Salmon sushi 10 pieces and free 5-hour parking: Hwangje Sushi Ilsan

My son, taking after who knows who, has become a huge sushi fan lately, so after a hard day's work at the weekend farm, we headed to Hwangje Sushi, a well-known spot near Ilsan Lake Park, for dinner. (Though to be fair, he actually slept in the car the whole time at the farm... busted.)

Park underground, not above ground

Hwangje Sushi, near Ilsan Lake Park, offers up to 5 hours of free parking, which seemed pretty convenient for a meal on a lake park outing. It's also within walking distance of Western Dom, Ilsan MBC, and CHA Hospital, not just the lake park. At first I pulled into the ground-level parking lot of the SK M-City commercial building and panicked when it was full, but if you skip that and drive further inside, there's a massive underground parking lot.

Spacious, clean interior, with solo dining seats too

Spacious, clean interior, with solo dining seats too

Hwangje Sushi's interior was also very spacious and clean. I'd heard it's popular enough to have waits during peak times, but the area seemed unusually quiet that day — turns out it was the day of the Yeouido fireworks festival. On the way back, the Gangbyeon Expressway was basically a parking lot. Everyone had gone there instead.

There were also seats that looked good for solo dining.

Abalone porridge and grilled fish included as standard

Pickles, grilled fish, and appetizer abalone porridge were all included as part of the standard set, which made it pretty great value.

The nutty abalone porridge was such a hit with the kids that mom and dad had to give up theirs... they each ended up eating two bowls, haha.

A solid sake and draft beer lineup

Hwangje Sushi also had a really solid drink lineup — not just the usual soju and beer, but sake and draft beer too.

The sake selection was pretty varied too. Akabu — haven't seen that one in a while!

There were two draft beer options — Ebisu and Sapporo — so you could pick based on your taste.

There was also a Sushi & Beer solo set with Sapporo draft, sushi, and sashimi — perfect for anyone living nearby who wants a quick drink on the way home from work, haha.

The beer was Kelly, but the spirit was all Sapporo, haha. The bottle opener was cute.

Salmon sushi 10 pieces, 5 different styles

My son, currently obsessed with salmon, went for the salmon sushi 10 pieces. It comes with 5 different styles of salmon — seared, belly, soy-marinated, and more — 2 pieces each.

Salmon really is delicious... two thumbs up... haha.

The salmon was fresh with no fishy taste, soft and rich — I understood exactly why he was giving it double thumbs up.

Today's sushi 10 pieces for ₩16,000

There's a kids' sushi menu too, and I was going to order that for my daughter, but she chose the today's sushi 10 pieces herself. A full sushi platter plus grilled fish and porridge for ₩16,000 is excellent value. Luckily, the other sushi menus could also have the wasabi left out if requested in advance. Something about this set reminded me of the lunch special at Woongbae Sushi in Cheongju... hope you're doing well, Woong.

Special sushi 12 pieces

Special sushi, 12 pieces. This is where the more premium lineup starts — seasonal fish plus tuna, abalone, and beef sushi. Above this are the VIP sushi, luxury sushi, and Hwangje Signature omakase sushi.

Hwangje Sushi's fish slices were thick and the rice seasoning was just right, so every bite was satisfying.

The beef sushi was tender, not chewy at all, and really delicious!

The complimentary potato croquette was happily devoured by my picky-eater daughter.

The scallop had a slightly half-cooked texture, very soft, melting away as you ate it.

Egg sushi added à la carte

The kids said the egg sushi was delicious, so we ordered extra egg sushi à la carte. It seems à la carte items can be added in sets of 5 pieces.

Udon for dessert too

Sushi followed by udon for dessert — the value at Hwangje Sushi, near Ilsan Lake Park, was really outstanding.

Slurp... slurrrp...

Beyond the sushi menu, Hwangje Sushi near Ilsan Lake Park also seemed to have sashimi, kaisen-don, and other dishes. I'd recommend it as a restaurant with parking for a family outing to Ilsan Lake Park.