Sushi restaurant near La Festa, Ilsan: two VIP 12-piece sets, Hwangje

Why a delivery regular finally visited Hwangje Sushi in person

Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch (황제초밥 일산본점) is a sushi place in Ilsan I had only ever ordered from by delivery, so I wanted to see what the dining room was like and went in person.

When I order delivery, I usually get the kaisendon (sashimi rice bowl) instead of sushi, and it is seriously amazing! I had been thinking "kaisendon, kaisendon" since before we arrived, but my boyfriend said that since we'd come all the way to the dining room we should have sushi instead, so I grudgingly went with sushi..

Where is Hwangje Sushi Ilsan, and what about parking?

But the sushi was delicious too! Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch is at 195 Baengma-ro, Ilsan-donggu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, in Green Zone on the 1st floor of Sangga-dong (the shopping building). I parked in the lot and walked up, and the signs were so clear that finding the way was not hard at all.

• Hours: daily 11:00–21:30
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Closed: no regular closing day

Inside Hwangje Sushi and the self-service bar

The inside was super clean! It's white-toned and I couldn't spot a single stain, so you can tell they keep the place spotless.

Every table has a tablet for ordering, so you can browse the menu and order comfortably. We went around 2 p.m. on a weekday, a little after the lunch rush, and even then a few customers kept coming in for a late lunch like us.

The self-service bar had shichimi (Japanese seven-spice), small plates, broth, toothpicks and more. The self-service bar was spotless too!

What to order at Hwangje Sushi

The menu in the restaurant had far more kinds of sushi than the menu listed on Naver Map! On the way there I had spent ages studying the Naver Map menu, and after a lot of agonizing we ordered two VIP sushi sets.

There are set menus on weekday lunches, so it's a good pick for office workers nearby in Ilsan too. Sushi with udon or tonkatsu looks like a solid, filling meal.

They also run a review event where you can get special-cut sushi! The VIP set we ordered is 12 pieces and quite a lot of food, so I didn't join in, but I'm curious which special cut it would be🤭

Fried fish, porridge and chohoe before the sushi

As an appetizer, Hwangje Sushi gave us three kinds of fried fish, porridge, and some vegetables to wake up the appetite. The porridge had soft, broken-down rice grains, and it went down mild and light, not fishy or mushy at all.

The pickles served before sushi are usually called chohoe. You can eat them to open up your appetite before the meal, or as a palate cleanser between pieces of sushi.

Hwangje Sushi VIP 12-piece set: what's in it and how it tastes

The VIP set comes with 12 pieces in total plus a mini udon. It's sushi, so it definitely comes out fast🤤 It was past lunchtime and I was starving, so I was happy it arrived so quickly.

Let me go into detail once more on the tasty stuff~ The VIP set is not skimpy, and the slices of fish on top were big and generous. The lineup is solid too, so it makes a hearty meal.

I didn't realize this when ordering delivery, but eating in the dining room, the lineup is solid and the service is great, so I thought I should come often from now on. I'd only ever had the kaisendon by delivery, and thinking back, I remember feeling the kaisendon had a good lineup and generous service too!

The free potato croquette

Hwangje Sushi gave us a potato croquette as a free extra! From what I heard, it wasn't originally a free item, and it seemed they had newly added it as one. I accidentally overheard a conversation with the guests at the next table, haha. They seemed to know all about it, so they must have been regulars.

Flatfish, seasonal live fish and sea bream

The first piece of the VIP set was flatfish! When I was little I had no idea why people said flatfish was so good, but now I know😂 I can't get enough of flatfish ㅠ I want it every day!

Next were the seasonal live fish and sea bream, and to my sashimi-clueless eyes they all look the same😭 Out of my 30 years, I spent 25 not eating raw fish, so I'm someone who lived an empty life all that time... Whatever it is, as long as it tastes good, right? Haha. I dipped it lightly in soy sauce, and the rice was soft while the fish was chewy, which made it a great first piece.

Salmon, akami and mecadoro

Next was my favorite, salmon! Hwangje Sushi's salmon was definitely plump and rich, with a clean, mild flavor filling my mouth, and I thought, this is exactly why I eat salmon.

Akami (lean tuna) is on the left and mecadoro (fatty tuna from the head area) on the right. The akami melts in your mouth and brings out that nutty tuna flavor, and the way it blends softly with the rice and goes down keeps coming back to me. The mecadoro especially has a texture you can really chew, and it's rich yet clean-tasting. I totally love mecadoro ㅠ

Abalone sushi and torch-seared shrimp sushi

The little sauce on top of the abalone sushi seems to be made from abalone innards. With the abalone's signature chewiness, it had a refreshing taste like eating the sea, mild and without any fishy smell, and it was clean and really easy to eat.

I definitely ate shrimp sushi, yet it had the deep flavor of red snow crab and a faint scent of the sea, and I was like, what on earth is going on with this shrimp sushi! The shrimp is packed with flesh, so the texture is great, and the top is lightly seared with a torch, so a smoky aroma comes up at first, which I loved. Shrimp sushi I kept thinking about even after getting home🥹

Finishing with beef and eel

The last pieces of the VIP set were beef on the left and eel on the right. The beef gets richer in meaty flavor the more you chew, and the eel is cooked so softly it melts, with the sauce soaked in well, so it was sweet and salty, sweet and salty.

Honest review of Hwangje Sushi: how big are the portions?

The VIP 12-piece set plus the potato croquette to finish makes for a very full meal. I was too full to eat my udon, and my boyfriend couldn't manage his croquette🤭

Hwangje Sushi has big portions and good service! If you're looking for a good place near Ilsan Western Dome or La Festa, I recommend the filling Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch.