24 Sept 2015 | Seoul, South Korea —

Danny and I didn’t have any concrete plan while we were roaming around Sangbong area one Thursday night. We spotted a branch of Outback, a popular steak house, few Korean cosmetic shops, a tuna restaurant named The One Tuna, hotels, some Korean restaurants, Costco and Enter-6 fashion mall. So, we entered Enter-6 mall which is just across Costco and window shopped a little. We also thought about sashimi for dinner and luckily, we found a Japanese restaurant on the second level of the mall. Unfortunately, they ran out of raw fish. We decided to leave and eat at The One Tuna restaurant, which we saw earlier.

Upon entering, a middle-aged woman assisted us to our seats at the bar counter, and then gave us the menu. Much to our surprise, a meal per person was not lesser than ₩29,000. Oh boy! Telepathic messages were like: “Should we just leave now?” But, she was waiting for our orders and even said “비싸죠? (expensive, right?)”. Our facial expressions must have been very obvious. Alas, we opted for the least expensive called ‘business’ meal. Other options were:

• Special — ₩39,000/person
• The One — ₩50,000/person
• The One Loyal — ₩70,000/person
• The One VIP — ₩100,000/person

They also serve high-end alcoholic beverages and that famous green-colored bottle.

For starters, we had a plate of corn with cheese, a bowl of shredded vegetable salad, a small bowl of miso soup and a cup of congee. Onion, pickled radish, ginger, gim (seaweed), vinegared hot pepper paste, sesame oil and soy sauce were also offered. We also had a plate of tuna fillet with mustard and some sweet sauce, a plate of fried potatoes and a plate of grilled tuna. Then, a rectangular plate of raw tuna came, we were shocked how small the portion was for 2 persons.

Danny said,

“Let’s just enjoy this moment. Someday when we have kids, we might not be able to eat at any fancy restaurants anymore.”

So, we did. But when we were about to finish the plate of raw tuna, the chef refilled it with few more slices. We thought maybe it’s for free. haha But, he also refilled to other tables. We kept eating and he kept refilling, too.

Finally, we asked the staff if it was a buffet. She said at a buffet, the customers get their own food freely, but at their restaurant, customers can just sit comfortably while enjoying unlimited food. Pretty much the same to me, and so, we realized we entered an all-you-can-eat tuna restaurant. That speaks why the orders were priced too high as well. We kept eating ’til we stuffed our stomachs with different cuts of raw fish and we couldn’t believed how full we got. Lastly, they served us kimbab in a cone.

Indeed, Danny and I had a great time at The One Tuna, and I think I’m not gonna crave for tuna anytime soon.

Note: This is based on our honest opinion and personal experience only.

Address: Sangbong-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul

Direction: Sangbong Station (Seoul Subway Line 7 / Gyeonggi Jungang and Gyeongchun Line), Exit 8.