Jongno sushi restaurant, double ankimo gunkan for two: Choe Uyeong

Bringing you a review of Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch, a sushi spot near Jongak Station❗️

From solo dining to dates, office lunches, and evening work dinners — here's my honest review of this premium sushi restaurant, let's get right into it, ahh~❤️

Where is Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch? Straight from the Jongak Station passage

Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch sits in the basement of Tower8, reached via the underground passage connected to Jongak Station. I visited on a weekday evening for a date with Jundo. Let's head right in~

Since I got there in the early evening, I had time to take photos around the place✨ Clean atmosphere, seats for solo diners and roomy group tables too — the place was bigger than I expected, great for group gatherings or work dinners!

Menu and prices: mixed sushi 13,000 won, special sushi 19,000 won

Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch sells a wide range of sushi and sushi sides, and just looking at it, the prices felt really reasonable!

They also have two kinds of udon and drinks including sake, highballs, and corkage is allowed too — perfect for a work dinner, right?

📍Today's PICK

• Mixed sushi 12pc — ₩13,000
• Special sushi 15pc — ₩19,000
• Mixed tempura — ₩13,000
• Shrimp tempura udon — ₩6,000
• Ankimo — ₩6,000

Order time~🍽️

Pickled radish and ginger come on the table by default, with unlimited refills, plus a drizzle of Choe Uyeong's special soy sauce, and a warm broth was served too!

The quality and spread made my jaw drop, like the table might collapse! Look at the size of that sashimi — even looking back at it, the visuals are exciting🫪

Seeing the sushi visuals, of course we had to order a beer to go with it ^^ Started today off with a cheers~

What comes in the 12-piece mixed sushi set for 13,000 won

The 12-piece mixed sushi is 13,000 won. From nigiri to inari (fried tofu pouch) and egg sushi, this is the basic sushi set at Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch✨

This is the first place I've seen where the basic set even includes gunkan (battleship roll). It's neatly wrapped in seaweed and the beef tartare seasoning is delicious — satisfying from the very first bite ❤️

The sweet inari sushi and sweet shrimp sushi weren't dried out at all, nice and moist!~

Scallop, cream-topped raw shrimp, tuna. These can easily taste fishy if done wrong, but the scallop and shrimp were plump and springy, and the tuna was so soft — great texture and flavor both.

The thick egg sushi was exactly my type. Overall the toppings on top were sized generously, so you really get a mouthful of flavor!

The 15-piece special sushi set, 19,000 won: red sea bream, tuna and three gunkan

The 15-piece special sushi is 19,000 won. It's a plate packed full of special sushi — for this much sushi at 19,000 won, that's really a steal👍🏻

You can tell just by looking how big the pieces are, right? The sashimi is so large that you really taste its natural flavor — both Jundo and I were super satisfied.

The scored red sea bream on the right had amazing texture and flavor 🤤 Every single piece somehow tasted so fresh!

Doesn't the tuna look like it'll melt in your mouth? Yep, it melts,, so savory it was Jundo's top pick.

I really loved the rich raw shrimp, and the cuttlefish was also rich with a subtle lingering sweetness in the mouth.

Three kinds of gunkan you get with the special sushi: uni (sea urchin), negitoro (minced fatty tuna with scallion), and ankimo. Creamy ankimo and uni, savory negitoro😋

The eel sauce is so good! I feel like I could fly away right now.

Doubling the 6,000-won ankimo onto the gunkan

The ankimo side is 6,000 won. Savory and sweet — anyone who loves offal will go crazy for it, and honestly I couldn't believe that portion for this price.

Ankimo is already delicious eaten plain, but I doubled it up onto the gunkan version! Piled it onto the uni too!

Everyone really needs to try this flavor,, ankimo is so savory and sweet, highly recommend it as a side❗️

Shrimp tempura udon, 6,000 won: enough to fill up one adult

The shrimp tempura udon is 6,000 won. It's udon topped with a big shrimp tempura and crab tempura.

I usually hate soggy tempura, but why was the tempura in this udon so delicious..?

The udon noodles are chewy, the broth is rich with great umami, and the portion is huge. Enough to fill up an adult man on his own👍🏻

Mixed tempura, 13,000 won: the sweet potato is the winner

The mixed tempura is 13,000 won. All kinds of tempura piled up together! A golden-brown mixed tempura platter.

Like with the udon above, look at that tempura,, absolutely crispy with zero sogginess. The soy sauce served with it is salty-sweet and pairs perfectly with the tempura.

I was like, what is this,,? and it turned out to be sweet potato tempura! Huge and heavy, hard to even pick up with chopsticks. The golden sweet potato inside was moist and sweet ㅠㅠ best tempura of the bunch✨❤️

That round-shaped one turned out to be scallop tempura! Plump and springy, with that scallop juice(?), the umami was incredible.

Lastly, the fried glutinous rice mochi! I already love that chewy rice-cake texture, so this was another hit for me. Dip it generously in the sauce and the seasoning is just right🤤

Who should eat at Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch?

Honestly, out of all the sushi restaurants in Gwanghwamun and Jongno, this was the first one this good on both value and taste 😋 Portions overall were generous and takeout is available too, so I'm thinking of grabbing some on my way home from work.

Looking for a sushi restaurant in Gwanghwamun or Jongno that anyone would be satisfied and proud to be taken to? ❤️ I recommend Choe Uyeong Sushiya Jongno Branch ❤️