Jonggak sushi date: ankimo-uni hand rolls, ₩4,000 soju, Choe Uyeong

On a Saturday evening I went to Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch (최우영스시야 종로점), a sushi place in the Tower 8 basement near Jonggak Station, as a date with my boyfriend 😊 Conclusion first: it's a perfect spot for a drink for two! I'll write it up honestly, exactly as I ate it ✨

Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch at a glance

• One-line review: a plate of raw fish with ₩4,000 soju, a sushi spot near Jonggak that's perfect for a date-night drink
• What we ate: assorted sashimi ₩40,000 + top-grade kaisendon ₩25,000 + ankimo ₩6,000 — food ₩71,000 + soju ₩4,000 (for 2)
• Taste: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.8/5) — fresh fish, and the kaisendon is packed with seafood
• Atmosphere: a clean space mixing bar seats and tables, with lots of couples
• Facilities: connected to the subway underground, and building parking is free for 2 hours. An elevator goes down to B1 and the restaurant was wheelchair accessible too 🚗

• Name: Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch
• Address: B1 Unit 104, 7 Jongno 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Tower 8, basement level 1)
• Transit: 235m from Jonggak Station Exit 1 (3–5 min walk), about 7 min walk from Gwanghwamun Station Exit 2
• Parking: 2 hours free in the Tower 8 car park (per Naver Place)
• Hours: daily 11:00–21:30 / break time 15:00–17:00 / last order 21:00
• Drinks: soju and beer ₩4,000 / corkage ₩3,000 per bottle for your own drinks
• Important to check!: Wheelchairs and strollers could go right in, and the tables are fairly roomy. Do check the time so you don't hit the break time (15:00–17:00).

How to get to Choe Uyeong Sushiya from Jonggak Station

Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch is in the basement level of the Tower 8 building, which you reach by walking from Jonggak Station toward Gwanghwamun. There's a "식사가능 B1" (meals available, B1) standing sign on the street in front of the building, so just follow the sign down to the basement and you're done!

I took the elevator from the 1st floor down to B1. The Tower 8 basement connects to the Starfield Avenue shopping arcade. It also links to the Jonggak Station underground passage, so it's easy to get here by subway.

Once you're downstairs you'll see the Choe Uyeong Sushiya sign right away. The window has kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) at ₩14,000 and fried tofu udon at ₩5,000 in big letters, and it says single-item sashimi starts from ₩10,000.

And the sign that caught my eye most was this one! "Corkage 3,000, basic drinks 4,000." Places that charge just ₩4,000 for soju these days are really rare, right..? 🔥

What are the seats and atmosphere like at Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch?

Inside, the restaurant is bigger than I expected. A long bar seating area runs down the middle, divided into sections with potted plants. Each seat has its own tablet, so eating alone would be no problem either, right?

Along the wall there are marble-pattern tables. They're wide, and we still had room left after putting three plates down. Thanks to the partitions, it felt like the neighboring tables were a comfortable distance away.

A Japanese-style noren (fabric curtain) hangs in front of the kitchen. The cat poster on the wall was so cute that I snapped a photo ;)

How to order at Choe Uyeong Sushiya, and soju and beer prices

• How to order: with the tablet at each seat
• Drinks: soju and beer ₩4,000, corkage ₩3,000 per bottle for your own drinks
• Please check the menu photo for the full menu! Choose-your-own nigiri starts from ₩1,000.

Once you sit down, they set out clear soup, soy sauce and wasabi first. The soy sauce bottle on the table says "Choe Uyeong Seafood house-made soy sauce." Choe Uyeong Seafood is a company that imports sea urchin roe and fresh tuna directly. It turns out Choe Uyeong Susan in Yeongdeungpo is run by the same group too.

What we ordered for two: assorted sashimi, top-grade kaisendon and ankimo

Assorted sashimi (₩40,000)

Today's main was the ₩40,000 assorted sashimi! The plate was so big that we both went "Ooh~" the moment it arrived.

The assorted sashimi has tuna, salmon, and sea bream with the skin pattern left on. There's also other white fish, cuttlefish and shrimp. A small bowl in the middle comes heaped with crab meat. The slices are thick, so even one piece fills your mouth. It was clean, with no fishy taste at all.

It's a perfect amount for a couple to share over a drink. The next table looked like a couple on a date too. They were going on and on about how good it was, haha.

Top-grade kaisendon (₩25,000)

For the kaisendon, I chose the priciest of the three, the ₩25,000 "top grade." The top-grade kaisendon is covered in seafood so you can't see any rice at all. Tuna, salmon, white fish, and plenty of sea urchin roe on top. Then sauce-glazed eel, a thick rolled omelet, and even crab meat.

I put sea urchin roe on a piece of tuna and scooped it up with some rice. This combo needs no explanation, right? 😋 I was happy to taste so many kinds of seafood in one bowl!

Ankimo, monkfish liver (₩6,000 per 100g)

I also ordered ankimo, which you see a lot these days. Ankimo is a dish made from monkfish liver. It's rich and nutty on its own, and the richness really comes alive when you put it on raw fish. If you like rich flavors, definitely order it! At ₩6,000 it's an easy add-on.

Best way to eat at Choe Uyeong Sushiya: ankimo and uni hand rolls in seaweed

It would be a waste to ignore the seaweed that comes with the kaisendon. I put a little rice on the seaweed and topped it with ankimo and sea urchin roe.

Add crab meat and shrimp too and you've got a hand-rolled sushi! This was the best way to eat it :)

For the salmon, putting the sliced onion that came with it on top cuts the richness right away.

And the soju! At ₩4,000 a bottle, I ordered without a second thought. A piece of raw fish, a glass of soju — that's a date 🍶

Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch pros and cons

Pros

• The fish is thick and fresh.
• One bowl of kaisendon has a real variety of seafood.
• Soju and beer ₩4,000, corkage ₩3,000 per bottle.
• The restaurant is clean and directly connected to the subway.

Cons

Nothing really disappointed me. If I had to pick something, it's that Saturday evenings are definitely crowded. Also check the 15:00–17:00 break time before you go.

Is there a wait at Choe Uyeong Sushiya on Saturday evening?

I went to Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch around 7 p.m. on Saturday and was seated right away without waiting. Still, it had far more customers than the surrounding shops. I recommend going a little early on weekend evenings!

The two of us had ₩71,000 of food and soju too. It's perfect when you want raw fish and a drink on a date in Jongno. If I'm in Jongno, I'm definitely going again. 200% intent to revisit!