Seongnam sashimi restaurant with live octopus beef tartare: Haeseon

I’d been craving aged sashimi so badly lately, and thanks to a great opportunity I got to visit Haeseon, a fantastic aged-sashimi spot near Sunae Station. This is seriously a lifetime favorite sashimi restaurant for me~😍

Haeseon 🥢

This place keeps things beautifully simple with just one menu: an aged sashimi course for ₩40,000 per person.

When I arrived, the well-maintained fish tank immediately caught my eye. The chalkboard also clearly listed that day’s course, so it was convenient to check it before walking in.

Once you open the door, it’s a cozy sashimi restaurant, but the high ceiling along the floor-to-ceiling windows makes it feel airy and open rather than cramped. The split-level layout and soft wood lighting create a neat, modern yet comfortable atmosphere—just right for lingering over drinks.

₩40,000 aged sashimi course per person

Aged sashimi course 🐠 ₩40,000 per person

Beef porridge, soup, and fresh sea squirt to wake up the appetite

After telling them our party size and taking our seats, warm beef-and-vegetable porridge and miso soup were set down first.

I love sea squirt so much that I was focused on that and put the porridge and soup aside—but the beef porridge made my eyes go wide! It was so delicious, honestly. I don’t think I’ve ever been this impressed while eating porridge.😁

Springy assorted aged sashimi

Next came the star of the meal, the assorted aged sashimi. The moment it landed on the table, the generous thickness of the slices really drew my attention. Since the fish is prepared and aged fresh each day, it had that wonderfully chewy, springy texture that clings to your palate all the way through.

There was thick-cut flounder, sea bream that became nuttier the more I chewed, chewy rockfish, and rich, fatty flounder fin meat—such a satisfying spread~

I started with the lightly pink sea bream, and its savory flavor was so good—springy but softly tender as I chewed~😍 The flounder had that lovely palate-clinging taste, and the rockfish had such a nice chew~ I could even hear someone at the next table saying, “The sashimi is really good~”😁

Grilled sea bream head and corn cheese

While we were enjoying the sashimi, golden grilled sea bream head and corn cheese arrived too~~ The table became so abundant, right?🥰

Even though it was the head, there was so much flesh that I could lift off big pieces with my chopsticks. It was my first time trying grilled sea bream head, and the skin was nutty while the flesh was moist—a perfect little delicacy to pick at between bites of sashimi.

Live octopus beef tartare that felt specialist-level

The live octopus yukhoe tangtangi—beef tartare mixed with chopped live octopus—that came next was truly beyond expectations!!! The beef tartare was unbelievably, unbelievably good!!

Normally, you mix the live octopus and beef tartare together to eat yukhoe tangtangi, right? But the beef tartare was so good that I ate it separately because I wanted to taste it properly. Truly the best yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) I’ve had so far.👍👍

Crispy fries and fried shrimp

Then came the fried items~ 🍟 (fries and fried shrimp). Aren’t these the kind of fried things you can find anywhere? I thought, “I’ll just have a taste...” But no... why were they this delicious... haha. It was my first time having fries this good too.👍👍 Every dish that arrived surprised me, seriously..😆

The earthenware pot of spicy fish-bone stew we finished to the last drop

The course ends with seodeori maeuntang, a spicy fish-bone stew, in an earthenware pot. To be honest, I’m not usually much of a maeuntang person, so I took a bite without expecting much—but how could the broth be this clean, refreshing, and warmly spicy?~😍😍 I ended up asking for a bowl of rice and completely emptied the pot.😆

Haeseon aged sashimi course: final thoughts

The well-kept fish tank and the information sign at the entrance already inspired trust, but I was so satisfied with the quality and flavor of every single dish. The staff serving us were kind too, so we could relax and enjoy the entire meal. For ₩40,000 per person, this was such a substantial course with such good quality that my satisfaction was incredibly high~ 🥰