Gwanghwamun Japanese restaurant with aburidon and shiso: Ilpum

Wanting something a little different for lunch in Gwanghwamun, I went looking for a good Japanese restaurant in the area and ended up at Ilpum Gwanghwamun.

The restaurant serves a range of rice bowl dishes like kaisendon (seafood rice bowl), aburidon (seared sashimi bowl), and unagidon (eel rice bowl). Visiting in person, I found it wasn't just a one-bowl meal — the meal continued through chawanmushi (savory egg custard), soup, cold udon, and dessert.

What impressed me most was the sheer amount of sashimi piled on top of the bowl. At first I thought, "one bowl should be plenty," but once the food arrived, there was way more sashimi than expected. Just the sashimi alone was enough to fill me up, so I actually ended up leaving some of the bowl unfinished.

Where is Ilpum Gwanghwamun and what are its hours?

📍 Address: 19 Jongno, B2 223, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea 🕑 Hours: Mon–Sat 11:00–21:30 (break 15:00–17:30, last order 20:00) / Closed every Sunday 🅿️ Parking: Available

Ilpum Gwanghwamun is located on basement level 2 of Le Meilleur Jongno Town. It's conveniently positioned between Gwanghwamun and Jonggak, so it's a solid pick for office workers hunting for a Gwanghwamun lunch spot.

Even though we had a reservation, we still had to wait a bit. But the wait wasn't as long as I expected, and while eating, I noticed many customers left right after finishing their meal. Given the Gwanghwamun location, it seems like a lot of office workers come by during lunch hours.

Funny enough, I saw one customer make a reservation for the very next day on their way out after finishing their meal. Clearly a place with a good number of repeat customers.

Counter seats, table seats and an open kitchen

Inside, there's a long stretch of counter seating along with table seats.

Sitting at the counter, you can watch the food being made right in front of you in the open kitchen. I love restaurants with open kitchens, so this setup was right up my alley. Watching the chefs put together the rice bowls, I could tell they were working far more carefully than I expected.

Even for a single kaisendon, the chefs weren't just tossing sashimi on top — they were carefully positioning each piece to arrange it beautifully. I hadn't noticed this from the finished dish alone, but seeing the process made it clear how much care goes into completing one bowl. Each seat also has its own personal water tap, which was a nice touch for drinking water comfortably.

Ordering is done through Catch Table (tablet ordering).

The restroom is a shared one within the building, but it wasn't particularly inconvenient.

One corner of the restaurant has a wall of autographs from celebrities, which was fun to look at while eating.

Why a Gwanghwamun kaisendon here is more than one rice bowl

We ordered the premium kaisendon and the aburidon this time. Another reason I liked Ilpum's rice bowl menu is that it doesn't stop at the main dish. Ordering a rice bowl comes with chawanmushi, soup, cold udon, and dessert, so it ends up being a pretty substantial meal.

But even the main rice bowl alone comes in a huge portion. I thought "it's just one bowl, I can finish it," but once it arrived, the amount of sashimi on top was really something. There was more sashimi than rice visible, and even as someone who loves sashimi, I got completely full. In the end, I couldn't finish the whole bowl and left some.

Looking around at the other tables, the portions all looked substantial. Of the customers I saw that day, my sister was pretty much the only one who cleanly finished her bowl, haha. If you don't usually eat that much, ordering just one rice bowl should be more than enough to fill you up.

The premium kaisendon that made Ilpum Gwanghwamun famous

First up, the premium kaisendon. This menu became well known after being featured by TV personality Lee Young-ja, so I was curious, and once I got my bowl, I understood why it's talked about so often as the signature dish. The first thing that caught my eye was the sheer visual impact — the rice was piled high with a variety of sashimi and seafood, and it looked seriously appetizing.

Eating it, the sashimi quality was great and the portion was genuinely huge. Being able to taste a wide variety of sashimi in one sitting is part of the appeal of kaisendon. The sashimi was all well aged overall, and each type had a slightly different texture and flavor, which made it fun to pick through one by one.

Personally, the salmon stood out the most. The rich, savory fattiness of the salmon really came through. The monkfish liver (ankimo) was also nutty and delicious — one I'd personally recommend. The crab meat, on the other hand, was just okay for my taste. The egg was tasty too, and overall each piece of sashimi had its own flavor come through nicely.

Eat the uni (sea urchin) first

A tip from my own experience eating the kaisendon: eat the uni (sea urchin) first if you can. As time passes, the uni starts to slightly melt and run, so it's best enjoyed right when it arrives. I savored the smooth, melt-in-your-mouth uni first, then moved on to the other sashimi.

The salmon roe (ikura) is also not to be missed. Each little egg pops in your mouth, releasing a distinct ocean aroma. Eaten alone, the roe had a slightly fishy ocean scent, but paired with rice it took on a different, more enjoyable flavor.

Aburidon: sashimi with a light touch of flame

The second dish was the aburidon. Aburidon is a rice bowl where the surface of the sashimi is lightly seared, giving it a different appeal from kaisendon. Unlike the raw sashimi of kaisendon, the light searing adds a subtle smoky aroma and changes the texture slightly.

So if you love sashimi but prefer a lightly cooked touch over a fully raw feel, the aburidon would suit you well. Personally, ordering the kaisendon and aburidon together to compare was a good call — same rice bowl category, but the eating experience felt distinctly different, letting me appreciate each one's own charm.

Eating it with gim, gamtae and shiso

Beyond just eating the sashimi with rice, Ilpum's rice bowls can be enjoyed in different ways with gim (seaweed), gamtae (seaweed flakes), and shiso. Even the same piece of sashimi tastes and smells different depending on what you pair it with, so you end up trying all sorts of combinations.

I tried shiso for the first time that day. I was a bit worried the flavor would be too strong, but once I actually tried it, it was surprisingly delicious. The distinct aroma paired really well with the sashimi and ended up feeling fragrant rather than overpowering. My sister, on the other hand, said shiso wasn't for her, so I ended up eating her share too, haha. I guess taste really does vary from person to person. Still, it was fun putting together my own combinations with the different accompaniments.

From chawanmushi to cold udon and milk pudding

I thought the meal would be over once I finished the main rice bowl, but it kept going. Chawanmushi and soup came alongside it, and then cold udon followed. Having already eaten a large amount of sashimi from the rice bowl, finishing the cold udon on top left me genuinely full.

That reminded me again: you really shouldn't go to Ilpum thinking it's just one rice bowl. The main dish alone is already a large portion, and with chawanmushi, cold udon, and dessert following, it feels like a proper full meal.

The dessert was milk pudding topped lightly with fresh mango, almost like a jam. The pudding itself was smooth and silky, and the mango's tartness was a nice addition, making it a good way to finish the meal. Above all, I liked that it wasn't too sweet. After the generous kaisendon, finishing with the smooth milk pudding wrapped up the meal cleanly. From main dish to dessert, it really felt like a complete meal.

Is the price worth it for sashimi lovers?

Honestly, Ilpum Gwanghwamun's rice bowls are on the pricier side compared to typical rice bowl restaurants. But having eaten there myself, considering the amount and quality of the sashimi and the overall meal composition, the price made sense.

For someone like me who loves sashimi, the sheer amount piled on the rice bowl was pretty satisfying. I even had to leave some of mine unfinished, so the portion size was never a concern.

I also liked being able to watch the chefs at the open kitchen carefully crafting each bowl. It's not just sashimi thrown on top of rice — being able to watch the whole process of completing a bowl is part of what makes Ilpum special.

A Japanese lunch spot for Gwanghwamun office workers

Given its location, Ilpum Gwanghwamun looked like a solid choice for a Gwanghwamun office worker lunch. There were indeed a lot of office workers there when I visited, and most left soon after finishing their meal rather than lingering.

If you're craving good Japanese food during lunch or want something different from your usual go-to, Gwanghwamun kaisendon is worth trying. Just keep in mind it can get busy during lunch hours, so making a reservation ahead of time is recommended.

Final verdict on aburidon and kaisendon at Ilpum Gwanghwamun

What stuck with me most from this visit to Ilpum Gwanghwamun was how much more generous the kaisendon was than I expected. There was so much sashimi on the bowl that I ended up not finishing it. The sashimi quality itself was great, and being able to pair it with gim, gamtae, and shiso in different combinations meant I got to enjoy a variety of flavors within a single bowl. On top of that, with chawanmushi, soup, cold udon, and dessert included, one rice bowl turned into a pretty filling meal.

To sum it up,

• Kaisendon piled high with a wide variety of sashimi
• A range of dishes including premium kaisendon and aburidon
• The fun of pairing with gim, gamtae, and shiso
• Counter seats where you can watch the open kitchen at work
• A full meal flow from chawanmushi to cold udon to dessert
• A personal water tap at every seat
• A convenient spot for a Gwanghwamun office worker lunch

That's what stood out most to me. If you're looking for something special for lunch in Gwanghwamun, or searching for a good Japanese restaurant or kaisendon spot in the area, this place is worth a visit. Next time, I think I'll order the kaisendon again and pair it with the shiso I enjoyed so much this time.