Yangsan sushi restaurant lunch and a ₩30,000 review prize: Shirokuma

While looking for good sushi in Yangsan, I stumbled onto this place called Shirokuma (시로쿠마) — and let me tell you how good it was ~

Where Shirokuma is, its hours and parking

Shirokuma is at 11-5 1F Hwahap 4-gil, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, near Daehak Pharmacy in the Beomeo housing district. It's open 11:30am–9pm with a break time from 2:30 to 5:30pm (closed on Chuseok holiday itself). For parking, you can use the spots in front of the shop, the street, or the Hwangsan Village public lot.

The lot in front was full, so we parked in front of a nearby bar that doesn't open during the day and walked in (there were 2 spots in front of the shop and 2 more beside it).

They say Shirokuma uses their own special vinegar for the rice and cooks it with Koshihikari rice. I've had Koshihikari rice before and the flavor really is different… 🫢 Even just looking at the menu board outside the shop, it already looked like it'd be delicious!

Do you need a reservation at Shirokuma? Waiting and seating

I'd recommend booking ahead at Shirokuma, either by phone or through CatchTable. I called ahead and got seated right away with no wait, but there were still two parties waiting in the waiting area (and apparently that's still considered a short wait here).

There are room-style seats and 6 tables in total.

The doors don't fully close, but if you want a slightly more private meal, I'd recommend booking one of the booth tables with partitions!

There's an indoor waiting area too, so you don't have to wait outside — so convenient! Especially in summer or winter, waiting outside is such a pain,, kudos to the owner for thinking of this ( ˆ͈̑꒳ˆ͈̑ )੭♡

What the Shirokuma lunch special comes with

Shirokuma's lunch special runs from 11:30am to 2:30pm! The price varied slightly depending on the number and type of sushi pieces. Since it's a lunch special, you get to choose between soba or udon — since it was me and my friend, we ordered two premium 12-piece sushi sets, one soba, and one udon!

After ordering, the basic setting of cabbage salad and miso soup came out first. Did you know eating the salad first helps you gain less weight? So I dug into the cabbage salad with sesame dressing first.

A quick shot of the cute cup 📸 It's the kind of cup I used to see a lot when traveling in Japan, but seeing it at a sushi restaurant made it feel even cuter •• ( ¨̮ )

Pickled radish (rakkyo) and pickled ginger were set out on the side so you could help yourself to as much as you wanted — sushi really does need rakkyo. I think I refilled it like 4 times ㅎ_ㅎ

Just thought the napkins were cute ㅎ Instead of a plain napkin, seeing one with the restaurant's name printed on it just makes me happy for no reason ( ¤̴̶̷̤́ ‧̫̮ ¤̴̶̷̤̀ )

There was a coat hanger for outerwear and a high chair too — with jacket weather coming soon, that hanger will come in handy. If you're looking for a sushi restaurant in Mulgeum that's baby-friendly, this is the place ~

What was in the premium 12-piece sushi set

The premium 12-piece sushi finally arrived. Whoa… I've never seen a lunch-special sushi place this fresh with pieces this big..! Usually lunch specials use pre-made products, but at Shirokuma the slices of fish were thick and generous, so you could really feel the texture as you chewed!

• Flounder
• Salmon
• Silverstripe round herring
• Tuna belly
• Flounder
• Grilled salmon
• Silverstripe round herring
• Cuttlefish
• Beef
• Eggplant sushi
• Garlic shrimp
• Futomaki (thick seaweed roll)

Almost every single piece of sushi had a different sauce on top — I'd never seen a sushi restaurant like this before..!! As shown, they recommend eating the tuna belly and eggplant sushi without soy sauce. Everything was so good.. if I had to pick a favorite.. hmm.. ummm.. I can't choose.. they were all genuinely delicious.. ( ⸍ɞ̴̶̷ ·̫ ɞ̴̶̷⸌ )♡ I really mean it

The futomaki was the size of a plate..🫢 If I were at home I would've stuffed the whole thing in my mouth in one bite, but since I'm a socially responsible woman in my 30s, I tore it apart with chopsticks instead. It's packed with tuna, salmon, sweet egg, fried tofu, crab stick(?), and even tiny fried shrimp! It probably would've tasted even better eaten in one big bite though..? 🥺

Soba or udon — how to taste both

My friend ordered soba and I ordered udon. Since we each got one, we got to try both — so~ nice.

The soba came with little bits of ice floating on top~ Cool~ and salty~ with an amazing depth of flavor.

This one's mine, the udon. The noodles were plump and it had that warm, soothing taste. A bite of sushi, a sip of udon, a bite of sushi, a bite of soba — such an artistic meal, don't you think..? So good.. ♥

Shirokuma's Naver review event: winning 2nd prize, ₩30,000

Shirokuma has a special review event! To join, you pay first. Then, using the receipt from your payment, you write a Naver review ~

Right when you walk into the restaurant you see a prize panel, and they pick one for you! I was hoping for the 5th prize, which was handmade chocolate.. so what did I actually get ~~~~ drumroll drumroll drumroll drumroll

𖤐 2nd prize! 𖤐

I got handed this fancy-looking envelope •• 2nd prize is ₩30,000 …!.!..!.!! Honestly, I've never come across a non-omakase sushi place this delicious and this clearly thought-out, and it's such a shame it's not near my home,, but now that I've won 2nd prize, I guess I have no choice but to make another trip out to Yangsan ( ื▿ ืʃƪ)

What the name Shirokuma means

Shirokuma is Japanese — shiro means white, and kuma means bear — so in English it means "white bear." That's why a white polar bear figurine greeted us right at the entrance. Knowing what the name means makes the place feel even more endearing haha. This was such a satisfying meal at Shirokuma, a sushi restaurant in Mulgeum, Yangsan — I'll definitely be back soon!