Corkage-free sashimi dinner for two in Yaksu, Seoul: Ido Hoetjip

I'm Nowon-daek, a rookie married woman 👰🏻‍♀️ I finally finished one of the biggest tasks of my life! I got through the day we paid off the final balance on our newlywed home. 🎉

After paying the final balance in the morning and carefully checking that the interior demolition was starting, I was completely drained. But on such a meaningful, happy day, going straight home felt like a waste, right? So let me tell you about the great-value restaurant near Yaksu Station we rushed to for a toast with my husband — 'Ido Hoetjip' (이도횟집).

Where is Ido Hoetjip near Yaksu Station, and when is it open?

Ido Hoetjip is at 11 Donghoro 12-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, near Yaksu Station. It's open 11:30–23:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 16:00.

Ido Hoetjip occupies the whole building, so it's quite spacious — but wow, even on a weekday evening the place was absolutely packed. I guess I was the only one who didn't know this was a real Yaksu Station hidden gem.. 🤣🤣

I wanted to take pretty photos of every corner inside, but there were so many customers that I felt too guilty to lift my camera, so I had to give up on interior shots with tears in my eyes..

Why we chose Ido Hoetjip: bring your own bottle, no corkage

Out of the countless sashimi restaurants near Yaksu Station, the reason we specifically chose Ido Hoetjip was 'corkage-free.' You can't celebrate a happy day without a good bottle, right? Haha.

• Wine & sake, 1st bottle: free
• Each additional bottle: ₩10,000
• Whiskey: ₩10,000 per bottle

Corkage fees these days aren't cheap, so having the first bottle of wine or sake free was exactly what we wanted — good sashimi paired with whatever drink we felt like.

What the 55,000 won flounder and rockfish course for two includes

We ordered the 2-person course (flounder + rockfish). At first I doubted my eyes on the menu — it said just ₩55,000, and I assumed of course that had to be per person. But wait, no? It was ₩55,000 for two. Isn't that value insane?

The free side dishes at Ido Hoetjip never stopped coming

The price was so good that honestly I didn't expect much from the sides (sukiddasi), but dish after dish kept appearing and both my husband and I were floored. All of this for ₩55,000? Owner, are you even making any money off this..?

The basics included a savory seaweed soup, crunchy silkworm pupae, and aged kimchi (mukeunji) that's amazing wrapped around the sashimi later.

Usually at cheap sashimi restaurants you just get corn butter or steamed egg and call it a day, but here they gave us eomuk (fishcake) soup, crispy fried shrimp, and beautifully grilled mackerel..

It really just kept pouring out endlessly — we could've filled up on the side dishes alone. 👍🏻 And the quality was great too. Every single thing was delicious. (Especially the eomuk soup, so good)

Flounder and rockfish sashimi wrapped in aged kimchi

The main flounder and rockfish sashimi had a chewy texture — super fresh. Especially when I put a piece of flounder on the aged kimchi side dish and dabbed on some wasabi, all the fatigue from the whole day just melted away. All the exhausting moments from paying off the balance were forgotten, and my husband and I raised our glasses in a moved toast. Haha.

Finishing the meal with spicy fish stew and albap

For the finishing meal of Ido Hoetjip's 2-person course, you can choose between seafood ramyeon or spicy fish stew (maeuntang). We craved something spicy and rich, so we went with the stew.

On top of that, a rice bowl with popping fish roe (albap) came out perfectly to round things off. On such a meaningful day — after paying off the balance on our newlywed home and taking the first step into interior renovation — this was the perfect spot for a toast: Ido Hoetjip, a sashimi restaurant near Yaksu Station in Seoul! We move into our newlywed home in about a month, so please look forward to the renovation journey ahead 👰🏻‍♀️