Gangnam seafood bar: aged sashimi and crab tomalley pasta, Sanhocho

A buzzing seafood bar by Nonhyeon Station until dawn

It is a 7-minute walk from Exit 3 of Nonhyeon Station and a 10-minute walk from Exit 3 of Sinnonhyeon Station. Open year-round, it operates every day from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., with last orders at 4 a.m. Corkage is also available: ₩20,000 per bottle for sake and wine, and ₩30,000 per bottle for whiskey.

I finally visited Sanhocho Nonhyeon (산호초 논현점), which opened late last year and has become a new hot spot among the bars around Nonhyeon Station. It is a seafood pocha (casual Korean drinking spot) known for aged sashimi and seasonal seafood.

I went around 11 p.m. on a Friday night and luckily got the one remaining table. Sanhocho Nonhyeon was so hot and lively that you could not even tell what time it was ;; What a strong first impression.

Can you choose exactly what goes into your sashimi platter?

The menu was huge, with so many delicious-looking things that I photographed it all.

• Raw shrimp sashimi, 12 pieces ₩42,000
• Live mackerel sashimi + 10 raw shrimp ₩78,000
• Live squid sashimi ₩52,000
• Half-frozen mulhoe (cold raw-fish soup; assorted sashimi + live squid) ₩52,000
• Sanhocho Signature Set (sashimi + pasta/fried dish + spicy fish stew) ₩85,000
• Sanhocho platter (sashimi + seafood) ₩69,000
• Assorted aged sashimi ₩53,000
• Three-kind sashimi ₩77,000

The three-kind sashimi is great because you can build it only with the sashimi you want from eight choices: live mackerel, live squid, raw shrimp, salmon, large flatfish, red sea bream, butterfish sea bream, and fatty tuna belly. Not just the usual picks—you can include seasonal sashimi such as live mackerel, live squid, and raw shrimp too!

There are plenty of other trendy, delicious choices too, including chopped squid sashimi, salt-grilled king prawns, live mackerel sashimi, and aged large flatfish sashimi.

The Sanhocho Signature Set and salt gimbap

Even the banchan (small side dishes) at Sanhocho Nonhyeon were no ordinary matter. Bean sprouts dressed in sesame sauce, beondegi (silkworm pupae), aged kimchi, and small squid jeot (salted seafood) were giving off serious great-restaurant vibes >.<

Today’s order was the Sanhocho Signature Set for ₩85,000. It comes with sashimi, crab tomalley pasta, and either spicy fish stew or clear fish soup; we also ordered salt gimbap for ₩4,000.

You can ask for the clear fish soup when you are ready to eat it, so the sashimi, crab tomalley pasta, and salt gimbap arrived first.

From the left, there were red sea bream, tuna, mackerel, flatfish, abalone, squid, salmon, and one more delicious fish whose name I forgot. It was quite a generous portion! The gold jelly-like thing on top of the salmon is frozen katsuobushi (bonito flakes); put it on the sashimi and eat it with wasabi for a different flavor.

The hidden star: crab tomalley pasta

I ordered it because I already love the rich flavor of crab tomalley, and it was completely moving.

The richness had real depth, the pasta was pleasantly chewy, and the crab had lots of meat. It was so easy to pick out and eat! The toast was crisp too, perfect for dipping. It is ₩25,000 à la carte, but it truly felt worth even more than that. A highly recommended dish!

Salt gimbap with aged sashimi

I ordered the salt gimbap after seeing how to enjoy aged sashimi at its best.

It is all the rage these days, but I had not been able to try it because of the wait—then I finally had it at Sanhocho Nonhyeon. I ate it with the classic flatfish, small squid jeot, aged kimchi, and wasabi, and it was heavenly. The rice was delicious on its own, but having everything together made the flavors meld and doubled the depth.

When should you have the clear fish soup?

With the Sanhocho Signature Set, you can choose between clear fish soup and spicy fish stew; we chose the clear fish soup. It came generously loaded with fish and vegetables. The broth was clean and refreshing, so we added kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) noodles.

Highly recommended when you are craving delicious aged sashimi and seafood. I also recommend it when you want a range of drinking dishes alongside seafood, and its detailed, distinctive atmosphere makes it a lovely date spot too. I would visit again.