Busanjin bar for sashimi and kushikatsu with friends: 12.24

Today, I met up with a friend and a junior from university for the first time in ages! I met this friend after entering the working world, but it turned out they were a junior in the same school and department as me—what are the odds? Haha, the world really is small.

It had been almost two years since I’d seen them, so we wondered where to go and what to eat. My friend said they wanted sashimi, so we visited 12.24 Seomyeon Branch, a bar in Jeonpo, Busan~

12.24 Seomyeon Branch location and hours

It’s on the first floor at 225 Jeonpo-daero, Busanjin-gu, Busan, and 300 m from Jeonpo Station Exit 7~ There’s no parking lot, so public transportation seems especially convenient for a bar.

It is open every day from 17:00 until 02:00 the following day.

I heard the owner previously worked at the Swissôtel in Osaka. Maybe that’s why there’s a banner with Japanese writing on it.

There are chairs out front too, so you can sit while waiting if there’s a line hehe.

A varied, Japanese-focused menu

There are lots of options, including Japanese dishes such as sashimi, futomaki (thick sushi rolls), and okonomiyaki (savory Japanese pancake), plus soupy dishes and kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers). It is mainly a Japanese menu~

An interior with a Christmas Eve-like atmosphere

The lighting inside is warm, which gives it a cozy feel. The decor is styled with what looks like Christmas wreaths, so it is really giving off a Christmas Eve mood, just like the name hehe.

There are bar tables too, so I think it would be a nice place to drink alone in Jeonpo. A one-person sashimi platter with a glass of sake would be perfect.^^

I took this simply because the bottles arranged in a gradient looked pretty haha. The owner probably put thought into this too, right?

12.24 Seomyeon Branch is running a receipt-review event~ If you write a receipt review and complete the Place save notification, they give you chicken karaage on the house >_<

They also have an Instagram follow-and-story-share event! There’s even a bar-snack prize draw event~!

Complimentary snacks and highballs

The complimentary snacks were corn mayo, cabbage, and sweet potato sticks. I kept reaching for those sweet potato sticks hehe. Total human kibble vibes lol.

I ordered a Suntory highball and my friend ordered a Jim Beam highball. Our other friend had gotten LASEK and said they couldn’t drink. They’re the friend who loves alcohol the most out of us too T_T

A two-person sashimi platter shared by three

Ta-da, here’s the two-person sashimi we ordered. It was ₩35,000. It came with delicious varieties including flounder, sea bream, salmon, tuna, and abalone >_< The selection may vary a little from day to day. There were three pieces of each since there were three of us, so it was perfect for dividing up~

Tako wasabi (octopus with wasabi) filled the middle, and the finely sliced scallions made both the look and the flavor and texture even richer~

The cucumber is acting as a fence haha.

Kushikatsu split into vegetables and meat and seafood

While we were eating sashimi, my friend said they wanted kushikatsu, so we ordered it. The kushikatsu came divided into two sections: vegetables on one side, and meat and seafood on the other.

There were kushikatsu made with all sorts of ingredients, including kabocha squash, zucchini, sweet potato, squid, shrimp, chicken, and fish cake hehe. The ingredients were fresh, and the batter wasn’t overly thick—just wonderfully crisp~

The kushikatsu comes with its own dipping soy sauce, but it was also delicious simply topped with wasabi like this~

Separate restrooms for men and women inside

A lot of bars have restrooms outside these days, but I liked that 12.24 has separate restrooms for men and women inside the restaurant. They were hygienic too~

Next to the restroom, there were hair ties, mouthwash, hand cream, and even deodorizer. The owner seems so thoughtful~