Okawa Sushi

오가와 (おがわ) - Okawa Sushi

B1F 서울특별시 종로구 당주동 5 (새문안로5길 19)

5 Dangju-dong,

Jongno-gu, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

google map// naver map

+822 735 1001

Lunch: 11 AM or 1 PM

Dinner: 6:00PM or 8:00PM

(Always call to reserve) 

Lunch Set: 40,000 WON 

Dinner Set: 60,000 WON 

Drinks: Beer, Sake, Soju etc. (we went for sake - which came in a big glass! I thin it was around 5,000won - 7,000won) 

This tiny place is literally 5 min walk from my house that I wish that it was cheap enough to be my 'go to sushi place' but sadly a little too price-y for me to be a regular... However, I've completely stopped eating crap sushi (whether for lunch or dinner) just so that once in a while when the occasion comes along to impress someone with lunch/dinner... I immediately take the initiative to make the booking before it gets full.

I'm sure there will are couple (not plenty) of other places in Seoul where you can find just as high quality (and maybe MAYBE even better) sushi... but definitely not a this price level! You are fed with so much sushi (good sushi that is) that you leave the restaurant not regretting a single WON you have just spent on the meal. It is truly a bargain for the quality and most of all (my favourite actually) the overall atmosphere and experience... It's just one of those few restaurants you can truly have a 'special' and 'intimate' dinner with friends or family without having to worry about whether you are wearing the right clothes, with the right people, holding your utensils correctly or not.. And most of all not be hurried to finish your food at a ridiculous rate and move to the next destination!

In other words it's simply DIVINE! 

The set lunch starts with porridge, small portion of salad and miso soup and as you watch in absolute awe (I never stop being impressed) your chef begins preparing your lunch right in front of you.

How can you NOT get excited when there's this happening?

He lays each sushi one at a time carefully explaining each dish and how it was prepared and how it should be eaten.

I always ask if I can have close-to-nothing rice as I realize many times that there is absolutely no way for me to finish the whole lunch set otherwise... (and i'd rather give up the rice to eat MORE sushi)

We also ordered glasses of sake for each of us and it was actually really nice and went well with the cold sushi. We had initially thought that it was flower petals floating on top of the sake but we quickly realised that they were dried fish fins that gave the sake the slightest fishy-flavour, which surprisingly was not ghastly or weird!

My brother was impressed :P

After what feels like an endless servings of so many different types of fish (you start loosing track of how many you ate!) Final serving of warm udon that I personally find so so delicious and wish that I had a bigger stomach to finish.... and then voila~ you are done! 

I keep on finding myself returning to this same place over and over again despite my usual habit of never settling on one restaurant.. I know whenever I go and whoever I go with.. the experience will as marvellous (if not better) than last time... and that in a fast paced and rapidly changing city like Seoul is something that should be cherished.