Pre-concert sushi lunch near Olympic Park, Seoul: Susi Seon Bangi

Where Susi Seon Bangi Branch is and what to know first

Susi Seon Bangi Branch 37 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea (1F) Closed every other Monday Reservations, takeout, delivery, WiFi, easy payment, parking

Hi everyone ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ Last Sunday I went to Susi Seon Bangi Branch, a sushi place people rave about in Bangi-dong. Before heading to KSPO DOME for the NCT 127 concert, I wanted a filling, tasty lunch nearby, so I searched around and found this spot in the Bangi-dong food alley!

Stamina before a concert is essential, right? The older I get, the more a concert feels like an endurance match... Jaehyun said it himself — we're aging together haha

Walking in at 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday without a reservation

The inside of Susi Seon Bangi Branch isn't huge, but there's a good amount of counter and table seating. We arrived at 12:30pm and it was about half full, and we got a table without a reservation. All the tables are joined together, so it works for a pair or a whole group.

The special sushi set, ordered for the sea urchin

[Ordered]: Special sushi [Includes]: halibut x2, salmon x2, tuna x2, king sweet shrimp, eel, soy sauce shrimp, sea urchin

The reason I picked this set — sea urchin was on the list! I simply do not know how to walk past sea urchin sushi. (Firm on this.)

When I ordered the special sushi, they told me it comes with a choice of udon or soba (buckwheat noodles). Since I wanted to walk into the concert feeling as cool and refreshed as possible, we went with the cold soba topped with shaved ice.

Pre-meal porridge and the somyeon salad in chogochujang

After ordering, the pre-meal porridge and salad came out first. (Personally, I think any restaurant that gives you pre-meal porridge is a top-tier restaurant.)

This salad was a real standout — instead of regular dressing, it had a gochujang-vinegar base with somyeon (thin wheat noodles) tucked underneath. It felt like hoedeopbap (raw fish rice bowl) but with noodles instead of rice — basically a mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) vibe, perfect for waking up your appetite!

And then the special sushi arrived. I've been on a sushi-restaurant tour lately, and this one looked as good as any of them.

They arranged it in order from left to right, easy to eat through. Sometimes places get so caught up in presentation that everything's jumbled and the flavors mix in a way I don't love — not the case here.

The porridge and salad weren't small portions either. Usually you get a tiny bowl that's basically a taste and that's it, but here the bowls were big enough that those two alone were pretty filling. I used to work at a tuna restaurant, where tasting the pre-meal porridge every morning at open was part of the job — brought back memories, funny how that works.

I wanted to capture the whole sushi plate nicely, so I split it into 3 shots — actually a pretty solid setup? Like those famous meme-format setup-development-twist-conclusion image sets — which means everything I shot turned out perfect!

Cold soba under shaved ice, and a generous portion

Right as I was finishing photographing the sushi, the cold soba with shaved ice arrived, perfectly timed — sexy, honestly. Some places give you a tiny portion, but for someone with an appetite like me, this size was just right haha. Can you really finish all this? Yeah, that's literally why they gave you this much haha

Usually sushi is the main event so I don't expect much from the noodles, but the seasoning was spot-on — I just added a bit of the wasabi that came with it and it was exactly right! Some places drop soba from the menu in winter as a seasonal thing, and I really wish they'd keep selling it year-round.. soba, I love you~

Which piece of sushi tasted best?

The best of the sushi was the eel! I usually love soy sauce shrimp sushi the most, but the eel I ate right after made my eyes go wide. And the uni (sea urchin) sushi that came with it — do I even need to say it? Tada~ here's proof, plate completely cleared.

Why Susi Seon Bangi works as lunch before a KSPO DOME concert

With porridge, salad, and noodles all included, this could be too much food for someone with a smaller appetite. For people like me who can't finish it all, pace yourself through the starters so you can still enjoy the sushi properly! I found this place the day before going to see WayV, and I'm so relieved it was a total success. If you're a fan who wants a simple but filling meal before heading into a concert, I highly recommend stopping by Susi Seon, the beloved spot in the Bangi-dong food alley, for a good lunch first!

Best part — the taxi fare was only about ₩6,000, which beats taking the bus or walking. Let's save the sweating for cheering on the boys.