Seafood course for couples near Nonhyeon Station: Nonhyeon Bada

What is the wild sea set at Nonhyeon Bada like?

The wild sea set (바다자연산 세트) at Nonhyeon Bada (논현바다) costs ₩55,000 per person, and it isn't just several kinds of sashimi: seafood, sushi, grilled fish, spicy fish stew and tempura all come out too. I went to Nonhyeon Bada for sashimi near Nonhyeon Station. I love sashimi, but this time I had a course with a bit of everything. And the food honestly never stops coming, hahaha. I got so, so full. Here's my intro for anyone looking for a good sashimi restaurant near Nonhyeon Station.

Location and atmosphere of Nonhyeon Bada

Nonhyeon Bada is a sashimi restaurant in the food alley near Nonhyeon Station. There's a fish tank out front, so you can see the live fish from outside. They say they serve seasonal fish brought in from the source, and seeing the tank first made me even more excited for the sashimi, haha.

Inside, Nonhyeon Bada was bigger than I expected. There are regular tables and a separate area at the back, so it works well for a group. It looked like a good spot for a company dinner or a night of drinks near Nonhyeon Station.

• Address: 17 Hakdong-ro 2-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (1st floor)
• Hours: Mon–Sat 11:30 to 05:00 the next day
• Weekday break time 15:00–17:00
• Closed every Sunday
• No parking

How to order, and the side dishes

We ordered easily at a kiosk, and this day we had the wild sea set (₩55,000 per person). And with a review event we even got seasoned raw fish (hoemuchim), which was amazing.

The side dishes were set out first. Salad, seaweed, sauces and veggies to go with the sashimi filled the table quickly, and there was so much to pick at from the start.

Then came porridge and steamed egg (gyeran-jjim). Starting with something warm before the sashimi was nice. The egg looked soft, and a bowl of porridge each was a gentle way to begin.

First sashimi: rock bream, with a great ssamjang sauce

The first sashimi in the set is rock bream (bengaedom). It came fanned out in a circle on a big plate, and the portion looked pretty generous. Thick-cut slices sat in the middle, and some pieces still had the skin on, so it was fun to compare the cuts.

It looks so good, the freshness, what is going on. I'd never had rock bream before and it was so chewy and delicious, T_T. The skin-on part had a fun texture too, haha.

And this ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) sauce?? So good. I ended up eating my husband's share of it too. It was perfect with all the sashimi that day.

Abalone, sea cucumber and sea squirt platter

Next came abalone, sea cucumber and sea squirt (meongge), all three on one plate. The abalone was thinly sliced and the sea cucumber was cut to a good size. With the sea squirt too, it really felt like a platter of the sea, haha.

The charm of seafood is that every kind has its own texture. The abalone was crunchy and the sea cucumber had its signature chewiness, so they were nice to eat between slices of sashimi. With this much variety of raw seafood, anyone who likes it should be happy.

A bowl of mussel soup and vegetable jeon

The Nonhyeon Bada course also brought mussel soup and vegetable jeon (pan-fried savory pancake). The mussel soup was a whole big bowlful, hahaha, with shells piled up, so the portion was generous. It was great for a sip of warm broth between sashimi.

Wow, the broth is so refreshing. It was my own natural digestive aid that day.

The plump mussels were delicious too.

And the vegetable jeon! It was golden on the outside, and felt closer to vegetable tempura than a soft jeon. I actually liked it a lot, haha.

Sea bream, flounder and amberjack sashimi: the amberjack was the legend of the day

After the rock bream came another plate with three kinds: sea bream, flounder and amberjack (busiri). As a sashimi lover, I adored this lineup, haha. Each fish was labeled on the plate, so it was easy to tell which was which.

It was all sashimi I love, so I was really, really happy... And the amberjack was legendary that day.

I love the sea bream and the amberjack. The rich, fatty taste of the amberjack was so good, and eating it with seaweed added a crunch that made it even better.

Bigfin reef squid sashimi with uni

Next: bigfin reef squid (muneuio징어) sashimi with uni (sea urchin roe)! Bigfin reef squid is softer than regular squid yet chewy, and the sweetness builds the more you chew. With uni on the side, you could mix and match the flavors.

The squid is chewy at first bite, then a quiet sweetness rises as you keep chewing, and I loved that, T_T. It's a totally different charm from white fish sashimi. If you like squid sashimi, you know that chewy, sweet taste, haha.

Then the uni adds its creamy, rich ocean umami on top of the squid's chewy sweetness. I enjoyed it so much,, I still think about that taste, T_T.

Corn cheese and cheese-baked shrimp

My beloved corn cheese showed up. Molten like lava, so happy. It's high-impact, which made it even tastier. I was full and left a little behind, and I regretted it on the way home.

And this grilled shrimp!! The shrimp were seriously huge, hahaha. They split big shrimp in half and baked cheese on top, and since the shrimp themselves were big, the meat was thick. Shrimp is in season now too, so the quality was great.

On top of that, the salty, nutty cheese made it so good, T_T. I ate the head and innards too.

One plate of sushi per person, plus futomaki

And wait, the Nonhyeon Bada course even includes sushi, hahaha. By this point I wondered when the course would ever end. An assortment of fish sushi and a big roll came on one plate, and it's one plate per person. After all that sashimi, getting this much sushi too was a lot of food.

I started getting emotional at how generous this is for a ₩55,000-range set. The tuna sushi and mackerel sushi were especially good, and the futomaki (thick roll) was as delicious as it was big.. Even though I was about to burst, it went down easily.

Golden grilled fish

And then golden grilled fish showed up too.

With grilled fish, the lightly browned bits are the best, T_T. It had that nutty, salty flavor of grilled fish, so after eating sashimi it felt fresh again.

The chewy fish meat is so good T_T. The seasoning was just right too, and I picked it clean, leaving only the bones.

Spicy fish stew loaded with bean sprouts

Late in the Nonhyeon Bada course came spicy fish stew (maeuntang), refreshing thanks to lots of bean sprouts.

It smelled delicious from the start.

There was quite a lot of fish meat, hahaha. I sucked every bit off the bones. The broth is crazy good, so clean and refreshing.

Having it with the porridge I'd saved for the stew was really filling. Honestly, this isn't a sashimi course, it's a full seafood course, hahaha.

Finishing with assorted tempura

And finally shrimp, squid and sweet potato tempura! The food really keeps coming, hahaha.

Even when I'm full, tempura goes down, so good. I'm a fan of this kind of Japanese-style tempura. The crispy batter hid bouncy shrimp, so it was a great way to finish.

Who is Nonhyeon Bada for?

The wild sea set at Nonhyeon Bada suits people who want a hearty seafood course with lots of variety rather than just one plate of sashimi. I was really, really satisfied that day, and my husband even said he'd come back with friends later, haha. I'd also recommend Nonhyeon Bada if you're looking for seafood and drinks near Nonhyeon Station, or planning a group dinner or gathering with a course meal at a Gangnam sashimi restaurant, haha.