Izakaya sashimi cake explained dish by dish in Yeonnam-dong: Koma

I was looking for somewhere to have a light drink in Yeonnam-dong in the evening and ended up at Koma, an izakaya that seems to have opened recently 🍶 I hadn't been to Yeonnam-dong in a while and a lot of the old shops have changed into something else! This place has quite a wide menu, from sashimi to charcoal grilling, so it seemed like a good spot for dinner plus drinks.

Koma Yeonnam location and hours

📍 Location: B1, 55-6 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul 🕒 Hours: Daily 17:00 - 01:00, last order 00:30

If you follow the standing sign and turn down the alley, you'll find izakaya Koma tucked inside a Yeonnam-dong side street.

Interior and seating

When I first walked in, I thought the place looked smaller than expected, but once I went further inside, the space turned out to be quite spacious.

There are booth seats near the entrance and a large table further in that can seat several people together, so it looked good for anything from a two-person visit to a group gathering with friends. The overall vibe is neat and tidy, less heavy or formal than a typical izakaya and more relaxed for a casual drink!!

You order via QR code!! There was also a review event going on. I have to join events like this again.

When I arrived, they gave me a glass of peach shochu as a welcome drink 🍑 With a subtle peach aroma and a sweet taste, it got the night off to a good start.

What is the sashimi cake?

That day I ordered the sashimi cake for two, a highball, and tori ramen. The dish I was most looking forward to was, of course, the sashimi cake! As the name suggests, it's a plate of various sashimi arranged beautifully like a cake. What I loved most was that a staff member explained each piece of sashimi to me directly.

They said the lineup can change a bit day to day, but when I visited it came with mackerel, flounder, sea bream, bluefin tuna, amberjack, monkfish liver, and Spanish mackerel 🐟 With so many varieties, it was fun trying each one, and hearing what fish it was as I ate made it a lot more interesting than just eating sashimi plain.

In particular, the staff explained things like which fish had just been caught or which ingredients came in the day before, so I got the sense that this place really cares about freshness. The sashimi overall was clean and fresh, which made it good for eating slowly alongside a highball 🍸 They also plate the sashimi beautifully, so it made for pretty good photos too.

Review event: truffle potato salad

The truffle potato salad I got through the review event! There's a subtle truffle aroma and the bacon has quite a presence haha

How does the tori ramen taste?

Just like their chicken grilling menu is cooked over charcoal, the chicken on top of the ramen was also grilled chicken 🔥 So compared to a regular ramen, I could pick up a slight smoky flavor from the grilled meat. The broth tasted more familiar than I expected — to me it had a bit of a bone-broth feel. Rather than a thick, heavy ramen, it was a warm, mild broth that went well alongside drinks.

The inside of the restaurant was quite cool that day, and eating a warm broth in a cool space actually made it taste even better 😂 With noodles, broth, and grilled chicken all together, I came in just planning on drinks and snacks and ended up leaving having had a proper meal!

Worth recommending as a Yeonnam-dong izakaya?

Izakaya Koma has a good range of highballs and shochu on top of the sashimi, so it seemed like a solid spot for an evening drink. Another plus is that the place is bigger than it looks, so there's a choice beyond the booth seats you see at the entrance, with tables further inside too!! If you're looking for a newly opened Yeonnam-dong izakaya or want to enjoy fresh sashimi with a light drink, it's worth a visit at least once 🍣 This time I tried the sashimi cake and tori ramen, but next time I'm curious about the charcoal-grilled menu too. Since the menu is fairly varied, it seems like it would be even more fun visiting with a group and ordering a bunch of things to share!