Gangnam pub near Sinsa Station: yukhoe and uni on gamtae, Yukhoedam

On a weekend I visited the Sinsa branch of Yukhoedam (육회담), a place in Sinsa-dong where you can enjoy Korean beef yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) together with uni (sea urchin).

Yukhoedam is built around same-day-slaughtered Korean beef yukhoe, served with a wide range of sides like gamtae (seaweed), pear, cheese and crackers, plus generous chunks of uni, so you can eat it in lots of different ways. How did the yukhoe and uni actually go together? I'll walk you through the atmosphere and the menu in detail.

What are the atmosphere and seating like at Yukhoedam Sinsa?

At the front of the restaurant, the big windows are left open, and there are bar-table seats where you can sit looking outside. Inside, there are regular tables for bigger groups. The front seats are side by side, so it's a comfortable setup if you're alone or having a light meal for two.

With the windows open, it felt less stuffy even though we were indoors, and the wood-tone tables and dark interior came together for a calm mood.

Yukhoedam location and opening hours

• Address: 1st floor, Unit 1, 46 Apgujeong-ro 2-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• About a 4-minute walk from Sinsa Station
• Monday 15:00–02:00
• Tuesday–Saturday 11:30–02:00
• Sunday 13:00–02:00

• Sinsa Station restaurant with same-day-slaughtered Korean beef yukhoe
• Sinsa Station bar pairing yukhoe with highballs
• A spread of yukhoe with uni in Sinsa-dong
• Chewy Korean beef yukhoe wrapped in gamtae
• A hearty menu, including the uni set

What did we order at Yukhoedam?

We ordered the uni set, the yukhoe and a highball.

You can browse the menu on a tablet and order right away. There's quite a variety of yukhoe and beef sashimi (yuksashimi), and several options that pair raw beef with things like uni or mungtigi (Gyeongsang-style raw beef).

How is the same-day yukhoe (₩42,000) with a Kakubin highball?

Yukhoedam's same-day-slaughtered yukhoe is ₩42,000, and the drink that went best with it was the Suntory Kakubin highball.

The yukhoe uses raw Korean beef from cattle slaughtered at dawn, tossed with domestic sesame oil and a soy-based sauce.

The Suntory Kakubin highball is a Japanese-style highball made with Kakubin whisky and soda. You get a fresh citrus aroma and the crispness of the fizz first, and the finish is fairly clean.

Taking a sip between rich, nutty foods like yukhoe and uni left my mouth refreshed and ready for the next bite. The whisky aroma isn't too heavy, so it's an easy highball to drink with a meal. 👍👍

As in the photos, the yukhoe comes with an egg yolk in the middle, plus sides like pear, gamtae and cheese crackers, so you can eat it however you like.

What does the uni set (₩36,000) include?

Yukhoedam's uni set, which melts in your mouth, is ₩36,000.

For ₩36,000 you get uni, sushi and gamtae to combine as you please, and you can add more sushi for ₩3,000.

The uni sits on top in big pieces, so it looked the part right away. The lobes weren't falling apart and were plump, and when I took a bite the texture was soft and creamy with a rich, nutty flavor.

What's the best way to eat the yukhoe and uni?

Uni on its own is great, but eating it with sushi adds the mildness of the rice, making the strong flavor of the uni easy to enjoy.

Personally, my favorite was putting sushi and yukhoe on a piece of gamtae and piling uni generously on top. The fragrant seaweed, the clean taste of the yukhoe and the rich creaminess of the uni all come together at once, and it tastes different from eating each one separately.

At Yukhoedam both the uni and the yukhoe came out fresh, and with so many sides, like gamtae, sushi, pear, cheese crackers and miyeokguk (seaweed soup), it was easy to eat to your own taste.

The uni was especially good on sushi or gamtae, and the yukhoe, with the yolk and pear, balanced a soft texture with a clean flavor. If you're planning to have yukhoe and uni together, keep this in mind when choosing your menu.