Gwangalli Waterside Park sashimi on a drive, gonowata wraps: Geumrang

A paradise of side dishes with a Gwangan Bridge view: the full 2-person Subyeon Hansang course at Geumrang near the waterside park!

Where is Geumrang Hoetjip Gwangalli Main Branch?

Geumrang Hoetjip (금랑횟집) Gwangalli Main Branch is on the 6th floor of the Marine Rich building near Gwangalli Waterside Park. Through the window you get a wide, refreshing view of Gwangan Bridge and the blue sea.

(Geumrang is on the 6th floor, everyone^^)

The Gwangan Bridge view and blue sea stretching out beyond the window

I was out for a drive near Gwangalli Waterside Park and finally made it to Geumrang, the famous place that celebrities and Busan locals both vouch for!! Just as I'd heard, the entrance is covered in celebrity signatures, there's a Blue Ribbon certification mark, and the walls are full of visit photos, so you can feel it's a legit spot before you even go in, haha.

What are the atmosphere and seating like at Geumrang?

The inside is clean with roomy table spacing, and there are private rooms too. We reserved ahead, and the moment we sat down at the window seat, the sea view with Gwangan Bridge hit us all at once. I couldn't help but gasp!!

First, you pick your menu right at the table, haha.

What comes with the Subyeon Hansang course for two?

The 2-person Subyeon Hansang spread, laid out until the table legs nearly break

What we ordered was Geumrang's Subyeon Hansang course (for 2)!! The food started coming out one dish after another and filled the table so much that the legs were practically breaking (?), haha.

(My eyes went wide at first, wondering if we could eat all this, haha)

• Octopus
• Sea cucumber
• Sea squirt
• Fish roe
• Spoon worm
• Marinated shrimp
• Tako wasabi (octopus with wasabi)
• Grilled scallops with cheese
• Salmon
• Mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) with buckwheat noodles
• Abalone porridge and seaweed soup
• Kimchi pancake
• Grilled abalone
• Boiled octopus
• Corn cheese
• Sushi
• Premium sashimi platter (sea bass, red seabream, flatfish, sea bream, filefish, flatfish belly)
• Fried corn
• Braised merou
• Grilled flounder
• Roe rice
• Spicy fish stew
• And more

And even more amazing dishes keep coming… haha

It all looked so gorgeous that I couldn't not take photos!

Seafood starter assortment: live octopus, sea cucumber, sea squirt, spoon worm, fish roe

Wriggling live octopus with nutty sesame oil

Sea squirt full of ocean aroma, crunchy sea cucumber, spoon worm and fish roe, a special treat

The seafood starter assortment that came out first in the Subyeon Hansang was freshness itself!! There was nutty, wriggling chopped octopus, sea cucumber with an amazing crunch, bittersweet and fragrant sea squirt, plus fish roe, a real delicacy, and sweet spoon worm. It was a really generous plate!

Peeled marinated shrimp, tako wasabi and cheese-grilled scallops

(Salmon salad and marinated shrimp. The shrimp especially come out fully peeled, haha. Insanely good)

Salty marinated shrimp, sharp tako wasabi, cheese-grilled scallops and tender salmon

On top of that there was the salty marinated shrimp that's a total rice thief, tako wasabi with a kick that whets the appetite, scallops grilled under a generous layer of nutty cheese, and salmon that melts in your mouth. I was so happy, haha.

Mulhoe with buckwheat noodles, abalone porridge, seaweed soup, kimchi pancake

Warm, deep-flavored abalone porridge and seaweed soup, and a crispy kimchi pancake

The side dishes that come standard with Geumrang's Subyeon Hansang were all amazing too. I dropped chewy buckwheat noodles into the sweet, sour and cold mulhoe and slurped it up, and my mouth felt totally refreshed!!

The nutty abalone porridge made with the innards that soothes your stomach, the deeply flavored seaweed soup, and the golden, crispy kimchi pancake were all perfect!

Butter-grilled abalone, boiled octopus, corn cheese, sushi

Butter-scented grilled abalone, tender boiled octopus, sweet and nutty corn cheese, a delicacy of the sashimi restaurant, and cute little sushi

And it doesn't end there: grilled abalone full of nutty butter flavor, chewy yet tender boiled octopus, the sweet corn cheese you can never skip at a sashimi restaurant, and sushi with plump rice grains kept coming, so my chopsticks never got a break, haha. No wonder it's famous as a Gwangalli local favorite, the dishes just keep coming and they're really amazing, haha.

How do you best eat Geumrang's premium sashimi platter?

Geumrang's premium sashimi platter comes on a stone plate with sea bass, red seabream, flatfish, sea bream, filefish and flatfish belly, and the best combo was putting the sashimi on crispy seaweed (gim) and topping it with a little gonowata (sea cucumber innards sauce) before wrapping it up.

The premium sashimi platter, neatly and beautifully arranged on a stone plate

And finally the main event, the premium sashimi platter appeared!! (sea bass, red seabream, flatfish, sea bream, filefish, flatfish belly)

Fresh-tasting sea bass, red seabream, flatfish and sea bream, mild filefish, and richly fatty flatfish belly, all sliced thick!

Geumrang especially serves nutty gonowata (sea cucumber innards sauce) for dipping the sashimi, and the fish is so firm and chewy that dunking it in the gonowata is seriously delicious, ㅠㅠ!!

The best part is putting the sashimi on crispy seaweed, adding a little gonowata and wrapping it all up, haha. The ocean aroma and nuttiness explode and the savory depth is crazy, so "the best" just came out of my mouth on its own!!

Finishing the Subyeon Hansang: fried corn, braised merou, grilled flounder, roe rice and spicy stew

Crispy fried corn, sweet-and-salty braised merou, golden grilled flounder

Popping roe rice and bubbling, spicy fish stew

The warm dishes that come out as you're finishing the sashimi were amazing too! There was fried corn, crispy outside and moist inside, braised merou with sweet seasoning soaked all the way in, and grilled flounder, crisp outside and tender inside! To finish, roe rice that pops in a stone pot and a deep, spicy fish stew settled my stomach, making it a perfect end to the full course, haha.

(Warning: you may be too full to move, haha)

Is Geumrang in Gwangalli worth going back to?

Geumrang is right near the waterside park so the location is great, the Gwangan Bridge view is perfect, and every seafood item was fresh with an enormous lineup, so I came away fully understanding why it's a Gwangalli local favorite that even celebrities visit!

(Blue Ribbon certified restaurant!!!!)

(A few notes for you, haha)

Taste, atmosphere and value, Geumrang has it all, and I recommend it wholeheartedly, haha. Next time my parents visit, I'll definitely bring them back here!!