Spring outdoor sashimi bar in Sangbong with pupae stew: Hoepanjang

What is Hoepanjang Sangbong?

Hoepanjang Sangbong (회판장 상봉점) is a newly opened aged sashimi restaurant in the food alley between Sangbong Station and Mangu Station. It is open 16:00 to 03:00 (until 02:00 on Sundays, closed Mondays), takes reservations through Naver, offers unlimited free corkage on any kind of alcohol, and has outdoor tables.

Last week was unusually warm, and on a day like that I just can't resist an outdoor table! I had to enjoy the weather to the fullest before it got hotter. So I headed to Hoepanjang, a great aged sashimi spot in Sangbong, for a drink with top-quality fish.

Hoepanjang sits in the food alley between Sangbong Station and Mangu Station, packed with good restaurants. There were lots of outdoor tables along the street, and the bustling crowd made it so much fun.

Indoor seating and atmosphere at Hoepanjang Sangbong

The inside of Hoepanjang Sangbong feels clean and upscale! The seating is well partitioned, so it feels cozy and is a great setting for chatting. And above all, the staff are sooo friendly. They greeted us with smiles, which put me in a great mood.

Hoepanjang's signature dish and how to order

You order on a tablet placed at each table. The signature menu is the 8-kind sashimi platter, made with fish sourced from the auction market every dawn. There are also plenty of other seafood dishes, so you can order to your taste.

What free starters come with the sashimi platter?

I ordered the sashimi platter and a staggering parade of starters (skidashi, the free appetizers Korean raw fish restaurants serve) kept coming. First up was pupae stew (beondegi-tang, silkworm pupae soup). I love this stuff, so it was delicious. It came out piping hot, spicy and nicely salty, perfect with alcohol.

Cute corn cheese, which you'd feel something was missing without at a raw fish restaurant.

Even mussel soup comes as a basic starter, so how many bottles is this going to take… And apparently these starters can be refilled! Do they even make a profit? 😭 Great for us drinkers.

Hoepanjang's 8-kind sashimi platter for 54,000 won

The 8-kind sashimi platter at Hoepanjang Sangbong costs ₩54,000. While we were sipping soju with the starters, they brought out a spread that made my jaw drop.

Not just the fish, but the sauces and sides were a perfect lineup 💯 I only ordered one sashimi platter, yet they gave us tons of different dishes and side dishes, and I got so excited. You can eat it in so many combinations, how great is that?

• Seaweed (gim)
• Perilla leaves
• White kimchi
• Seasoned pollock roe (myeongran-jeot)
• Vinegared rice
• Spicy raw fish salad (hoe-muchim)
• Cold raw fish soup (mulhoe)

Which fish are in today's sashimi platter?

That day's platter had Geoje mullet, sea bass, amberjack, red sea bream, salmon, black sea bream and flounder. The owner sources the fish himself, on foot, so maybe that's why there were so many prized varieties. And the portion is big and great value, right?

How does Hoepanjang's aged sashimi taste?

I started with the white fish, and it was well aged: chewy, full of savory depth, with a sweet finish that really showed off the freshness. The red sea bream especially was so good, maybe because it's pricey,, 💗

I also tried it with the white kimchi and perilla leaves that came along. Being able to enjoy so many different flavors is great~

Salmon is always going to be delicious, but this one was well aged, with a nutty flavor and a lovely thick texture.

Mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) to refresh the palate

The mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) that came with the platter was amazing as a cool palate cleanser between bites. The quality was good enough that in summer you could order it as the main dish.

Grilled mackerel and mixed tempura served mid-meal

Oh! The starters at Hoepanjang weren't over yet. While we were eating the sashimi, they brought us grilled mackerel. The flesh was plump and it was absolutely delicious.

And mixed tempura too! Shrimp, squid and sweet potato, a generous lineup. After eating cool, clean sashimi you crave something oily, and this was exactly my taste.

The tempura was plump and crispy and so good. The blessings of drinking snacks never end. The drinks just go down so easily.

Vinegared rice with seaweed, and the final verdict

When you're craving carbs at Hoepanjang, just wrap the vinegared rice in seaweed and top it with only the seasoned pollock roe, and it's delicious. The seaweed they gave us was especially good, so it also works great as a drinking snack.

It had been a while, and I had a blast at an outdoor table in the Sangbong food alley with tasty aged sashimi and all kinds of side dishes. The staff were so friendly, the food was good and the atmosphere was great, so if you're looking for a great aged sashimi place in Sangbong, hurry on over to Hoepanjang!