Songpa Japanese restaurant for solo soju and sashimi: Susi Seon Bangi

On days when I'm eating dinner alone in Bangi-dong, I sometimes just settle for a few pieces of sushi and call it done — but this time I wanted sashimi with a drink of soju too. Ordering a mixed sashimi platter alone felt like too much food, so I went into Susi Seon Bangi Branch, a sushi spot in Bangi-dong known for its solo menu. There were other solo diners there too, so I settled in comfortably and took my time picking from the menu.

What I ordered was the solo sashimi set for ₩30,000. It comes with 12 pieces of flounder, salmon and tuna sashimi and 5 pieces of sushi as the base, plus grilled fish, fried food, maki and odeng-tang (fish cake soup). It's a better lineup than a sushi-only menu for a day when you need a few different things to drink with, so I ordered a bottle of soju alongside it.

What is Susi Seon Bangi Branch like for eating alone?

Susi Seon Bangi Branch had an atmosphere that felt comfortable even going in alone for sushi. Inside, there were wooden tables and chairs, and the space wasn't too big — it felt like sitting down at a cozy neighborhood sushi place. It was dinnertime, so there were other diners around, but I also saw people eating solo, which made me feel right at ease.

That evening, I wasn't just after a simple solo meal in Bangi-dong — I wanted sashimi with soju. Even though it's a sushi specialty restaurant, there's a separate solo sashimi set, so I wasn't stuck choosing just one plate of sushi because I came alone. Sitting at the table and eating slowly as each dish arrived made it quite comfortable for having a drink.

Susi Seon Bangi Branch menu: sashimi set for one at 30,000 won

The menu at Susi Seon Bangi Branch included today's sushi 10pcs for ₩13,000, special sushi 10pcs for ₩17,000, and chef's choice sushi 10pcs for ₩21,000. The couple set for two people was ₩38,000, and there was also a menu pairing udon or tonkatsu with 5 pieces of sushi, so it was easy to choose depending on what I was in the mood for. The options were split between going sushi-focused or mixing in other dishes.

The sashimi set I picked was ₩30,000 and available for one person. The 12 pieces of sashimi are flounder, salmon and tuna, and it comes with 5 pieces of sushi plus grilled fish, fried food, maki and odeng-tang. It's not a set that ends with just sashimi and sushi — it includes hot food too, which is exactly what drew me to it for a solo drink.

What comes in the 12pcs flounder, salmon and tuna sashimi

The meal started with warm porridge and salad. After a few spoonfuls of porridge, the salad with vegetables, onion and bits of raw fish was a nice way to ease into the main sashimi. Ginger, pickled radish and rakkyo (pickled shallots) came out too, and I ate them along the way between sashimi and sushi.

The main sashimi plate had 12 pieces total — flounder, salmon and tuna. Instead of a big pile of just one type, all three came together, so I picked whichever I felt like eating next. At first I dipped in soy sauce and wasabi, then partway through I wrapped tuna and wasabi in seaweed — eating it this way alone with a drink made it feel even more like proper drinking food.

The 5pcs of sushi served with the sashimi set

The sashimi set also comes with 5 pieces of sushi. Ordering just a plate of sashimi alone is fine as a drinking snack, but for dinner you might miss having rice — with the sushi included, I didn't need to add a separate meal item. I mixed the order, eating a few pieces of sashimi and then a piece of sushi in turn.

Eating sashimi and sushi together in one sitting, I didn't feel like the menu was lacking as a solo sushi dinner in Bangi-dong. It's a different direction from a menu that's just 10 pieces of sushi — it felt more like drinking centered around sashimi while still getting some rice in between. On a day when ordering several separate dishes solo feels awkward, this kind of set for one was definitely convenient.

Grilled fish, fried food and fish cake soup: a set built for soju

After eating through some sashimi and sushi, I moved on to the grilled fish and fried food. The grilled fish came out nicely browned, and the fried food was warm too, making for a different kind of drinking snack than the sashimi before it. When you're drinking soju, you tend to want something warm rather than just cold sashimi the whole time — and here it was already built into the set, so there was no need to order extra.

At the end there was odeng-tang too, so I got to have some soup. Sipping the hot broth with fish cake and scallions, spoonful by spoonful, alongside soju, made the meal feel noticeably different from ordering sashimi alone. Getting to go from sashimi to sushi to grilled fish and fried food and finally soup made it a perfect fit for a proper solo drinking night in Bangi-dong like this one.

Is the solo sashimi set at Susi Seon Bangi Branch worth it?

What I liked most about Susi Seon's sashimi set was that it's a solo menu you can order alone. For ₩30,000, getting 12 pieces of flounder, salmon and tuna sashimi plus 5 pieces of sushi, along with grilled fish, fried food, maki and odeng-tang, made for a very different dinner than finishing one plate quickly. With the dishes constantly changing, the portion was just right for slowly working through a bottle of soju.

If you're looking for a good sushi restaurant in Bangi-dong on a day when you want both sushi and a drink with sashimi, I think the sashimi set is the one to check out first. It's not a set that requires a group to order — you can get it solo, and when a single plate of sashimi alone feels like it's not quite enough, you can also get sushi and warm dishes with it. Next time I'm craving sashimi alone for dinner in Bangi-dong, I'll probably be back at Susi Seon Bangi Branch for the sashimi set with a glass of soju.