Gangnam Japanese restaurant for seafood ramen and sashimi: Sakai

Sakai, close to Seolleung Station

Sakai, a sushi spot near Seolleung Station, is only four minutes from the station—really quite close. There is no obvious sign, so it might be a little hard to find, but the softly glowing lights and unmistakably Japanese-restaurant feel made it easy to spot once I saw it! It is also on the first floor, so I went right in.

Counter seating and ordering

The restaurant is fairly spacious, and its understated, tidy interior really gives it that proper Japanese-specialty-restaurant feel. There were plenty of counter and table seats, and even on a weekday evening, there were lots of people.

Since I had made a reservation, I could sit right down at the prepared counter seat. The kind staff member gave us a quick explanation of the menu, so choosing was easy.

They give you a menu, notepad, and pen, and you write down what you want to order. My handwriting is a total mess, so that was a little embarrassing... but as befits an upscale Japanese restaurant, they do not take orders through a kiosk.

Eggplant tempura and sashimi moriawase

Steaming hot, moist, and lightly sweet eggplant tempura. Once you fall for eggplant tempura, there is no way out. It almost felt as if the vegetables themselves were juicy.

I had scolded my friend for ordering tempura—what tempura, just eat sushi!—and then felt embarrassed, haha. It was so good that I would have been sad if we had not ordered it. The portion was generous, it went down with drinks so easily, and it was not greasy at all.

A plate piled high with thick, delicious sashimi moriawase (chef's assorted sashimi). The rolled omelet was fluffy and sweet, too—really good. The scallop was especially tender and tasty, the tuna had that lovely richness of fat, and even the blue-backed fish sashimi was delicious with no fishy smell at all. Just dip it ever so lightly in wasabi and soy sauce. So tender, with that fresh fish flavor. As you would expect from a popular Japanese restaurant, the white-fish sashimi sold out quickly, so we ordered the assorted sashimi instead—and it was a plate I did not regret.

Thick-cut tuna sashimi. Red fish can be greasy and unpleasantly grainy if it is not done well, but this was so, so good. Sorry to my friend, but I just kept happily picking at the tuna sashimi.

The potatoes alone would have been enough, but the salty sausage-like bacon? on top was incredibly tasty. Put them together and you have an instant drinking snack. I wanted to steal the recipe and heap huge scoops of it into my bowl with a rice paddle at home.

Nutty, with a soft texture. The outside had been lightly torched, giving it a smoky flavor. Good sushi should be savored slowly. Adding just a touch of ginger seemed to bring out even more flavor.

Seafood ramen with blue crab and whole shrimp

Do not assume Koreans are simply crazy about spicy food—we love a clean, refreshing kind of heat. Maybe it was the vegetable broth, but there was none of that greasy taste. It was simply clean, not spicy, and sooooo refreshing.

What I especially loved was getting two whole shrimp each. Maybe because I have had so-called seafood ramen with no seafood in sight, I gasped as soon as it arrived, with big pieces of blue crab and shrimp. My friend and I happily polished off the crab and shrimp.

It was loaded with scallions, too. Ramen and ramyeon are truly different. Personally, I am... team ramyeon. These chewy, springy noodles and this seafood ramyeon, neither greasy nor salty, were right on target for Korean tastes. We love soju, so there was no way we could pass it up.

What we ordered and prices

• Sashimi Moriawase / ₩34,000
• Sausage and Mashed Potatoes / ₩15,000
• Eggplant Tempura / ₩12,000
• Anago / ₩4,500
• Gizzard Shad / ₩3,700

A little slice of Japan in Yeoksam