Sushi restaurant in Gimhae with a ₩38,000 set for two: Sushi Hwa

My sushi cooldown period finally ended, so I went looking for a new spot — and today's pick is a Gimhae Bonghwang-dong sushi restaurant whose signature dish gives sushi a delicious flame-seared 🔥 finish: 'Sushi Hwa' 🍣🍣🍣!

Where is Sushi Hwa, and where do you park?

Sushi Hwa is at 32, 1F, Gimhae-daero 2315beon-gil, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, right on Bongridan-gil near Bonghwang Station (light rail). It's in front of the Bongridan-gil café Seobu Roasters, so keep an eye out for the orange sign 🤗 For parking, use the nearby public parking lots or park in the alley!

Inside Sushi Hwa: counter seats for solo diners to 6-person tables

Here's the inside of Sushi Hwa ✨ It's laid out with two 6-person tables, four 4-person tables, two 2-person tables, and counter seats that are great for solo dining. The clean, tidy interior works well for a date or a family outing too.

Sushi Hwa's menu and what the set for two costs

Here's Sushi Hwa's menu ✨ There's a range of sushi set menus, the signature flame-seared sushi, sashimi, rice bowls, and various other Japanese dishes to pick from depending on what you're in the mood for 👍🏻

We ordered the Sushi Hwa flame-seared sushi set for two (₩38,000) — 27 pieces of flame-seared sushi + 2 salads + 1 udon + 1 cold soba! You can choose the sauce on the sushi between garlic sauce and spicy sauce ❗️ We asked for both.

What comes on the tray: pickled radish, shredded ginger, cabbage salad

Each person's tray comes neatly set with the basics ✨ I chose cold soba, and my companion went with udon ❗️

The sushi essentials — tangy pickled radish (rakkyo) and sharp shredded ginger — are set out, along with a sweet-and-sour cabbage salad to keep the blood sugar spike in check 😅

What's in the 27-piece flame-seared sushi set, and how it tastes

Sushi Hwa's flame-seared sushi let us try a wide variety of ingredients — salmon, shrimp, beef, scallop, squid, egg, fried tofu, and more. It's lightly seared with a torch, and the whiff of char that hits your nose really gets your appetite going 🤤🔥

Sushi Hwa's sushi comes without wasabi by default ❗️ I liked being able to adjust fresh wasabi to my own taste. I mixed fresh wasabi into my soy sauce for dipping.

Lightly searing the surface of each piece infuses it with a savory charred (aburi) aroma 🔥, and the melted fat seems to intensify that savoriness even more. The outside is lightly cooked, either crisp or soft, while the inside keeps the moist texture of raw fish, so you get a range of textures and flavors in one bite. I also really appreciated that the sushi rice (shari) portion was small 😍 The salmon, seared shrimp, beef, and scallop pieces were coated in the garlic sauce or the special spicy sauce, bursting with umami 👍 The egg sushi added a savory char to fluffy, sweet rolled egg for double the umami, and the moist fried tofu sushi was sweet and tangy — a great one to finish on 😉

Eating it alongside the udon, cold soba, and salad kept things from feeling heavy all the way through. Thanks for the meal today 🙇🏻‍♀️

Who should eat flame-seared sushi at Sushi Hwa?

A quick verdict

The appeal of Sushi Hwa's flame-seared sushi is that crisp-outside, soft-inside texture 🫠 The salty, savory special sauce soaks in, so the more you chew, the more flavor comes through — it has a charm all its own, different from regular sushi ❗️ It's an easy pick for people who aren't great with raw fish, or kids who dislike a fishy taste, and the udon and cold soba were excellent quality even as standalone dishes 👍🏻 If you want to try flame-seared sushi packed with smoky char 🔥, I recommend 'Sushi Hwa' 🍣🍣🍣, a Gimhae Bongridan-gil favorite.