Mapo Japanese restaurant premium kaiseki with striped jack: Danya

I went with my mom on the weekend to Danya, the Japanese restaurant inside Seoul Garden Hotel near Mapo Station, to eat some sushi since she loves it! I was debating whether to get the dinner sushi omakase, but since it's hotel sushi... premium kaiseki course!! I choose you!!!!! Let me introduce Danya at Seoul Garden Hotel, the Mapo Japanese restaurant where I had a date with my mom!

Where Danya at Seoul Garden Hotel is, and what the room feels like

Danya, the Japanese restaurant at Seoul Garden Hotel, is a 3-minute walk from Exit 3 of Mapo Station and an 8-minute walk from Exit 8 of Gongdeok Station. With two subway stations nearby, accessibility was really good.

We had a 6pm reservation but arrived about 10 minutes early. I was debating whether to go in or not, but when I asked if we could wait inside, they kindly showed us to a seat!

Usually when I go to Japanese restaurants, I see them decorated with cute little Japanese-style props, but Danya at Seoul Garden Hotel had a modern, clean interior!

There were personal lockers too, so we could store our bags and eat comfortably, and looking at the fridge next to us, there were several kinds of alcohol! They said they have a wide range of premium liquors too, which seems like it would pair well with the sushi and course dishes.

Besides counter seats, there are also tables, so it seems like a good place to come for small gatherings or with family.

What the ₩120,000 premium kaiseki course at Danya includes

Let's take a look through Danya's menu first!

We had reserved the premium kaiseki (₩120,000), so let me introduce it right away!

• 1 draft beer
• 5 appetizers
• Steamed abalone
• 7 kinds of sashimi
• 8 pieces of sushi
• 2 main dishes
• A meal course

Even the table setting itself is fancy!!!!!!

They gave us a savory soup with a whole snow crab body in it! Instead of picking the meat out separately, I used my chopsticks to break the meat up into the soup, and since the soup tasted of crab, it was even more delicious.

Five appetizers and steamed abalone

The 5 appetizers were castella-style steamed egg, tomatoes marinated in wine syrup, cream cheese figs, whelk marinated in soy sauce, and fried chestnuts.

The castella steamed egg was cute with different colors on top and bottom haha. The appetizers really got our appetite going. In particular, the wine-syrup cherry tomatoes and the cream cheese figs were sweet enough to pass for dessert!

The steamed abalone came with an abalone-innard sauce and fried scallions to eat together, and the abalone was so tender.

Seven kinds of sashimi, with striped jack in season for summer

They told us what the 7 kinds of sashimi were — flounder, striped jack, tuna... but honestly I stopped listening the moment I saw the sashimi in front of me. Hahaha, anyway!!

All 7 kinds of sashimi were fresh and delicious, but the striped jack in particular!! That crunchy texture and nutty flavor — ugh 👍 it was truly excellent! When I told the chef that this was the best one, he said it's the fish that tastes best in summer!

Eight pieces of sushi, including the sea urchin

The 8 pieces of sushi were flounder, red sea bream, bluefin tuna, striped jack, bluefin tuna medium belly, bluefin tuna negitoro, sea urchin roe, and snow crab meat. I'd call it sushi that's true to the ingredients' natural flavor — instead of fancy decoration or lots of add-ons, it really brought out the raw flavor of each ingredient.

The bluefin tuna medium belly especially melted away the moment it hit my mouth. Even my mom, who isn't a big tuna fan, went, "It melted away in my mouth!!??? Right??" haha.

My personal favorite, sea urchin roe!! They piled so much sea urchin roe on that it was heavy to lift with chopsticks lol. They sprinkled a bit of yuzu peel on top, which cut the fishiness of the sea urchin while bringing out its sweet flavor even more.

They also gave us a complimentary futomaki (thick sushi roll)! It's huge, so you have to look at it as huge. Overall the sushi rice wasn't seasoned too strongly, so the sushi was just great.

Two à la carte dishes: fried chicken tenders and croaker steak

The first main dish was fried chicken tenders with meat sauce.

I dipped the fried chicken tenders in the meat sauce — the chicken was incredibly moist and had a soft texture, almost like it was minced! Fried dishes can easily get greasy, but the paprika and asparagus inside seemed to balance that out well.

The second main dish was croaker steak with vegetables.

You eat the thick croaker steak dipped in basil cream. The croaker meat was clean and nutty, and with the fragrant basil added, it went better together than I expected!

Cute little brussels sprouts haha. We cleaned up all the vegetables that came alongside too.

Conger eel bukkake udon to finish, then peach for dessert

The final meal item in the premium kaiseki course was conger eel bukkake udon. Unlike regular udon noodles, these were thin, flat noodles that were extremely chewy and dense.

I ate the sizable fried conger eel with gusto too! Since it's summer, they served it as a cold udon, which was refreshing. My mom said she couldn't eat any more after the croaker steak, but she still finished the udon completely, hahaha.

The truly final dessert, peach with cold green tea. I didn't think the course included dessert, but they served it anyway!

Even a single piece of peach served this elegantly!!!! And with that, we ate our way through the premium kaiseki course from appetizers to dessert, completely and thoroughly. Please note that the course menu and ingredients may differ depending on the season and timing!

Honest verdict on the kaiseki course at Danya, Mapo

The premium kaiseki course had a wider variety of dishes than I expected, and we left full! Most importantly, my mom, who's a picky eater, raved that it was really delicious haha.

My mom always complains that omakase gives you sushi in maddeningly small increments haha, but she said Danya was great because dishes came out right as we finished eating, matching our pace.

Overall the atmosphere was satisfying too, and it seems like a perfect spot for a meal with parents, a family outing, or even an anniversary date. It had been a while since I had a date with my mom, and it was such an enjoyable evening!

Highly recommend Danya at Seoul Garden Hotel, an upscale hotel Japanese restaurant near Gongdeok and Mapo Stations 👍👍