Gangnam Station seafood restaurant with braised sea bream: Damiseon

I visited Damiseon, a spot right in front of Exit 5 of Gangnam Station where you can dig into live fish sashimi and a generous spread of seafood dishes.

Here's my rundown of the live fish special set, which ran from red snapper and flatfish sashimi to spicy octopus, sea squirt, braised red snapper, fried shrimp, and fish bone soup.

If you're looking for a Gangnam Station live fish restaurant and want somewhere that offers more than just a single plate of sashimi, Damiseon is worth a visit.

I went with one other person and we ordered the live fish special set — I honestly had no idea the menu would keep coming like it did.

It started with spicy octopus and sea squirt, then sashimi, clam soup, and steamed egg came out in turn, followed by braised red snapper, boiled seafood, fried shrimp, grilled saury, and finally fish bone soup — it just kept going.

I remember asking the owner "is that everything now?" several times while we were eating.

By the time we finished and stood up, I genuinely felt like I'd gained about 2kg.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say we waddled out — the special set was that filling for two people.

Where is Damiseon Gangnam Station Branch and how do you get there?

Damiseon is on the basement floor (B1) of Daewoo Dosi-Evich 1cha, 365 Gangnam-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

It's about 10m from Exit 5 of Gangnam Station, so accessibility by subway is really convenient.

Coming out of Exit 5, head toward the pharmacy right next door and you'll find stairs leading to the back street, where you can spot Damiseon's sign and entrance nearby.

For someone like me who meets people around Gangnam, not having to walk far from the station was a real plus.

When picking a Gangnam Station dinner spot, taste matters, but so does transit access since everyone tends to come from different directions.

On that front, being right in front of Gangnam Station felt like a clear advantage.

There's no in-house parking, though, so it seems more convenient to visit by public transit than by car.

Hours and closing days can vary by season, so if it's for an important gathering, I'd recommend checking the latest info before heading over.

Is Damiseon comfortable for just two people?

There were more tables than I expected when I visited.

I especially liked that the space for group diners and the space for individual diners seemed somewhat separated.

Some Gangnam dinner spots get too loud throughout the whole restaurant because of group parties.

But at Damiseon that day, our table of two could eat fairly comfortably.

Overall it felt less like a flashy fine-dining Japanese restaurant and more like a cozy, old-school one.

It had the kind of atmosphere where sitting down with live fish sashimi and fish dishes and having a drink felt natural — well suited to a dinner party or a meal with close friends.

Even during a busy stretch, the owners were all kind, which stuck with me.

We kept asking if the food was all out yet since it just kept coming, and they answered us easily every time, which made the whole meal pleasant.

What comes with the live fish special set at Damiseon?

We ordered the live fish special set. Even though there were only two of us, the range of dishes was so varied that I was a little surprised from the moment the first plates were set down.

The lineup included steamed egg and clam soup, a sashimi platter with red snapper, flatfish, and seasonal fish, plus sea squirt, spicy octopus, braised red snapper, boiled seafood, fried shrimp, grilled saury, and fish bone soup.

First came the spicy octopus and sea squirt, followed by a platter of sashimi substantial enough to call a proper Gangnam sashimi set.

But that wasn't the end — warm clam soup, steamed egg, fish dishes, and fried items kept coming out in the order they were cooked.

Whenever I'd ordered a set menu at a live fish restaurant before, it usually meant a main sashimi platter with a few side dishes.

But Damiseon's live fish special set felt like one long course, from start all the way to the final soup.

That means there'd be less chance of getting bored eating just one thing at a group Gangnam Station dinner.

It was nice that whether someone prefers sashimi or warm fish dishes and fried food, there was a bit of everything to pick from.

How it tasted: the braised sea bream beat the sashimi

The main sashimi was obviously the dish I was looking forward to most.

Eating the red snapper, flatfish, and seasonal fish together, the sashimi tasted fresh and had a nice chewy texture, at least by my standards.

I've had disappointing experiences where the sashimi was cut too thin or felt mushy, but this time it had a satisfying, springy bite.

The restaurant says the fish is brought in that morning and sold the same day, and eating it myself, the condition really did feel good.

I also had spicy octopus for the first time in a while. The crunchy, chewy texture in the mouth was a welcome surprise.

Sorry, octopus — but it really was delicious. Thank you… that's the mindset I ate it with, haha.

But surprisingly, one of the dishes that stuck with me longest that day was the braised red snapper.

At first I figured it was just a side to the special set, but after one bite I kept going back for more.

The red snapper was well seasoned all the way through, and I picked away diligently even at the meat around the head.

The braised radish served alongside had soaked up the seasoning all the way to the center, sweet and salty, and it paired really well with the fish.

Usually at a live fish restaurant, it's the main sashimi that ends up being the only thing you remember.

At Damiseon, I liked that even a mid-course dish like the braised red snapper stayed firmly in my memory.

The fried shrimp was also satisfying. I've had fried shrimp before where only the batter felt thick, but here the shrimp inside was plump enough to actually bite into.

Alternating between the warm fried food, going back to sashimi, then a sip of the clam soup broth, I never once got tired of it, right to the end.

At the very end, the fish bone soup rounded off the meal with a warm broth.

It was seriously filling for two people, and every time a new dish came out, I felt a bit embarrassed for having thought "that's got to be the last one" so many times before.

I ended up checking with the owner several times whether everything had really come out — that's how generously we ate.

Final verdict: who Damiseon suits

Visiting Damiseon in person, it felt less like a Gangnam Station spot for a simple plate of sashimi and more like a place to enjoy a generous spread of Japanese-style fish dishes all in one sitting.

The live fish special set in particular moved through spicy octopus and sea squirt, sashimi, braised fish, fried food, and soup in sequence — a satisfying lineup for anyone looking for a Gangnam Station sashimi set.

For the two of us it was quite a lot of food, so if you don't have a big appetite, it's worth checking the full composition before ordering.

On the other hand, for a Gangnam Station dinner with a group, getting to try a bit of everything feels like a real advantage.

The space also had some separation between individual and group diners, and being right by Exit 5 of Gangnam Station makes it an easy meeting spot to set.

The sashimi itself was satisfying, but it was the unexpectedly good braised red snapper and the plump fried shrimp that made the whole set stick with me even more.

If you're looking for a Gangnam Station live fish restaurant or a Gangnam dinner spot where you can properly work through sashimi, fish dishes, and soup all in one sitting, Damiseon's live fish special set is worth checking out.