Eel spot in Yeoksam: weekend solo sakedon with extra salmon, Yangsando

Everyone knows Yangsando, right? It's an eel specialist that started in Busan, and its signature dish is Nagoya-style hitsumabushi (eel rice bowl eaten several ways)! I usually stop by for the eel bowl, but today I was craving rich, buttery salmon, so I had sakedon (salmon rice bowl) instead 🧡 As a rice-bowl specialist, it focuses on neat, tidy set meals, so it's a great place for a lunch or any hearty meal.

Yangsando Yeoksam: location, parking and waiting

Yangsando Yeoksam (양산도 역삼점) is on an office-district street right about halfway between Gangnam Station and Yeoksam Station, and it's open daily 11:00-21:00. There's no parking of its own, so if you drive, you'll need a nearby public car park! Group visits and takeout/delivery are available too.

On weekday lunch breaks the wait is quite long because of all the office workers around ✨ With no parking, public transport is much easier.

I went late on a weekend evening and got in with no wait 🤍

Inside Yangsando Yeoksam and the solo bar seats

The interior has table seats and a bar counter (solo seats), with a neat Japanese-restaurant feel! The mood is calm overall, which I liked. It's a nice place to eat quietly 💡

There are also tables behind the partition, and for a group I think those would be more comfortable 🫧 If you're planning a group visit, it's probably best to ask the restaurant ahead of time!

I came to eat alone today, so I was shown to a bar seat ➿

The Yangsando menu: what's there besides eel?

Eel dishes are the main focus at Yangsando! The signature is of course hitsumabushi ✨ Besides that, there's also conger eel rice bowl (가지장어덮밥), grilled eel in sweet-spicy sauce, and sakedon and butadon (pork rice bowl) too.

Sakedon with 5 extra salmon pieces: how generous is it?

This time I ordered Yangsando's sakedon with 5 extra pieces of salmon. I always come here for eel, but today I was craving rich salmon, so I added extra salmon to the sakedon 🫶🏻

• Sakedon
• Extra salmon (5 pieces)

The 5 extra pieces came piled on top of the rice along with the rest! With 5 extra pieces added to the basic sakedon, it was seriously generous 🍣 Extra salmon is power, I tell you... so happy

Just look at how glossy that salmon is 🥹 It's cut quite thick, too. I need to eat salmon regularly.. 😶‍🌫️ Freshness matters most in sakedon, and there was no fishy smell at all, just a properly rich, buttery flavor. It went so well with the rice ➰

How to enjoy Yangsando's sakedon

Use the soy sauce brush that comes with it to dab soy sauce onto the salmon, then add a little fresh wasabi, and the nutty richness just bursts in your mouth,,, 🧡 Thanks to the generous extra salmon, I didn't hold back and piled two pieces onto each spoonful. The rich flavor of fresh salmon spread through my mouth, and I was satisfied!

If you love salmon like I do, I definitely recommend adding extra.

Which side dishes come with the Yangsando set?

Yangsando's rice bowls come as a full set, with salad, mini soba and steamed egg on the same tray. Another reason I like Yangsando is that the sides beyond the main bowl are really neatly done! From crisp, fresh salad to mini soba that's good for cleansing the palate before the meal, to warm, soft steamed egg, the tray comes full 🫶🏻

The steamed egg, soft like pudding, was especially delicious! Eating it warm before starting the meal felt comforting and settled my stomach.

Yangsando Yeoksam sakedon: final verdict

I thought only the eel bowls were famous, but Yangsando does a really well-made fresh salmon sakedon too! It comes as a tidy full set, so it's a good stop for lunch near Yeoksam Station or a solo meal on the way home from work 🍣

• Thick, rich salmon sakedon
• Neat set with steamed egg, soba and salad
• A great solo meal spot in Yeoksam