Seolleung sushi dinner with mom: sashimi platter and uni nigiri, Sakai

What kind of place is Sakai near Seolleung Station?

Sakai is a sushi sakaba near Seolleung Station that serves sushi alongside drinks. I wanted sushi with my mom after work, so I searched for good sushi spots near Seolleung Station and ended up going here on a recommendation from a friend who loves sushi.

There's no lettered sign at the entrance — when you open the door on the first floor, you'll see a plaque with a sun-shaped logo on the right.

Sakai location and reservations

Sakai operates as a sushi sakaba where you enjoy sushi together with drinks.

What's a sakaba? In Japan, it refers to a bar where you enjoy drinks alongside snacks or a meal.

There are both table seats and counter (dachi) seats, so it's great for sushi with friends or family, and also a nice atmosphere for a solo drink.

Table seats or counter seats at Sakai: which is better?

The counter seats at Sakai are so popular they were fully booked even for the 6pm weekday slot, so we sat at a table. Table seats are spacious, making it easy to lay out the food, but the lighting is low, so photos came out a bit disappointing.

If you use a proper camera, I'd recommend booking a counter seat in advance.

But for focusing on the food itself, the table seat atmosphere was really nice.

How to order from Sakai's handwritten menu

Apparently at Sakai, which ingredients get used depends on the freshness of what came in that day.

So the available menu changes slightly day to day, and it's handwritten too. When ordering, we picked from what was available that day. Personally I really love this analog style, so it made me happy.

And of course, if you want to see the day's best ingredients, it's got to be the sashimi moriawase, right? We picked the sashimi moriawase first, then wrote down the sushi we wanted to eat.

There are three chefs total, and if you write down everything you want at once, you don't have to wait long. The servers checked on our table periodically and were so kind that it made for a great start to the meal.

It had bacon, cucumber, corn, and soft mashed potato inside, gently filling us up before the sushi proper began.

Sashimi moriawase at Sakai, 34,000 won

This is the dish I think you absolutely must order if you visit Sakai — the sashimi moriawase (₩34,000). Given Gangnam prices, I think it's pretty reasonable.

On a small assorted plate, scallop, sweet shrimp, salmon, sea bream, flounder, and tamagoyaki were neatly plated, delighting the eyes first,

and the ingredients were so fresh, with no fishy taste at all, that every bite drew an exclamation.

Cut thick, freshness filled the mouth, and the texture was almost melt-in-your-mouth soft — the best.

12 of the day's 22 sushi options, and what they cost

There were 22 types of daily sushi in total, and we ordered 12 based on our own preferences. Prices ranged from ₩3,700 to ₩11,000, averaging around ₩5,000.

We ordered madai (red sea bream), amaebi (sweet shrimp), hotate (scallop), uni (sea urchin), hirame (flounder), horse mackerel, and aori squid (bigfin reef squid) — and since I was really craving flounder that day, I ordered hirame three times.

The neta (fish topping) was piled on thick, which I really loved.

My mom picked the aori squid, and she said it was very chewy, springy, and delicious.

The uni and amaebi were served on separate plates.

The fresh uni came topped with a generous helping of sea urchin roe — I gave it to my mom. She said it was very delicious.

The amaebi was reasonably priced at ₩4,500 each. We ordered two and shared them evenly. Topped with the shrimp head, egg yolk, and wasabi, it just melted in the mouth. Personally, it was the tastiest item among the day's sushi.

Is Sakai near Seolleung Station worth it? Final verdict

A place where you could feel the care put into every dish, and comfortably enjoy good-quality ingredients. If I'm looking for somewhere near Seolleung Station to enjoy sushi and drinks together, I think I'll be thinking of this place again. Thanks for the meal! 🙆‍♀️