Yeoksam-dong omakase with shrimp beef sous vide and lotus sando: Ikoi

I visited Ikoi, a Gangnam omakase restaurant known for a satisfying course served entirely in private rooms.

What is Ikoi? An omakase where every seat is a private room

Ikoi

Ikoi is a Japanese omakase restaurant on Nonhyeon-ro 64-gil in Yeoksam-dong, and every seat is in a private room, which would be great for hosting someone special on an important occasion.

What is on Ikoi's special course today?

Today's menu

Hwayo 25, served in a chilled cup

The drink paired with the course at Ikoi was Hwayo 25. Nice touch that they served it chilled in a cup with ice, haha.

The appetizer

The appetizer had really cute plating. They served pre-meal bread with ricotta cheese. The nutty, clean flavor was excellent.

The yuzu aroma blended in harmoniously, making it a satisfying amuse-bouche.

Cream-steamed egg

This cream-steamed egg was different from your usual steamed egg. Once I tasted it, I understood why it's called "cream-steamed egg." You could feel the richness of the cream while the egg's nutty flavor still came through. The soft, creamy texture was really striking and distinctive — a unique cream-steamed egg. It was so delicious, haha.

Futomaki (thick sushi roll)

A thick, hefty futomaki (seaweed rice roll). It had a generous amount of akami (lean bluefin tuna) inside.

It was refreshing, sweet, and nutty all at once, filling my mouth with variety in a single bite — satisfying in both volume and flavor complexity. >.< They serve two pieces per person.

Shrimp beef sous vide, a dish only Ikoi serves

Shrimp beef sous vide wearing a pretty coral-colored beet tuile hat. Of the individually prepared dishes, this was my favorite. It was such an original, distinctive dish that I'd never seen before, which made it even better. Apparently Ikoi's menu lineup rotates periodically. Lucky me for visiting when I could catch the shrimp beef sous vide that's only found at Ikoi!

The tuile is made of beet. So pretty, haha. Underneath is a fragrant, nutty shiitake mushroom puree. The puree was creamy and aromatic — so good that I ate every bit of it! Hahaha

Shrimp meat and beef came together harmoniously, giving it a taste of the sea... and with cream in the center, it also had a soft quality. It felt different from a Salisbury steak — soft, with a taste of the sea, and the shiitake puree brought in the fragrance of the mountains too, so you could taste mountain, land, and sea all at once. That made it feel like a dish with its own complete identity. And the portion was generous too!

Wagyu tenderloin steak

The wagyu tenderloin steak comes with browned asparagus and cherry tomato garnish. They also serve Maldon salt, which isn't too salty.

It was cooked to a proper medium. The tenderloin cut was clean and tender, nutty and light in flavor — really good. It paired well with the garnish too.

Maguro sashimi: otoro and akami

Getting to keep tasting both beef and tuna throughout one course — such a great composition, right? Haha. For sashimi lovers, this bluefin tuna sashimi is the main event. Even plated with pretty flowers to make it more beautiful. Haha.

This is otoro, the fatty belly of bluefin tuna, with incredibly dense marbling. If you compared it to Korean beef, it would probably be 1++ grade 9... the marbling is packed in so densely everywhere. >.<

The akami also had a really vivid color... The degree of aging was good, and the color was so pretty. You could tell they use quality raw ingredients.

Each piece was served thick and generous, which was satisfying.

They pile a generous amount of fresh wasabi onto the thick otoro. Haha. It's so nutty that it's not spicy at all! Haha. The akami was also clean and tender with no sourness or fishy smell whatsoever.

Lotus root sando and the sukiyaki nabe course

A unique lotus root sando made by sandwiching a filling of ground beef and pork between lotus root slices and frying it!

This was my first time having a dish with meat sandwiched inside lotus root and fried — so novel... and it's delicious! The crunchy texture of the lotus root harmonizes with the well-seasoned, aged ground meat. Nutty flavor meets crunchy texture. It even had an aged flavor like dumpling filling, making it a truly unique dish in both texture and taste, haha. But the harmony of flavors made complete sense.

Beef brisket sukiyaki nabe

Such a pretty mini sukiyaki is served as the meal course.

It's loaded with beef and plenty of vegetables, plus carefully bundled silk konjac noodles. The broth is clear, yet refreshing and deep. So delicious! Hahaha. This place nails the broth. >.<

Yogurt ice for dessert

The finale of the course is dessert. The dessert lineup is really solid too, isn't it?

It's yogurt ice cream drizzled with maple syrup. Refreshing and creamy — a really nice way to finish, haha.

Ikoi's special course in Gangnam was satisfying thanks to a lineup that felt both thorough and full of distinctive, varied dishes. And since it's all private rooms, it's a space where you can comfortably create delicious memories — that was satisfying too.