Songdo sushi restaurant, first weekday customer at 11am: Sushi Doku

Hi everyone :D After shopping at Songhyun-a, I was looking for a lunch spot and ended up at 'Sushi Doku The Songdo,' famous as a Songdo sushi restaurant. In this classy, sleek space you can get properly aged, melt-in-your-mouth sushi along with a full set including chawanmushi (savory egg custard), udon and tempura — let me introduce our go-to sushi spot in Songhyun-a, one my husband and I keep coming back to.

Where is Sushi Doku The Songdo? Location, hours and parking

Sushi Doku The Songdo is on the 2nd floor of Onesta Mall at 157 Songdo-gukjedae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon. Since it's connected to Songhyun-a via Onesta Mall, it's an easy stop after shopping at Songhyun-a or Triple Street.

• Hours: 11:00–21:00
• Break time: 14:30–17:00
• Last order: 20:15
• Parking: park in the Onesta Mall basement and tell the staff to register it; free parking is also available through Songhyun-a or Triple Street

They prepare ingredients using traditional Japanese aging methods and follow a same-day-in, same-day-out rule, so it's a Songdo sushi spot you can trust :)

Inside Sushi Doku The Songdo and the weekday wait

The Sushi Doku The Songdo interior is done in a black-and-wood palette, giving it a classy, calm feel, and each table is sectioned off with fabric dividers for a more private dining experience. It's such a nice atmosphere for a date that my husband and I come here often whenever we're at Songhyun-a.

This place is such a popular Songdo sushi restaurant that when we came on a weekend before opening, there was already a wait before the doors even opened. So this time we timed it for the 11am weekday opening and walked in as the very first customers — and sure enough, more guests kept streaming in, and even on a weekday a line formed again.

With the nice atmosphere and high sushi quality, all kinds of age groups come here. It's also a convenient spot to stop by after shopping at Songhyun-a or Triple Street, so if you like sushi, it's definitely worth a visit :)

Menu lineup and the receipt-review event

Sushi Doku The Songdo specializes in sushi and sashimi, making it a great choice for a sushi lunch or for sashimi with a drink in the evening.

There's a genuinely wide range of sushi, both as single items and as various set meals, so you can pick whatever suits your taste. The set meals come out so generously that I'd recommend ordering a set first and then adding à la carte items if you want more :)

There was also a good variety of Japanese dishes like sashimi, side tempura and udon, plus a separate children's set menu, so it's a place you can bring kids without worry. Baby chairs were also on hand at the restaurant.

And the receipt-review event here is amazing! Write a review with your receipt and you get a piece of otoro (fatty tuna belly) sushi — I think this might be the best receipt-review perk out there :) You have to take part in this one, haha.

What comes in the 25,900-won premium sushi set: 10 pieces

We ordered the BEST-selling No.1 item, the premium sushi set for ₩25,900. It comes with 10 types of sushi plus various sides, and honestly it looked exactly like being at a sushi restaurant in Japan.

Salmon, flounder, akami (lean tuna), squid, red shrimp, red seabream, red snow crab, sweet shrimp, eel, ankimo (monkfish liver) — all the way through! Ten pieces of high-quality sushi were neatly arranged, and each piece of fish was thick and generously sized, so it looked delicious just from the visuals alone.

On top of that came udon, salad, tempura and truffle chawanmushi — a really well-rounded set — and apparently the udon broth is even refillable.

Truffle chawanmushi and the salad

First I ate the fresh vegetable salad :) Then the chawanmushi — lift the lid and the truffle aroma spreads out! Truffle oil was drizzled over the top, and the soft, pudding-like egg paired beautifully with the truffle's richness for a truly luxurious flavor. It was a great appetizer to whet the appetite before the main event.

Brushing on the soy sauce, piece by piece

The soy sauce here is a bit unusual — you pour some into a small dish and use a dedicated brush to sweep it onto the sushi.

I started with the clean, light white-fleshed fish! The red seabream and flounder were chewy yet tender, and being properly aged, they had a savory umami that grew with each bite. The squid had a chewy, springy texture with a subtle sweetness that was really good.

The sweet shrimp and red shrimp practically burst with juiciness. Dab on a little soy sauce and wasabi, and the shrimp's sweetness gets amplified — truly the best.

Next up were the fattier cuts — salmon and akami! These are my favorite kinds of raw fish, haha. They melted in my mouth with rich, savory fattiness spreading through — so good :D Thanks to using fresh ingredients and traditional Japanese aging methods, every single piece was top-tier sushi.

The red snow crab was soft and sweet, the ankimo was rich and creamy, and the plump eel came with just the right sweet-and-savory glaze! All 10 pieces had distinct flavors and textures, so it was fun to compare them one by one.

The free otoro piece from the receipt review

And then, the otoro from the receipt-review event!! This is fatty tuna belly that normally costs ₩6,900 a piece, and you get one per person just for writing a receipt review.

It comes out slightly frozen at first, but after a moment it thaws and the fattiness really comes through. The tuna's rich, savory fat was outstanding — I genuinely closed my eyes and savored it :D

Tempura, udon and the plum tea at the end

The tempura came as karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and shrimp tempura, both freshly fried and piping hot — the tender karaage and plump shrimp went really well with the tartar sauce.

The chewy, springy udon came with cute Nemo-shaped fish cake and a rich, tasty broth. Apparently it's refillable, but with how generous the portions were overall, refilling would be a stretch, haha. Beyond the sushi, the set came with salad, chawanmushi, tempura and udon — such a hearty and satisfying meal.

There was also warm plum tea near the entrance, perfect for a last sip to cleanse the palate.

A place in a great-vibe corner of Songdo, Incheon, where you can enjoy melt-in-your-mouth aged sushi and a variety of Japanese set meals — if you're looking for a lunch spot near Triple Street, have a delicious, joyful meal at 'Sushi Doku The Songdo,' the sushi restaurant near Songhyun-a.