Gwanak Seoul omakase dinner and counter seating: Sushi Ryeo

I recently had dinner with a mentor who has helped me with my blog. Thanks to them, blogging has become so much more fun, and when this opportunity came up, I wanted to properly treat them to a slightly luxurious dinner. After looking around and comparing several places, I chose Sushi Ryeo, an omakase spot near Seoul National University Station with good reviews and great value.

Since it had been a while since we had seen each other, we started with a toast. We had so much to talk about that chatting came before eating! Thankfully, the chef served the dishes at my pace, so I could eat leisurely, take photos, and have a full-on chat at the same time.

Sushi Ryeo near Seoul National University Station: location and counter seating

It is fairly close to Seoul National University Station, so it was not difficult to find. It is on the second floor of the Yeongin MB building. Worth checking before your first visit!

The first thing I noticed as soon as I entered was the Blue Ribbon plaques.

I counted a whopping nine! It immediately made me think, “Oh~ is this place really good?” haha. We sat at the counter, with couples seated on either side of us. The private room seats 4–6 people, and counter groups can be as large as 14.

I like counter seating because it is fun to watch the chef preparing everything as you eat.

At our seats, plates for the food, salt, fresh wasabi, ginger, and more were set out.

They say placing chopsticks horizontally means, “I have no intention of attacking you.”

Sushi Ryeo omakase prices and our order

There are lunch and dinner omakase options, as well as à la carte dishes. Lunch is ₩50,000 and dinner is ₩100,000. A lunch menu is available at dinner for up to 10 people, so ask when booking.

We reserved the dinner omakase. We also ordered a bottle of sake and enjoyed the meal while taking our time catching up.

What did the dinner omakase course include?

Omakase menus can vary depending on the day’s ingredients and composition. This is the course from the day I visited ~

Chawanmushi

Warm and unbelievably silky—on a completely different level from steamed egg.

Wild sea bass and fatty tuna

The wild sea bass was light and clean with wasabi. Then came fatty tuna, one of my favorites. Add just a little salt and the flavor really peaks; it was rich, oily, and nutty—so good.

Yellowtail, seaweed whelk, and abalone

The yellowtail came with a hint of flame-grilled aroma and a wasabi soy sauce. It was gently smoky, salty, and pleasantly punchy~ The Japanese seaweed, cherry tomato, and whelk may have been called ochoku seaweed? I cannot remember~ One bite with the chewy whelk and seaweed—so delightfully chewy.

The abalone was soft and savory dipped in abalone-liver sauce. The liver does have its distinctive flavor, though, so it may be a little divisive. My mentor ate only the abalone ^~

Wild red sea bream and clear soup

The wild red sea bream was brushed with soy sauce and had a soft, creamy texture.

Clear sea bream and fish cake soup

I really liked the warm, clean broth in the middle of the course. It was not salty, so I kept reaching for it as I ate.

Akami and Jeju banjari

Akami

The soy sauce added a lovely savory depth.

Jeju banjari

Time for another drink and to keep going~ Delicious food and alcohol together: the magic that makes it all go down so smoothly~

Uni and sweet shrimp

A combination I love: uni + sweet shrimp. The sweet, tender shrimp and creamy uni were wrapped in seaweed and popped into my mouth in one bite~ No need to say it—it was delicious, haha.

Miso black cod

Tender black cod with miso and garlic sauce. The miso had a slight kick that lifted the black cod, which could otherwise have felt rich.

Fatty tuna and miso soup

Fatty tuna

More of my favorite fatty tuna—again, rich, oily, and nutty.

Miso soup

The miso soup comes near the end of the course. It was not salty and tasted clean.

Flame-grilled hairtail and kaisendon

The flame-grilled hairtail came brushed with sauce. Once in your mouth, its gentle smokiness spread through without any fishiness~

Kaisendon

Rice and seafood wrapped in seaweed and eaten on top of the seaweed—I personally love dishes like this, so I enjoyed it a lot.

Fried pufferfish

The fried pufferfish had a nutty flavor. I cannot remember the fish name. The fish was shredded into small pieces, and it was such a rice thief~ A flavor I would love to try making at home.

Conger eel and egg-shrimp tamago

The conger eel was incredibly tender. The egg-shrimp tamago was chewy, moist, and soft like castella cake—a dessert in itself.

Noodle udon and dessert

The course was long, so I was really full by this point, but the noodles were thin and springy and the broth was clean, so I still slurped it right up.

Dessert

We finished sweetly with mango and green-tea ice cream.

For a special dinner near Seoul National University Station

Every dish tasted good, but because such a variety of items kept coming, I was excited to see what would arrive next even as I got fuller toward the end. My personal favorites were the sweet shrimp and uni, and the fatty tuna! I love rich, nutty, creamy dishes, so it was a delicious evening of exactly those flavors.

Treating a mentor who has helped me so much and sharing delicious food made it even better. If you are looking near Seoul National University Station for a quiet, atmospheric place for a special day, anniversary, or to treat someone, I recommend Sushi Ryeo (려).

Address, hours, and parking

• Address: Suite 202, 456 Bongcheon-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea; 260 m from Exit 5 of Seoul National University Station
• Hours: daily 12:00–22:00 / last order 20:30 / break time 15:00–17:00
• Parking: At lunch, use the tower parking garage to the left of the building (no SUVs); in the evening, parking is available in front of the tower garage
• If there is no parking space, paid parking is available at Ace A Zone underground parking (₩2,000 per hour)