Gwanghwamun KT Tower sushi: A and B sets compared, Elephant Sushi

But this is my own space, so no lies here. My Gwanghwamun lunch spot: Elephant Sushi.

It's right by Exit 2 of Gwanghwamun Station, tucked into the basement-1 floor of the KT Tower, so it's super accessible, and honestly everything from the sushi to the kaisendon was so good — here's my review of Elephant Sushi, a sushi spot near Gwanghwamun Station.

Where is Elephant Sushi Gwanghwamun, and what are the hours?

• 🕖 Open daily 11:00–21:00
• 🕠 Break time 15:00–17:00
• ❗️Takeout / delivery available

It's on the basement-1 food court floor of Gwanghwamun's KT Tower, and since it's smack in the middle rather than tucked in a corner, even someone with zero sense of direction like me could find it right after coming down the escalator.

Is Elephant Sushi good for solo diners and families with a baby?

Elephant Sushi Gwanghwamun is a great solo-dining spot near Gwanghwamun Station — there's a bar table like this, plus quite a lot of regular tables! Both 4-tops and 2-tops are spread evenly around, so solo dining at a table is totally doable too. Plus there's a high chair, good news for anyone looking for a restaurant near Gwanghwamun to bring a baby.

Coat storage is always a hassle in winter no matter where you go, so I thought it was a nice touch that they'd hung coat hooks on the wall.

Elephant Sushi Gwanghwamun menu and prices

The menu at Elephant Sushi is pretty compact — basically just sushi / kaisendon / hoedeopbap / assorted sashimi. It was a bit of a shame there wasn't the usual sushi-restaurant staple of cold soba or udon as standalone dishes! There is cold soba, but even that's just a mini portion.

• 📌Elephant Sushi A – ₩19,000
• 📌Elephant Sushi B – ₩28,000
• 📌Kaisendon – ₩23,000

The set menus and platter menus at Elephant Sushi, a sushi spot near Gwanghwamun Station, all come with a small cold soba, which switches to udon in winter.

Side dishes: cabbage salad with black sesame dressing

On the table you get the usual Kikkoman soy sauce and rakkyo (pickled shallots) — I tend to snack on a lot of rakkyo while eating sushi, so having it right on the table put my mind at ease. ^_^

Before the sushi arrives, they bring out a clear broth and a cabbage salad, and this cabbage salad... the dressing is genuinely delicious!!!!!! It's definitely black sesame dressing, but there's also this slightly tangy, clean note like Kewpie mayo, so I kept eating it wondering what exactly this flavor was.

Elephant Sushi A vs B set: what is the actual difference?

Like most sushi restaurants, this Gwanghwamun KT Tower spot's B set has two more pieces than the A set, and the composition is much better overall. It's not really about good or bad — it's just that the pricier stuff shows up more in the B set.

The A set seems perfect for people who aren't big fans of raw fish — it's mostly the safe stuff like tamago (egg) and inari (fried tofu pouch) sushi, plus relatively familiar cuts of raw fish.

And then the visually insane kaisendon. They pile the rice with huge, thick slices of raw fish, so the chewy bite is amazing... which honestly gave me more happiness per bite than the sushi did.

The mini cold soba that comes with every set

You genuinely get a small serving of cold soba with the set too, and it's seasoned pretty mildly! Basically it's a sweet-tangy-savory cold soba minus the sweet-tangy part, just savory. This kind of cold soba doesn't seem all that tasty while you're eating it, but eating it at the end really cleans out your palate, which is nice, hahaha ㅠㅠ

Piece by piece: tamago and tuna sushi

The fish is thick while the rice portion is small, so you really get to taste each piece fully, and the sushi itself was delicious. If you're looking for a Gwanghwamun lunch spot, this is it.

The tamago sushi speaks for itself. I'm the type who always orders tamago sushi separately even at conveyor-belt sushi places. The egg was a little less soft than I expected, but it was so sweet and delicious... and since the rice portion is so small relative to the egg, you barely notice the rice when you take a bite — it basically feels like eating pure egg, which is a huge win.

I used to think tuna sometimes had a bit of a bloody, fishy taste, but whether my palate's gotten duller or the tuna I've had recently has just been fresher, every tuna I've eaten lately has been a hit. Sure enough, the tuna at Elephant Sushi, a sushi spot near Gwanghwamun, was really tasty too.

The two best pieces: monkfish liver and flame-seared sushi

And then this insane menu item!!!!!! Genuinely the two best pieces. One of them is monkfish liver... anyone know what that even is ㅠㅠ some food blogger I am. There's something like sweet cream cheese on top and a faint smoky flavor too, and it's just insanely good... the moment I took a bite I aged 40 years on the spot. It was so good my face scrunched up ㅠ. My stomach's made of steel, so these were the two things I wanted to order more and more of.

The letdowns: squid sushi and futomaki

The squid sushi had some sauce on top with what I think was shiso leaf, or something with a really distinctive smell — it seemed like it'd be a love-it-or-hate-it flavor. The futomaki (thick seaweed rice roll) could've used a bit of blue coloring to look prettier, and sure enough the taste was also pretty so-so, which was a letdown. Personally, aside from these two, everything else was excellent!!!

Kaisendon at 23,000 won, eaten with rolled egg omelet on top

The kaisendon also has vinegared sushi rice at the bottom, just like the sushi, and since you have to eat it with a spoon, dipping into soy sauce isn't easy — which made me reasonably suspect that's exactly why they sprinkled it with seaweed flakes. If that's true, that's pretty thoughtful, haha.

Just like the sushi, this was insanely good too... you can clearly see how thick the raw fish slices are ㅠ. One spoonful fills your mouth completely, which somehow makes the flavor feel even richer...

For the kaisendon, it's really important to eat it with this egg omelet on top. The egg in the tamago sushi was less soft than expected, but this one is exactly as soft as you'd want an egg omelet to be, and eating it piled on top boosts the flavor of the kaisendon by like 262282 times ㅠㅠ

Worth it for lunch in Gwanghwamun, and takeout is available

Elephant Sushi is a great pick for lunch near Gwanghwamun Station. Why lunch specifically? Because... sushi at dinner just feels a bit empty afterward, you know? ^^ Sushi's great, but I'd also highly recommend the kaisendon, and this seems like a great Gwanghwamun takeout spot too — grabbing a kaisendon on the way home from work with a beer sounds amazing. End of my Elephant Sushi review.