Gwanghwamun Japanese restaurant for sashimi platters: Elephant Sushi

Lately, somehow my girlfriend and I have been going around Gwanghwamun and Jongno every weekend! This time, we visited Elephant Sushi Gwanghwamun, a great sushi spot in the basement of Gwanghwamun KT Tower!

We ordered the sashimi platter for two and a hoe-deopbap (raw fish mixed rice bowl), and were very happy with it! Haha. Maybe lots of KT employees use it too?!

How to find Elephant Sushi from Gwanghwamun Station

Exterior

It might be a little tricky the first time! Go down to B1 of KT Gwanghwamun Building West, which connects to Exit 2 of Gwanghwamun Station. It was taken in the evening so it is hard to see in the photo, sorryㅠㅠ, but go into a place that looks like that and head down one floor—the restaurant area is there! The location is very good! I sometimes go to performances around Gwanghwamun, and it is just across the road from Sejong Center; it is close to Kyobo Book Centre too?

Take the escalator in the photo below down to B1 and a whole world of places to eat opens up. Walk around once and you will spot it right away! Haha.

Would you call it an open-fronted shop? It was a little unusual because it was in a wide-open space rather than enclosed by glass! If you spot the huge Elephant Sushi neon sign and the red, fluttering Japanese-style entrance thingy (what do you call that...?), that is it! Oh, and there is a separate takeaway zone too, so some customers were getting food to go. We ate in~!

Inside seating

On the left are long rows of open-kitchen seats! I think this is probably where the chefs make sushi for you right away? Haha.

We ate at one of the table seats on the right! We visited late in the evening, so there were plenty of seats.

Sashimi platter and hoe-deopbap menu prices

There were lots of options, including Elephant Sushi A, B, and C sets with slightly different combinations, a sashimi platter, tuna maki, and sushi for children!

We ordered the sashimi platter for two at ₩50,000 and hoe-deopbap at ₩18,000 from the kiosk! It said there would be 10 kinds: lean tuna, tuna belly, flounder, sea bream, yellowtail, engawa, scallop, sweet shrimp, horse mackerel, and soy-marinated shrimp. The selection seems to change a little depending on stock. When we visited, there were two sweet shrimp instead of soy-marinated shrimp.

🔻Our menu today🔻 A quick snap of what we ordered too!

Side dishes and our order in detail

Once we sat down, cabbage salad and soup were set out first. I am not completely sure, but the salad dressing seemed to be either black sesame or sesame dressing... one of the two!

Sashimi platter for two

After getting excited while we waited, the sashimi platter finally arrived!

When 10 kinds come on one plate, it is fun to compare this and that, right? I do not know much about sashimi, but it seemed to include some fairly premium fish. At ₩50,000 for two, I thought it was a good value for the selection!

The flounder fin and sea bream were pleasantly chewy, so I slurped them up in no time!! And the one in the middle was probably yellowtail—it was nicely fatty and nutty, haha. I think all the fish had been aged! (Everything was generally nutty!)

The tuna belly on the right, which looked like beef, disappeared the moment I put it in my mouth, so I was taken aback.... I almost said, “More tuna belly, please!” But I soothed the disappointment with the lean tuna instead... hahaha.

This is probably lean tuna, and the one below is probably yellowtail(?)! I might be wrong because I do not know fish that wellㅠㅠ If you know, please tell me in the comments!

Personally, the scallop and sweet shrimp were the real winners. Maybe because I like sweet things... haha. They both had a slightly sweet flavor! Haha.

Hoe-deopbap loaded with vegetables

The hoe-deopbap came with pieces of sashimi including tuna and sea bream, plus flying-fish roe and a mountain of vegetables.

I did not photograph it, but the staff give you cho-gochujang (sweet-and-tangy red chili sauce) and sesame oil separately! Add them to taste, then mix it all up with gusto! Just throw in loads without worrying about anyone watching~!!!

Can you see how much sashimi and flying-fish roe there is? (There was so much that the two of us could not finish it and left some behind.... haha.)

I loved the popping texture of the flying-fish roe, and there was so much sashimi and so many vegetables that it never got boring—I kept digging in...! But the portion was too big, so we had to call it GG and leave a little behind... haha. Next time, I will come hungrier...

Elephant Sushi tips and parking

Are there any useful tips for Elephant Sushi?

Write a Naver review and you can get three potato croquettes. They also say you get one free glass of sake if you follow their Naver notifications!

Is parking paid?

Parking is supported for up to two hours at the KT Gwanghwamun Branch underground parking lot, but spaces are said to be limited. Since it connects to Exit 2 of Gwanghwamun Station, public transportation would be a good idea, right?