Gimhae sushi restaurant where a group shares two sets: Sushi Hwa

Lately I've been looking for lunch spots in Gimhae, so I stopped by Bongridan-gil. It's an area packed with everything from cafés to restaurants, great for a lunchtime visit. This time I was craving clean, neat sushi, so I found a sushi restaurant to try.

Where Sushi Hwa is in Bonghwang-dong, and what the room feels like

Sushi Hwa is located in Bonghwang-dong, close to Bongridan-gil, so it was easy to get to and had a relaxed vibe for a lunchtime meal. I especially liked that they had a wide variety of sushi types, so we could pick and choose different menu items.

So this time we decided to share several menu items. We ordered shrimp tempura, a flame-seared sushi (bul-chobap) set, and a raw sushi (saeng-chobap) set, and added one udon and one soba to the sets as well.

Shrimp tempura first

The first thing that came out at Sushi Hwa was the shrimp tempura. Sushi alone can feel a little lacking sometimes, but ordering shrimp tempura as a side made the meal feel much more filling. The crispy batter matched well with the shrimp inside, and it was great to eat alternately with the sushi. Especially after a few pieces of sushi, popping a warm, crunchy piece of shrimp tempura really refreshed my palate.

The flame-seared sushi set: smoky char on every piece

One of the menu items I was most looking forward to that day was the flame-seared sushi set. It has a different appeal from regular raw sushi, so I ordered it alongside — and the smoky char added a whole new way to enjoy sushi. With a hint of char on the surface, the flavor felt much richer than plain raw fish sushi.

How the raw sushi set compares

On the other hand, the raw sushi set was great for enjoying the clean, original flavor of the sushi itself. If the flame-seared set is all about smoky char and depth, the raw set lets you taste the clean flavor of the ingredients — I was glad we ordered both sets together. Rather than sticking to just one type, eating the flame-seared and raw sushi side by side made for a fun comparison.

Is it worth adding udon and soba to a set?

We also added one udon and one soba to the sets. Having a noodle dish like udon or soba alongside sushi makes the meal so much more filling, right? This time we ordered one of each and tried both — it was nice to alternate between the warm broth of the udon and the cool, clean soba.

For lunch especially, I think adding a noodle dish is a good idea rather than just having sushi alone. With sushi, tempura, and noodles all together, the meal felt completely satisfying.

Is Sushi Hwa a good lunch near Bongridan-gil?

A lot of people these days are searching for Bongridan-gil restaurants for lunch in Gimhae, and if you love sushi like I do, Sushi Hwa seems like a place worth visiting at least once. Bongridan-gil itself is a great neighborhood for combining a meal with a café stop, so it's a good spot to set up a lunch meetup too.

If you're looking for Bonghwang-dong restaurants for lunch and want something clean and neat, a sushi restaurant is a good choice. With such a varied menu, you can pick raw or flame-seared sushi depending on your taste, and like we did, ordering separate sets to share lets you taste several types at once — a real advantage.

Personally, I was really satisfied that we ordered both the raw sushi set and the flame-seared sushi set that day. The flavor felt quite different with and without the smoky char, even though it's the same sushi, which made alternating between the two fun. Adding the shrimp tempura on top made the whole menu lineup feel substantial.

If you have a lunch plan in Gimhae or are looking for a place to eat near Bongridan-gil, this might be worth keeping in mind. Sushi lovers often search for Bongridan-gil sushi restaurants, and like we did, ordering both raw and flame-seared sushi together lets you enjoy a variety of flavors.

We had shrimp tempura along with the flame-seared sushi set, raw sushi set, and even udon and soba — ordering several menu items to share made for quite a hearty lunch. Next time I visit Bongridan-gil again, I'd like to try other sushi items too.

If you're deciding on a lunch menu in Bongridan-gil, I'd recommend trying sushi for a clean, filling meal. There are also plenty of cafés nearby afterward, making it a great course to follow up with a cup of coffee.