Yeouido eel rice bowl restaurant with scissor-cut unagidon: Ilpum

Ilpum

Ilpum Yeouido Branch hours, parking and how to get there

Ilpum Yeouido Branch is a Japanese restaurant on the basement floor of the Anwon Building at 25 Eunhaeng-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's a 5-minute walk from Exit 3 of National Assembly Station, and with 2 hours of free parking at the Anwon Building, accessibility is great.

• Hours: Daily 11:00-21:30 / Break 15:00-17:30 / Last order 14:00, 20:00 / Closed Sundays
• Parking: 2 hours free at the Anwon Building parking lot
• Walking: 5 minutes from Exit 3, National Assembly Station
• Other: 1 free corkage bottle with Naver reservation, substitute ingredients for seafood/other allergies, all main menus come with 'chawanmushi + noodles + dessert'

What the basement-floor Ilpum dining room looks like

< Exterior > Ilpum, a restaurant near National Assembly Station on the basement floor of the Anwon Building, is a 5-minute walk from the station, and with parking support available, it's convenient to visit by car too.

The exterior had a neat, tidy wood-tone feel. There was a menu board at the entrance, and it had a wide variety of offerings — sushi, sushi set meals, kaisendon (seafood rice bowl), sashimi, and karaage (fried chicken) — great for a full meal or as drinking snacks.

< Interior > In the center there were bar seats good for solo dining, and table seating on both sides for larger groups. The interior was spacious, so it seemed like a great spot for a work dinner or family meal out in Yeouido.

What we ordered at Ilpum and the side dishes that came first

What we ordered at Ilpum Yeouido Branch was unagidon (eel rice bowl) and aburidon (seared seafood rice bowl). These came with chawanmushi, cold udon, and a dessert pudding as standard.

After ordering by QR code, they brought white kimchi and a light broth right away — perfect side dishes to go with the rice bowls.

Chawanmushi (savory steamed egg custard)

The great thing about Ilpum near National Assembly Station is that every main menu comes with chawanmushi, cold udon, and dessert, so you can enjoy it like a course meal.

The soft, warm steamed egg topped with gamtae (seaweed flakes) had shrimp and ginkgo nuts inside, and the moist texture was a great way to whet the appetite before the meal!

Unagidon, 40,000 won: cutting a whole eel with scissors

< Unagidon > ₩40,000, Ilpum's eel rice bowl. With a whole eel on top, this unagidon seemed like a dish that anyone who loves eel simply couldn't pass up.

Being able to properly enjoy one whole plump, golden-grilled eel in a single meal felt like a real energy boost!

They gave us scissors and a plate, so there was the fun of cutting it ourselves. We cut it into bite-sized pieces on the plate to make it easy to eat with the rice.

Underneath the eel there was egg, wasabi, and pickled ginger, and the seasoning of the rice was just right — every bite with a bit of egg and wasabi on top made for flavors that blended together in the mouth, truly ilpum (top-notch)!

Aburidon, 30,000 won: seared seafood over rice

< Aburidon > ₩30,000, seafood rice bowl with a seared surface. I went back and forth between kaisendon, a rice bowl topped with sushi, and aburidon, a rice bowl topped with seared seafood, but since I like that seared aroma, I ordered the aburidon.

When the aburidon arrived, the seared aroma hit right away. With sushi, scallops, squid, and other seafood all in one, the visuals were vivid and it looked incredibly delicious haha.

The rice grains were fluffy and separate, seasoned like sushi rice, so it was delicious on its own.

They gave us seaweed separately, so we wrapped rice and sushi in it — the raw fish was soft with good texture, and it went so well with the savory seaweed, absolutely delicious. Every single bite was high quality, a satisfying meal.

Cold udon and the dessert pudding

While we were eating, they brought out cold udon, so we even got to try a noodle dish alongside the main.

After that, dessert came out — a cold pudding topped with what looked like mango purée. Perfect for cleansing the palate!

Is Ilpum Yeouido Branch worth a visit?

With chawanmushi, noodles, and dessert all coming with the main dish, you can enjoy it like a light course — bar seats for solo dining, and a spacious interior for family gatherings or work dinners too: Ilpum near National Assembly Station. A sushi spot in Yeouido worth recommending, and if I'm ever in Yeouido again, I'd definitely be back.