Lunch kaisendon with fatty tuna belly near Jongak Station: Suksseong

Went for lunch in Jongno today and ended up at Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch.

This place is usually known as a dinner spot for aged sashimi, but wait, they have a lunch menu too? A kaisendon (sashimi rice bowl) made by an aged sashimi specialist — figured the sashimi quality had to be good, so I just went for it.

Bottom line first: the "special kaisendon" set was insane !!!! Let's get into it.

Location and hours of Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch

Address: 3F, 16 Samil-daero 19-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–24:00 / Sat–Sun 12:00–24:00 (last order 23:00)

It's 285m from Jongak Station Exit 4, so easy to reach on foot.

The sign has a cute bear catching a fish. Isn't that adorable? Some kind of hunting concept going on, and the bear was pretty fun.

FYI, it's on the 3rd floor, so it's easier if you check what's on the 1st floor before you go. I have zero sense of direction and just walked straight past it lol.

See the Emperor Meat Restaurant on the 1st floor? It's above that, on the 3rd floor. Head toward Audition Noraebang on the left and go into the building.

An aging fridge and private seating

Made it up to the 3rd floor, huffing and puffing. The first thing you see is a pink glow.

That was the aging fridge. Places that show this off are always delicious, so I already felt like the taste was guaranteed.

The restaurant is mostly private rooms or booths with dividers. The space is well separated, so it seemed like a great spot for a gathering with a group! And you get plenty of room at the table too.

Isn't the seating really spacious? Being separated from the outside made it feel so private and calming.

I also saw fresh fish on the way in, and they were huge — surprised me. Can't believe fish that big are sitting right in the middle of Seoul, wow.

What we ordered for lunch and the prices

After being seated, you order through the tablet on the table. The aging method was explained kindly, and the lunch menu was well laid out, so ordering was easy. Here's what we ordered ~

• Special kaisendon ₩34,000 *2 orders
• Sprite ₩2,000

We ordered two of the lunch special kaisendon and a cold Sprite to go with it.

There was some kind of namul (seasoned vegetable) side dish that was clean and nutty, really tasty, and a whole mountain of baek-kimchi (white kimchi), which I love eating with sashimi. Any place that gives you sashimi with baek-kimchi is basically winning, tbh.

Let me take a cold sip of Sprite first.

And they also brought an egg yolk to pop on top of the kaisendon, which is next-level delicious.

You can mix it with soy sauce and the yolk to make a tasty sauce.

Oh, the lunch menu is really well put together, worth checking out.

How was the special kaisendon set?

It didn't take long before the special kaisendon arrived, and honestly, I let out a "wow..." sound. Such a hearty, solid composition. Not a single fish or ingredient in the mix felt like a throwaway.

There was also soft tofu topped with green peas and something like a nutty sesame dressing, and the portion of soft tofu was huge.

I'm obsessed with anything nutty, so having my favorite soft tofu and green peas together was so touching, TT. Bonito flakes were on top too, adding even more layers of flavor — loved it.

The lunch menu is already great value, and yet it comes out this generous..

Difference between regular and special kaisendon

There's a ₩9,000 difference from the regular kaisendon — the special version adds seasonal fish and fatty tuna belly. Both are good, but I figured premium cuts would just make it even better, so I went with this one.

The visuals were insane, but more than that — this place specializes in aged sashimi, and you could really tell. The condition of the fish looked and tasted amazing. Eating it piece by piece was genuinely fun.

Taste and texture of the sashimi

With so many seasonal fish varieties, the texture varied a bit piece to piece, but there was zero fishy taste — very clean. I also liked the soft yet chewy texture unique to aged sashimi. There were black eggs on top too, and I thought, wait, is that caviar? Couldn't confirm exactly what kind it was, but I'm guessing caviar — the little pops were fun and it looked great too. Genuinely so good.

And especially the tuna... can't skip that, TT. It melts softly in your mouth and then this nutty flavor rises up right after. I already love tuna's distinct flavor in kaisendon, so this was extra soft and great.

Eating the soft tofu and green peas in between the sashimi bites, everything blended together with zero clash. Insanely nutty.

Funny thing is, there's even fish cake soup on the side. It's got literally everything, the set is insane, and it's still great value ~

The sashimi cuts were really thick and big, so I had to eat them in two bites. Genuinely hard to fit in one bite. But the quality was so good it still cut smoothly and easily.

Even the egg was sweet and delicious, TT TT TT.

Would I come back for lunch in Jongno?

Overall, the sashimi quality was great and the special kaisendon set was pretty solid! I especially loved mixing the yolk in with the sashimi and rice haha. Next time I want to come back for dinner and try the aged sashimi properly, TT. I think I'll be back here whenever I'm craving kaisendon in Jongno. Highly recommend to everyone !!!! ♥♥