Sushi Jakuwa in Anyang Ilbeonga: Room Izakaya & Sashimi

Today I visited Jakuwa, a private-room izakaya in Anyang Ilbeonga, also known as Anyang 1st Street. It has been around since I was young, so it felt familiar, and going back after a long time made it even nicer. When I’m looking for a good room-style drinking spot in Anyang Ilbeonga, I always seem to end up at Jakuwa.

The location is on the 2nd floor of the Norizone building in Anyang Ilbeonga. Lately, Anyang Ilbeonga seems to be coming back to life. A lot of claw-machine rooms have appeared, and new shops have moved into spaces that used to be empty, so the area feels more energetic again. I used to go out to Beomgye because Ilbeonga didn’t feel that fun, but now I think I should come here more often.

Opening hours: 17:00-03:00 Last order: 01:30 Saturday: 16:00-04:00 Last order: 02:30 On Friday, it opens at the same time as weekdays and closes at the same time as Saturday. Maybe because Friday and Saturday are the hot nights here, it really feels like a popular spot. It also seems like many well-known people have visited, because there were so many signatures at the entrance.

One side of the wall was decorated with a very Japanese-style mood, and I spent quite a while looking around. Part of the fun of visiting an izakaya is noticing details like this, and Jakuwa had plenty to see.

The inside of Jakuwa was much larger than I expected. It even took me a little while to find the restroom. Along both sides of the long corridor, the seating is set up in private-room style.

There are rooms in different sizes, from larger rooms to smaller ones. The atmosphere is not too bright, and the warm mood makes it comfortable for having drinks.

This side also has a group room and floor seating tables. The floor seating area has a small garden feature beside it, which gives it a really nice atmosphere.

Assorted sashimi Seafood jjamppong ramen Chamisul

If you come to Jakuwa, sushi or sashimi feels like the obvious choice. I ordered sashimi to go with soju. At first I wondered if the price range was a little high, but after eating it, I was satisfied. I ordered after checking the assortment, and it came out exactly as shown.

The basic side dish was mochiri dofu. It had a bouncy texture with both nutty and sweet flavors, and it tasted even better with the black sesame sauce. A drinking spot that serves mochiri dofu as a basic side dish is rare and precious.

The sashimi passed the visual test right away. The lighting probably helped, but even while eating, the fish felt fresh. The pieces were thick and clean, making them perfect as a drinking snack. The variety was good too, and it was exactly the kind of assorted sashimi I had wanted.

And then there was Chunsik, which completely stole my heart. If you go to Jakuwa, Chunsik pours your drink for you. Isn’t that the best? It is a Chunsik soju dispenser. I’m not sure whether you receive it by asking or whether they give it to everyone, but when we simply ordered soju, the owner set up Chunsik together with it. The owner understood my taste perfectly.

You place the soju into a cooler insulated tumbler that keeps it chilled for about an hour. It also uses aerating technology to add oxygen to the soju and improve the taste. Drinking it this way kept even the last glass really cold, and somehow the soju felt more refreshing too. Sashimi and aerated soju were a perfect match.

The abalone came whole, not sliced. The hanchi squid had an amazing chewy texture.

I ate the tuna with radish sprouts and uni on top, and it was a heavenly combination. I think uni tastes best when it is eaten with a piece of sashimi and radish sprouts rather than on its own. I usually cannot eat uni if there is even a slight fishy taste, but Jakuwa’s uni was not fishy and tasted good.

As we kept eating, I started craving a spicy soup, so we ordered one seafood ramen. I thought it took a little while for the food to come out, but the broth was not just ordinary ramen broth. It tasted like seafood had been simmered into it, with a bit of a Nagasaki-style flavor, and I thought, this is real seafood ramen. It was generous inside, with plenty of seafood, mushrooms, and bean sprouts. In particular, there were cube-shaped pieces of king oyster mushroom inside, and they were incredible. The texture was so chewy that at first I wondered whether it was really mushroom.

This was the cheese garlic shrimp flame-seared sushi. On Jakuwa’s Naver coupon list, there are a discount coupon, a commemorative photo coupon, and a sushi coupon. I could not use the discount coupon because the spending amount was not enough, but the sushi coupon can be received after turning on notifications and leaving a receipt review. That is how we received this sushi, and it was so good that I almost ordered more, but I was genuinely too full. It had chewy shrimp with cheese on top, and then a torched smoky flavor over it. It felt like they also put care into the service dishes.

This was the powder room inside the women’s restroom. Seeing how carefully even details like this were prepared made me feel that the place has good food, good service, and a good sense for little touches. If you are looking for a private-room izakaya, a room-style bar, or a sashimi spot in Anyang Ilbeonga, I highly recommend Jakuwa.