Sadang izakaya second round: raw salmon sashimi & mentaiko, Hiku

After filling up in Sadang for round one, the same question always comes up!! "I want one more light drink, but not at a loud pub — is there anywhere with a bit of atmosphere?" We'd just finished a chicken hot pot dinner and were wandering the alleys when the glow of paper lanterns pulled us in — a well-known date spot for a Sadang Station drink, the izakaya Hiku (히쿠), and we walked out completely satisfied!! haha

Hiku

A 2-minute walk from Sadang Station Exit 10, in the back-alley eat street

It only took about 2 minutes on foot from Sadang Station Exit 10! At night, rows of yellow and blue-and-red lanterns are lit up outside, so you can spot it from a distance and instantly think, "ah, that's the izakaya."

Next to the entrance is a board covered in photos of the signature menu — from raw salmon sashimi to Nagasaki champon soup, Hanoi nabe hot pot, and octopus wasabi, the food lineup is more varied than you'd expect. Inside, it's black tones with wood accents, marble tables and green sofas — a surprisingly clean-looking izakaya for once!!

One wall is lined with sake bottles, there's a whiskey shelf above the bar, and a Japanese-style noren curtain hangs at the kitchen entrance — every little detail really nails the izakaya mood. And under the sake shelf there are One Piece wanted posters plastered all over, so Pippi, who loves the anime, started rattling off character names the second we sat down haha

You order through a tablet at each table, which was nice — no need to time your call to a staff member or feel awkward waving someone down.

Raw salmon sashimi, and the thickness is just something else

Our first drinking snack was raw salmon sashimi! The moment the plate landed, we both went "whoa." Big cuts of salmon were laid out covering the whole plate, and each piece was finger-thick, so you really got to chew and taste it.

Once it's in your mouth, the cold, fatty flesh melts apart and the richness spreads right out, dissolving like butter — my chopsticks kept going back for more haha. Usually if salmon is this thick, a few bites in you get sick of it, but the plate stayed cold all the way through, so even the last piece kept that springy texture!

The side dishes were solid too. There's the standard soy sauce + wasabi plus a spicy chogochujang (vinegared chili paste) option, so you can dip however you like, and topping the fish with sour cream and radish sprouts cuts through the richness completely. Pickled garlic, pickled ginger, and tangy pickled paprika were all generously portioned, so we could mix it up all the way through the salmon!!

A drink with a piece of salmon in between is an infinite loop haha. Ruru was team chogochujang, Pippi was team soy sauce + wasabi, so our sauce preferences didn't match at all haha

Grilled mentaiko & biscuits, a genius pick for a lighter snack

Our second dish was grilled mentaiko (marinated cod roe)!!

The mentaiko comes coated in sesame seeds, grilled golden, and sliced whole like a sausage, served with salty crackers, cucumber, mayonnaise, and cheongyang chili.

The grilling is a perfect medium — the outside gets that nutty char while the roe inside stays moist and intact, which is the whole point!

Stack a slice of cucumber, a piece of mentaiko, and a dab of mayo on a cracker and pop it all in one bite! The salty roe, nutty mayo, and crisp cucumber layer together as the cracker crunches apart — this is a total drink-thief. hahaha

Slip in a piece of cheongyang chili now and then and the sharp kick hits, sending the soju down smoothly. The mentaiko itself wasn't grilled too salty, so it was fine to just eat on its own too, and honestly we ran out of crackers first and ended up rationing the mentaiko by itself haha

Even the complimentary puffed rice crackers were the kind of small, addictive snack you keep reaching for!

How about Sadang for a second round?

For anyone in Sadang looking for a spot for round two after dinner, I genuinely recommend this place!! If you've done round one nearby with meat or sashimi like we did, the walk over is perfect haha. The seats are spaced generously, so it's comfortable for couples or small groups alike, and when we went around 8pm on a Wednesday, we were seated right away with no wait! It's not loud, so it's great for talking quietly over drinks, and the food looks great and tastes great too!! Next time I think we'll try the Nagasaki champon soup and the Hiku platter!! haha