Lunch before an IMAX movie at Hwangje Sushi, Ilsan CGV area

Hello! Has everyone seen The Odyssey? I tried and failed to snag Yongsan IMAX, Yeongdeungpo IMAX... every Seoul IMAX screen basically 🥲 — but then I realized Ilsan CGV has an IMAX theater too, so I booked there instead. Lunch then a movie seemed like perfect timing, so while looking for good restaurants near Ilsan Lake Park, I found sushi spot Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch and paid a visit.

Location and parking at Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch

Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch is a 15-minute walk from Madu Station Exit 4, and you get 1 hour of free parking in the building. It's not tucked inside a shopping complex but right on the main road near a bus stop, close to a BBQ restaurant!

You can also book through Naver Reservation, and even on a Sunday lunchtime there were quite a lot of customers..! Just in case, I'd recommend reserving before you visit. If you set up alerts, they'll even give you shrimp tempura, hehe.

Solo dining bar seats and generous table spacing

There are table seats for 2 or 4 people, plus solo dining bar seats, so people like me who enjoy eating alone can visit comfortably too — a great restaurant near Ilsan Lake Park. The tables were spaced generously as well, so I could eat comfortably!

Drinks and the free corkage window

Besides soju, cheongha, and beer, there's a wide range of drinks like sake and Hwayo, so even though I came for lunch, it seemed like a great spot to enjoy sushi with drinks in the evening too. Oh, and between 5 and 9:30pm, corkage for wine/sake/whiskey is free, one bottle per table!

Complimentary side dishes and abalone porridge

The basic side dishes are cucumber, seaweed, and pickled onion.

Grilled salmon and abalone gut porridge (전복내장죽) also come included. The savory abalone porridge was just the thing to get my appetite going before the sushi(?).

What you can grab at the self-serve bar

Kids' tableware, small plates, soup stock, scissors, toothpicks, pickled radish, and shichimi pepper are all available at the self-serve bar. I'm the type who likes thin-cut pickled radish even at sushi places, so I was happy it was there, haha.

Pickled shallots and ginger are already set at your table.

What's in the ₩25,000 VIP Sushi set

Hehe, my order — the VIP Sushi set (₩25,000) — came with 2 pieces of sea bream, flounder, seasonal live fish, 2 pieces of salmon, akami (lean tuna), medakami (fatty tuna belly), abalone, grilled red shrimp, grilled beef, and grilled freshwater eel. They say it's the menu that packs in just the most popular pieces of sushi.

Mini udon and croquette come with dine-in orders too, haha. It was a cheese-potato croquette(?), crispy outside and soft inside!

Aged fish flavor and abalone gut sushi

My boyfriend said the sea bream was the best, haha. The salmon had no fishy taste at all — since they source ingredients fresh each day and hand-age them, you could really taste that distinct aged-fish flavor.

And then there was the abalone sushi topped with abalone gut sauce, haha. With the gut sauce on top, the abalone had this savory, umami-rich boost — I really enjoyed this one too, haha.

Whether you're headed to Ilsan CGV like me, or out for a walk around the lake park and craving good sushi, Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch was a great place to visit. The variety of sushi is wide and the complimentary dishes are generous, so it works well both for lunch and for drinks with sushi in the evening. If you've been looking for a good sushi restaurant near Ilsan Lake Park, or a place to eat before or after a movie at Ilsan CGV, Hwangje Sushi Ilsan Main Branch is well worth a visit 🍣🤍