Banshaku Yeongdeungpo Omakase Izakaya Review

Hello, this is Jingnine. This time I am introducing an omakase place that left me very satisfied.

Banshaku, 1F Forest Hill City, 12 Yeongjung-ro 6-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul Open daily 16:00-01:00, last order 00:00 Parking unavailable at the restaurant, which is understandable in the food alley but still a little disappointing. From Yeongdeungpo Station, when you see Kumkang Shoes, enter the alley and go straight. It is about a five-minute walk from the station.

Parking tip

I came by car, so I needed parking. If you turn right with Kumkang Shoes beside you, there is a small private parking lot at the first intersection, the place the writer marked with a circle. It costs KRW 2,000 for 30 minutes, which the writer felt was not bad for Seoul and for a private lot. We stayed a little over an hour and paid KRW 5,000. When you get out of the car, you can see the restaurant, and it is about a ten-second walk. Public transportation is convenient, but drivers can use this as a reference.

Finally, a shot of Banshaku's entrance. It has a strong Japanese izakaya feeling. There are two entrances, but they are right next to each other, so you can enter either one. The writer thinks they may have expanded next door because it is popular. I visited after reserving through Catch Table.

When reserving through Catch Table, you pay a KRW 20,000 deposit, and they deduct that amount when you pay after the visit.

We ordered the Banshaku omakase for two people at KRW 79,000.

After ordering, I looked around the interior. We went at 7 p.m. on a weekday, and the left-side building had many people, so we entered the right-side building. There was no one there at first, so I took a photo. On weekends, there seemed to be waiting and more people. By the time we left, only one or two seats were left and the rest were full, so the writer recommends reserving ahead.

The center of the shop was surrounded by counter seating, and you could clearly see the skewers being grilled. Because that would naturally make them pay more attention to hygiene, it felt reassuring.

Here are menu photos. We brought a car, so we could not drink, but the alcohol selection looked huge. There were many sake options, and the overall prices seemed decent to the writer. If I revisit, I want to try it with sake.

After ordering, they brought corn and seasoned pickled radish. The corn was probably a service item or basic snack. It seemed to be mixed with mayonnaise or butter, and it was subtly sweet and tasty.

The first main menu arrived. Although it is called omakase, the food came out over five rounds. This first tray included mochiri tofu, two pieces of sushi, futomaki, smoked Spanish mackerel sashimi, and steamed abalone in sake.

The mochiri tofu was the cleanest and tastiest I have tried. The abalone was chewy and interesting when dipped in the liver sauce. The writer's favorite was the gamtae sushi topped with uni. One slight disappointment was that, even though it was an omakase-style meal, the sushi came without explanation of which fish it was, so I did not know exactly what I was eating. It was still good.

The second round was three kinds of yakitori. Other reviews suggest the lineup changes, and we received bacon tomato roll, heart, and what was probably chicken cartilage. Because there was no explanation, the cartilage was my guess. The grilling was right, and the cabbage underneath was tossed with sauce, so it was good too.

Next was shrimp tempura. The tempura also seemed to change depending on the day. The shrimp tempura itself was good but not unusual; the sauce was the standout. The tartar sauce had bacon and flying fish roe, so when I bit into the shrimp, the roe popped nicely.

Next was assorted sashimi. All the sashimi pieces were thick, fresh, and tasty, but again there was no explanation. I ate without knowing exactly what was what. I could only guess sweet shrimp, tuna, squid, and mackerel or something similar.

After the sashimi, ramen came out. It tasted like the Japanese ramen I usually know. They said the broth was made with chicken, and it was clean and good. For my taste it was average because the single piece of chashu was very dry. The broth was clean, the egg was nicely soft-boiled, and the noodles were good, but the chashu was disappointing. Other than that, everything was fine. The omakase ended with the ramen. Overall, Banshaku in Yeongdeungpo was a satisfying izakaya. The writer recommends it for people looking for a good-value omakase or izakaya in Yeongdeungpo. If I get the chance, I want to go back and try it with sake. #Jingnine #YeongdeungpoOmakase #YeongdeungpoIzakaya #RestaurantRecommendation #IzakayaRecommendation #YeongdeungpoRestaurant #YeongdeungpoSashimi