Geumjeong sushi restaurant with thick assorted sushi: Moshi Moshi

A sushi restaurant one minute from Pusan National University’s main gate

While looking for something to eat near Pusan National University, I visited Moshi Moshi PNU Branch (모시모시 부산대점), a great sushi spot just a one-minute walk from the university’s main gate. I was meeting an older friend who has always taken such good care of me and whom I had not seen in ages, so I really wanted to take her somewhere truly delicious—I searched hard and found this place. She said it was better than the sushi she had eaten in Japan, so it was a huge success.

Moshi Moshi PNU Branch

It is open daily from 11:00 to 21:30, with a break from 15:00 to 16:30. There is no break on weekends, and last orders are at 21:00. Parking is available, and group dining and takeout are possible.

A softly lit, warm interior

I had gone to Pusan National University that day and was craving really good sushi, so I stopped by Moshi Moshi, a well-known sushi place nearby. The space has a subtle Korean-restaurant feel, and the lighting was soft rather than overly bright, giving it such a warm, lovely atmosphere. Rather than being noisy, it felt like a comfortable place to sit, chat, and enjoy good food.

The restaurant was really spacious. There were around 11 or 12 tables for four, with plenty of room between them, which I liked. Maybe because I came at the very awkward hour of 5 p.m. on a weekday, but after I took these photos, customers kept coming in.

Moshi Moshi PNU Branch menu and our order

• Udon platter (6 pieces sushi + udon + salad + tofu) 17.5
• Assorted sushi (10 pieces sushi + salad + tofu + soup) 17.0
• Sushi platter (8 pieces sushi + udon + tempura + salad + tofu) 20.9
• Assorted Sushi A, 10 pieces 17.0 / B, 10 pieces 22.0 / C, 10 pieces 27.0
• Omakase, 12 pieces 35.0

They have not only sushi but also courses and rice bowls, so it seemed like a great place for a delicious meal, a date, or treating your parents.

We wanted to absolutely stuff ourselves with sushi this time, so we ordered Assorted Sushi B, 10 pieces 22.0; Assorted Sushi C, 10 pieces 27.0; and a homemade maesil ade, 4.0.

A set meal delicious from the tofu, salad, and soup onward

Soon after we sat down, the tofu, salad, and soup arrived.

I wondered, why is tofu coming out? But this was really, really… delicious. It did not feel like ordinary tofu—more like 97% sundubu (extra-soft tofu) and 3% tofu. It was unbelievably silky, without tofu’s characteristic beany smell, and it went so well with that generous sauce on top. It was so good I wanted to know exactly what the sauce was… I would revisit just for this tofu.

Ten thick pieces in Assorted Sushi C

Mine was Assorted Sushi C, 10 pieces 27.0. The bowl looks large in the photo, but the sushi itself was big enough to fill a bite and was very thickly cut.

It included 2 pieces of flounder, 1 flounder fin, 2 salmon, 1 tuna kamadoro, 1 soy-marinated shrimp, 1 eel, 1 abalone, and 1 yukhoe gunkan topped with Korean-style raw beef. Altogether, the 10 pieces let me try a wide variety of sushi at once.

The flounder fin and tuna kamadoro were my favorites in particular. If they did not use large flounder, the fin would not be this big and thick. The flounder fin was wonderfully thick, crisp, and nutty.

Tuna kamadoro is the most heavily marbled, richly fatty cut of tuna, so it is really expensive. I piled on a huge amount of wasabi and took a bite… it was just so delicious. It melted away softly in my mouth, and it was almost sad that it disappeared so quickly.

And it was not only the sushi that was good here—the side dishes were substantial too, which made it even better. Tempura came with it as well, and the batter was not too thick; it was thin and crisp, making it easy to enjoy without feeling heavy.

Homemade maesil ade made with house-made plum syrup

It would not be an exaggeration to call the homemade maesil ade this restaurant’s secret weapon. Maybe because they use house-made maesil-cheong (Korean green plum syrup), it had the natural sweet-tart flavor of maesil rather than an artificial sweetness. Personally, I am so, so glad we ordered the homemade maesil ade.

A menu for friends, dates, and meals with parents

There are filling, neatly composed set meals and rice bowls for a full meal; sushi sets with premium cuts such as tuna; and courses that are great for treating someone. That makes it a wonderful place for a casual visit with friends, a date, or a meal with your parents. I also loved that the varied menu lets you choose depending on who you are visiting with!

Moshi Moshi, a sushi favorite right in front of Pusan National University, is somewhere I personally want to revisit because the sushi quality was so good and delicious. I kept being surprised as I ate… it is a truly delicious sushi restaurant that can go toe-to-toe with sushi in Japan.