Cheese sushi and guobaorou at a Nowon sushi buffet: Kuu Kuu, Seoul

My husband had a weekday off, so we decided to take our baby out. While looking for somewhere to eat, we settled on Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch, which I'd heard is popular these days for Nowon family gatherings. Kuu Kuu was my nostalgic buffet spot back when I was 20, and it seems like everyone's going back these days. So many memories flooding back.

Where is Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch, and where do you park?

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch is located at 247 Nowon-ro, 6th floor, Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The nearest subway station is Hagye Station, and if you're driving, there's underground parking available.

There's plenty of waiting seating too. We came during weekday lunch and got lucky — no wait at all. It seems like weekends and weekday dinners get pretty busy, so a lot of people use Naver reservations or show up right at opening.

90 minutes with a 10-month-old: does Kuu Kuu have high chairs?

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch gives you 90 minutes to eat. Since it's set up well for family gatherings, they do have high chairs, so our 10-month-old could sit comfortably. With around 120 dishes on offer, I was already excited. We'd been happy with the Sangbong branch of Kuu Kuu not long ago too — curious how Nowon would compare!

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch prices and opening hours

Weekday lunch is ₩27,900, weekday dinner is ₩31,900, and weekends/holidays are ₩35,900. Elementary schoolers and preschoolers (36 months and up) have different pricing. Check the photo for rates by time slot and headcount!

Hours: Weekdays 11:00–21:30 / Weekends 11:00–22:00

The entrance to Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch. There's a Catch Table system for busier times too. We came during weekday lunch and it wasn't overly crowded, which made it easy to get around. After being seated and getting the high chair set up, we started exploring the food.

Sushi corner: cheese sushi, sashimi and soy-marinated crab

First, the sushi corner — you can't skip Kuu Kuu without it. You could fill up on sushi alone, but to save room for everything else, we picked carefully.

There were plenty of fresh basic sashimi sushi options, plus lots of eye-catching pieces topped with cheese or other sauces. I'm a cheese lover, so even at conveyor-belt sushi places I always try the cheese-topped ones, and I did the same here, picking a lot of cheese sushi. My husband is more of a purist and mostly went for straightforward sashimi sushi. If you want to eat a lot, his approach is probably smarter, but I just picked whatever I liked.

The sashimi and soy-marinated crab (ganjang gejang) were fresh too. Salmon with onion and sauce on top is so good..! Another one of my personal favorites, different from my husband's.

A salad corner where you pick and choose your own toppings. Looking back at the photos at home, I realized we barely touched the salad..! Our baby got handed a couple pieces of bell pepper and didn't eat them either. If you're watching your health, this is a good one for avoiding blood sugar spikes.

What we ate from the Korean, Chinese and Western lines

Spicy shrimp and guobaorou from the hot food line

Then there's the line covering Western, Korean, and Chinese food beyond sushi. The quality looked good, so everything looked delicious. It was hard to decide what to pick to try as much variety as possible.

The shrimp were spicy and delicious, and the guobaorou (Chinese sweet and sour pork) was great too. My husband and I agreed on this one — our sushi tastes differ, but for other dishes we seemed to be on the same page.

Soup and porridge! I love pumpkin porridge and thought about having some, but got so caught up eating other things that I forgot. Next time, I'll make sure to have some.

Next up, I guess you'd call it the Western corner — pizza and fried foods gathered together. I tried two kinds of pizza, and they were nicely light and tasty. Not too heavy, which made it easy to enjoy at a buffet.

And this! I'd had it at the Kuu Kuu Sangbong branch too — it's filled with soup inside, meant to be eaten with bread. It fills you up fast, but it was delicious.

How does Kuu Kuu Nowon compare with the Sangbong branch?

A great gathering spot for chicken, shrimp, duck, and other meat lovers. Since Sangbong's Kuu Kuu was a Gold tier location, I expected more from it and figured Nowon might fall a bit short — but honestly there wasn't much difference. (Very much my personal opinion.) Maybe it's because I could find all my favorite dishes here too..!

This one just caught my eye, so a quick shot.

Drinks, desserts and unlimited draft beer

A wide variety of drinks. I kept coming back to the classic cola, but the other drinks looked refreshing too. There's a slushie machine as well!

Dessert fruit, bingsu (shaved ice), cake, yogurt and more for a perfect finish. The fruit was kept fresh, which made for a nice way to wrap things up.

And most importantly, the marble ice cream! I went full childhood mode and tried every flavor. Was that melon..? So good!

Also — unlimited draft beer! If I hadn't come with the baby, I probably would've had a drink or two.

Seating and atmosphere inside Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch

There were other diners around so I couldn't get wide shots, but the seating was roomy, and staff kept tidying up around the tables regularly, so everything stayed clean.

Is Kuu Kuu Nowon a good spot for a family gathering?

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch is a great pick for a Nowon family gathering. They offer group rooms and can host birthdays, wedding receptions, first-birthday (dol) parties, and other events. The tables were spacious, so bigger events seem doable too. The menu variety was great, and freshness-sensitive foods like sashimi, sushi, and salad were well managed. Everything else was tasty too, and the value was excellent — especially since we came for weekday lunch. Staff doted on our baby and took good care of us, so we walked away with another great memory.