김수사 – Kim Soosa (Gangnam Gu – Sinsa Dong)

This Japanese sushi establishment has been around since 1986. It’s an institution. The sushi counter only has 6 seats. This place has been in the same location since 1986. I am sure that they have renovated the restaurant but the focus here is more table and room service than counter. When I tried to make reservations, they tried to push me to a private room. I said that I wanted to sit at the sushi bar / counter or kaunta seki as they say in Japanese

You are not coming here for the ambience. You come here for the food and only food. Since the counter is so tight and small, I wouldn’t recommend coming here for counter omakase service with more than 3 people.

Eating the same KRW 90,000 sashimi omakase menu in the room vs. sushi counter is a night and day experience. No question. Eat at the kaunta seki.

Naver Store Info
Sign on door says that they have been open since 1986
Father and son team. Son has taken over the operations.
The son (owner-chef) is on the left. Doesn’t have the full head of hair anymore.
The rice porridge with abalone intestine.
Some vinegar seaweed with ma (mountain yam)
Somewhat surprised to see this come out so early in the meal – i.e., one of the first dishes. It’s usually served near the end at most places but then again there’s no official playbook. It’s what the chef wants to do.
It’s a tight kaunta seki – only 6 seats and a cozy fit. This restaurant is not focused on the omakase at the counter as most of the seats are tables and rooms.
Rice is provided to eat with the sashimi pieces that come out.
The fluke of 광어. 100% of the time at all omakases in Korea this is the first piece served – it’s tasteless and generally adored for its texture. It’s good that it is first so that I can get this piece of out of the way and move on to the good stuff.
I forgot what those black squirly things are.
Hamachi (it’s not yellowtail) with two types of salt to be dipped with – black and pink Himalayan
An aged, cured sashimi
Two types of tuna – the back and the belly (toro)
Pickled cucumber
The rest of the sashimi course
Now on to the sushi portion of the KRW 90,000 omakase course.
Crab meat sushi. Delicious. Wasn’t expecting it to be so good.
Uni on top of more crab meat
The spicy fish 매운탕 (soup). A nice Korean touch to conclude the meal.
As you are sitting at the sushi counter, you see the sushi chef preparing the same meal that you are eating for the rooms and tables. As you can you see, it’s a massive and impressive display of sashimi. However, my preference is to eat at the sushi counter.
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