Nampo-dong Japanese restaurant, Busan: 800-day course at Ppong Sashimi

Today my boyfriend and I went to Nampo-dong to eat something a little different in honor of our 800-day anniversary, haha. This time we visited Ppong Sashimi (뽕사시미)!

Rather than a place where you just order sashimi or tuna as a single dish, this is somewhere you can enjoy a whole course — sushi, sashimi, tuna, grilled dishes, tempura, and a rice dish — so it seemed like a great fit for anniversaries or meals with your parents. Since every single seat is a private room, I'd also recommend it to anyone looking for a Busan restaurant for meeting a partner's parents, or a quiet spot for a family gathering.

Ppong Sashimi course menu and prices

What we ordered that day was the Ppong Sashimi assorted sashimi course at ₩60,000 per person! Looking at the menu, there were more options than I expected — sushi, a bluefin tuna belly set, omakase, and more.

So if you're looking for a course meal in Nampo-dong, Busan, this place seemed good to choose from depending on your budget or what you're in the mood for!!

Signed notes covering the Ppong Sashimi entrance

Looking at the entrance of Ppong Sashimi, it was covered in signatures from visitors. I couldn't help but check them out one by one, wondering who'd been there, haha.

They also had a baby chair ready!! Since the seating is all private rooms, it seemed like a comfortable place for a family meal too, with less need to worry about the people around you.

Why all-private-room seating was the best part

Personally, this was what I liked most about Ppong Sashimi! Every seat is a private room. We'd made a reservation beforehand, and the table was already neatly set when we arrived.

Since we came for our 800-day anniversary, I wanted somewhere we could talk comfortably just the two of us, rather than a crowded seating area, and the private room really delivered on that. It also seemed like a good option for meeting a partner's parents, a family meal, or a company gathering — any day when you need a slightly quieter space!

The course starts: abalone porridge and shrimp sushi

Once we settled in, the food genuinely kept coming, one dish after another, haha. Abalone porridge, seaweed soup, seasoned shrimp, abalone sashimi, all the way to shrimp sushi!

Normally when you go out for one meal it's hard to try a bunch of different dishes at once, right? What I liked most here was that, being a course, you can taste a little bit of everything. I prefer eating a bit of this and that over one big main dish on a plate, so it was genuinely fun watching what came next, haha. You'd be wondering what's coming next, and then the next plate would already be in front of you, haha.

The assorted sashimi platter arrives

Then came the assorted sashimi! Salmon, flounder, and what looked like rockfish, about three pieces of each. Sharing it as a course between two people meant we could switch between varieties instead of getting tired of just one kind.

So if you're looking for a Japanese restaurant near Jungang-dong Station in Nampo-dong, Busan, and want to eat sashimi, tuna, and a full meal all in one sitting, this place seems like a great fit.

Grilled fish head topped with doenjang (soybean paste)

I thought it would be all sashimi, but then a bossam-style meat dish topped with doenjang (fermented soybean paste) showed up too. It was better than I expected! The savory, salty doenjang paired with the meat gave a nice change of pace in the middle of eating sashimi.

Next up: tuna yukhoe (tuna tartare)

After that, tuna yukhoe (raw tuna tartare) came out too.

This isn't something I usually order on my own, so if it weren't for the course I probably wouldn't have tried it, haha. With new dishes appearing constantly, it really felt like a proper anniversary meal.

I'm glad we came for our 800-day anniversary, haha. It was exactly 800 days for us that day, haha. We usually just eat meat and go to a bar, but sitting in a private room and slowly working through a course felt totally different from our usual dates! If you're thinking, let's actually treat ourselves properly today, this kind of course meal in Nampo-dong, Busan seems like a great choice!!

The tuna course, and how frozen it was

And then, finally, tuna!

The tuna was still a bit frozen, so my teeth got a little cold eating it, ha ha ha. But wrapping it in seaweed made the tuna's rich flavor pair really well, so I preferred eating it that way. Ppong Sashimi also has a separate tuna menu, so if you're looking for a bluefin tuna restaurant near Jungang-dong Station in Nampo-dong, Busan, that's worth checking out too.

How many dishes does the 60,000 won course include?

I thought that was it, but no. It just kept coming and coming, no end in sight. Next up was grilled fish head,

then seasoned abalone with scallops and cheese-grilled shrimp! Early on I was thinking, oh, what's next?, but by this point it was more like, there's still more...?, ha ha ha ha.

Beef and bean sprout soup too

And then a beef and bean sprout soup came out too. The broth itself was on the refreshing side, but with beef in it, the meaty flavor came through pretty strongly. Having a warm soup show up partway through was a good way to reset my palate compared to eating just sashimi and tuna the whole time. But by this point I was genuinely starting to feel way too full.

The shrimp tempura was my favourite dish!!

And the dish that stuck with me most out of everything we ate that day! Shrimp tempura!! But it wasn't the usual smooth batter we're used to seeing — the outside had these super thin, thread-like strands of batter that were incredibly crispy. The texture was really unique. Crunchy on the outside with shrimp inside, and this was, hands down, my favorite dish of the day, ha ha ha!!

Finale: albap (rice with fish roe) and anglerfish soup

And now for the actual final course! Fish roe rice came out along with anglerfish soup. By this point I was already way too full, but the moment I tasted the anglerfish soup broth, I was like, okay, I have to eat this. The broth was refreshing and paired well with the closing meal. The fish roe rice, with its popping texture, made for a solid, easygoing finish too.

We just ordered one assorted sashimi course, but it came with an incredible range — porridge, sushi, abalone, sashimi, tuna, yukhoe, grilled dishes, tempura, soup, and fish roe rice. So it seemed like a better fit for people who enjoy sampling a variety of Japanese dishes little by little through a course, rather than focusing on just one or two things!!

Is Ppong Sashimi good for a family gathering or meeting the in-laws?

Above all, Ppong Sashimi having every seat as a private room is definitely a strong point! It was comfortable for our anniversary date, and it also looked like a good option for occasions needing quieter conversation, like meeting a partner's parents, a meal with your own parents, a family gathering, or a work dinner!!

If you're searching for a good omakase spot in Busan like we were, and want a Japanese restaurant with a range of options from omakase to sashimi to tuna courses, give Ppong Sashimi a try too :) For me that day... the shrimp tempura and the closing anglerfish soup were what stuck with me most, ha ha ha.

Ppong Sashimi hours and location

• Mon–Sat 11:30 – 22:00
• Break time 14:30 – 17:00
• Last order 21:00
• Closed every Sunday
• If Monday is a public holiday, it's worth checking before your visit whether they're open the preceding Sunday
• 56 Chungjang-daero 5beon-gil, Jung-gu, Busan (Jungang-dong 4-ga), 1st floor, South Korea