is Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong good for a date or blind date?

Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong is a quiet, upscale place with dodge (counter) seats and plenty of table seats. The first thing I felt when I walked in was the upscale mood, and best of all, it isn't noisy.

Looking around during my visit, there seemed to be a couple on a blind date, and quite a few people enjoying dates. I could see why it gets recommended as a date spot in Hapjeong. Anyway, I was genuinely satisfied before even tasting the sushi. The mood was just so good!! It's quiet enough to talk over a meal, so it looked fine for a blind date or an anniversary dinner too.

When I looked it up before visiting, I read that the owner-chef comes from overseas fine dining. Maybe that's why I was already excited before seeing the menu. After looking it over, we ordered the Hap sushi set.

Why is the Hap set called a "value omakase"?

The Hap set at Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong is a ₩24,000 sushi set with the words "value omakase" next to its name on the menu. At first I thought that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but once the food arrived I understood right away why it's called that. After a short wait, our order came out.

The look of it is crazy, right...? It's not just sushi: salad, chawanmushi, soup and cold udon come with it too.

Chawanmushi and cold udon with the Hap set

The chawanmushi that came with the set was clean and perfectly seasoned. Chawanmushi, a Japanese steamed egg custard, is something I love, and the seasoning here was really spot on.

I loved how it melted softly in my mouth with every spoonful. Some places serve chawanmushi that's greasy or bland, but Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong's was clean and so, so good.

The cold udon served alongside was super tasty too. Usually you get cold soba, but using udon noodles gave it a different charm. Personally I liked the udon far more than soba.

With soup and salad on top, the lineup felt really generous.

Honestly, the look of the sushi surprised me a little. It's ₩24,000, and for what you get it's kind of unbelievable, isn't it..?

I immediately got why it's named the value omakase Hap set.

What's in the ₩24,000 Hap set?

The Hap set at Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong comes with a paper listing every piece, so you can check them in the order you eat them. The lineup was as follows.

• Flounder
• Tuna back
• Sea bream
• Salmon
• Tuna belly
• Seasonal fish
• Blue-backed fish
• Wagyu
• Long shrimp
• Ankimo (monkfish liver)
• Eel
• Maki roll

How does the Hap set taste? From flounder to tuna and salmon

The rice seasoning and the amount of rice in the Hap set were just right, and I was amazed from the very first piece, the flounder. I tried the flounder first: clean yet chewy, a total hit, and the rice seasoning is really well done. The amount of rice was right too, and I was surprised how good it was.

The tuna back was clean with lively umami, and the sea bream had a subtle sweetness and a springy texture that was so good T_T

The tuna belly melted softly the moment it hit my mouth, which was really nice. I've had a lot of fishy tuna sushi, so it wasn't a favorite of mine, but honestly I couldn't taste any fishiness in any of the pieces here.

Salmon is one of my favorite kinds of sushi, and this was soft and rich... so delicious.

Is Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong OK if you don't like fishy fish?

Even the two of us, who are sensitive to fishiness, enjoyed the shrimp and blue-backed fish in the Hap set with no fishy taste. I honestly don't like raw shrimp, but no joke, I ate it happily. Not a single bit of it was fishy.

The two of us really can't eat strongly fishy fish.. so before the sushi came out, I even wondered whether to ask them to swap the blue-backed fish for another fish. But the reviews were good, so we ate it as it was. Long story short, I'm truly glad we didn't change it. I could barely smell any fishiness; instead the nutty richness and umami came through much more. While eating I thought, huh? Did I always like blue-backed fish..?

The aged kimchi (mugeunji) sushi is just plain amazing..

Why the ankimo (monkfish liver) was the standout

Of the Hap set, the ankimo was the best sushi I had that day. We're a couple who can't really eat things like ankimo or uni, so we took it on as a kind of challenge at the end, and it was the best thing we ate today.. I guess I'd only had fishy, bad ankimo before.. As you'd expect from a top Hapjeong-Hongdae sushi spot, it was truly different from other places T_T Seriously delicious.

Is the Hap set at Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong worth a return visit?

I was happy with the atmosphere, the sushi lineup, the price and the taste, so Sushi Sakaba Hapjeong is a place I want to go back to. The wagyu, the eel and everything else was delicious, piece by piece. The rice, its seasoning and the fish were all so good. I really want to eat it again T_T..

I was so glad to find a truly tasty sushi spot in Hapjeong-Hongdae. It's a place I want to recommend to people around me! If you're looking for a sushi spot in Hapjeong-Hongdae, a good sushi restaurant in Hapjeong, or somewhere for a blind date or a date, I really recommend it!!