Hongdae sushi dinner course starting with mini soba: Yu Iksang Sushi

I just came from a tango vals workshop at Macondo, Korea's first salsa bar in Hongdae 💃🕺 After class, I decided to grab dinner with Alex, my longtime tango partner!

Alex loves meat, so I was originally planning to treat him to something hearty 🥩 But it turned out he had a musical audition the very next day! 🎭✨ Ever the professional, he turned down meat because "I can't have my face puffy," so we pivoted the menu to something light and delicious: sushi 🍣

Yu Iksang Sushi in Seogyo-dong, famous for its long tails

If we were doing sushi, it had to be a great spot! I'd been eyeing photos of sushi with extra-long tails for ages, so we headed to Yu Iksang Sushi (유익상스시).

• Location: Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (near Hongik Univ. Station / Hapjeong Station)
• Hours: 11:00 – 22:00 (closed Mondays)
• Recommended menu: Couple A-Plus Set

Witty signs greet you from the entrance

Right at the entrance, "Let's live raw today, like sushi" greeted us, and inside, "You're prettiest when you're eating sushi" — clever, witty lines everywhere 😆✨

The cozy Japanese-restaurant feel combined with anime posters made for a relaxed yet distinctive atmosphere.

The generous visuals of the Couple A-Plus Set

We ordered the Couple A-Plus Set!

Starting with cool mini soba and warm broth

The Couple A-Plus Set we ordered that day unfolded generously and variedly like a full course, keeping us happy the whole time we ate! It started with savory broth and mini soba noodles, which cleaned up the palate nicely.

Refreshing salad and shrimp that still had its crunch

Next came a cabbage salad with a bright, savory dressing and popping flying fish roe, plus freshly fried shrimp with a crisp outside and springy shrimp meat inside — a real treat 🍤

Visual explosion! The overwhelming length of the long-tail sushi

The main sushi plate finally arrived! Just as rumored, the flounder, salmon, and tuna slices draped far past the rice, thick and impossibly long — a jaw-dropping sight 🐟

My tip for enjoying long-tail sushi: soy sauce brush and wasabi

With tails this long, the way you eat it is different from the start! Each table gets its own soy sauce brush, so instead of dipping the sushi and risking the rice falling apart, you can brush soy sauce onto the surface of the fish smoothly 🖌️✨

To really enjoy the texture of the long fish, we added wasabi separately to taste, rolled the long slices around the rice, and stuffed our mouths full!

A feast of varied, satisfying sushi

• Baek-kimchi flounder sushi: the crunch of the white kimchi paired with the chewy flounder — pure cleanliness!
• Salmon & tuna sushi: melts the moment it hits your mouth, spreading a rich, savory flavor — art 👍
• Torched & roll selection: torched sushi with a subtle smoky char, rolls with crunchy tempura bits, and tangy tako wasabi — variety itself 😋

The touching fried eggplant sushi treat & palate-cleansing candy

While we were happily eating, the owner surprised us with a complimentary fried eggplant sushi — crispy outside, moist inside — so touching! After we finished, we even got sweet candy to cleanse our palate, wrapping up the meal on a perfectly good note 🍭✨

A short but truly worthwhile time (a genuinely 'yu-ik' — beneficial — time at Yu Iksang Sushi..!)

Honestly, I was a bit pressed for time that day 🏃‍♀️ Yunaisy, the Spanish dancer and master of Afro-Cuban style salsa fused with jazz — Afro-jazz — is currently in Korea!

Since she's flying out the next day, there was a wrap-up workshop covering everything we'd learned so far, so I had to head straight to class after dinner 🎶

We didn't have much time to talk, but over delicious sushi we managed to clear up misunderstandings that had built up between us from not talking enough. It was a truly 'yu-ik' (beneficial) time at Yu Iksang Sushi! 😉❤️

Final thoughts

Delicious, fresh long-tail sushi filled my stomach nicely, I cleared the air with a longtime partner, and then topped it off with an amazing Afro-jazz workshop... haha, what a full day!

If you're near Hongdae or Seogyo-dong looking for a good-value sushi restaurant with generously sized fish, definitely stop by Yu Iksang Sushi 🍣👍