Jeonpo sashimi restaurant with free mackerel sushi, Busan: Rigo Susan

I was looking for somewhere to eat dinner in Jeonpo-dong and ended up craving sashimi, so I went to Rigo Susan Jeonpo Station Main Branch.

Jeonpo-dong has so many restaurants and bars that it's always hard to pick one. This time I went looking for a place where I could eat sashimi alongside a bunch of other dishes.

Rigo Susan Jeonpo Station Main Branch: location, hours and parking

Rigo Susan is located at 13 Jeonpodae-ro 216beon-gil, 1st floor, Busanjin-gu, Busan. It's open Sunday through Thursday from 17:00 to 01:00 (last order 00:00), and Friday/Saturday from 17:00 to 02:00 (last order 01:00), with no closed days. There's no dedicated parking lot.

It's fairly close to Jeonpo Station, so it's an easy spot to reach by public transit. From outside, the blue sign with 'Rigo Susan' written in big letters made it easy to spot.

What is the restaurant like inside?

Walking into Rigo Susan, the space was bigger than I expected. There were several tables, and net decorations on the walls gave it that classic sashimi-restaurant feel.

Overall it was neat and tidy, and it looked like a good spot for dinner with friends or for a few drinks with sashimi.

Rigo Susan menu and prices

Looking over the menu, there was more than just sashimi — raw shrimp, sea squirt, live octopus, mackerel sushi rolls and more. For the signature menu items, at the small (소) size:

• Aged live-fish mixed sashimi platter — ₩49,000
• Live raw shrimp set — ₩49,000
• Gizzard shad sashimi set — ₩49,000

Those were the highlights, and going through the menu further,

there were plenty of options like mixed sashimi, raw shrimp, and mackerel sushi rolls.

We ended up ordering the small mixed sashimi platter. Since this is the kind of place where you can eat lots of dishes alongside the sashimi, it was fun just browsing the menu.

The side dishes that come as standard

After a short wait, the dishes started arriving one by one. There were more complimentary starters at Rigo Susan than I expected.

From simple nibbles to fried food, noodles, tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes) with corn cheese — all good things to pick at while waiting for the sashimi.

With so much to nibble before the main sashimi arrived, the wait didn't feel long at all.

There were so many dishes to pair with the sashimi that I'd say this would also work well for folks coming just for drinks and snacks.

What is in the small mixed sashimi platter, and how does it taste?

Finally, the mixed sashimi platter (small) we ordered arrived. It was beautifully arranged on a single plate.

It included salmon along with white-fleshed fish and reddish fish — several varieties in one platter.

The sashimi was arranged neatly, which made it great for photos too.

We picked pieces one at a time and ate them with wasabi. The salmon was soft and mild, while the white-fleshed fish had a chewier texture. With so many varieties, it was fun comparing them piece by piece. We ate the sashimi alongside all the complimentary starters too.

The complimentary mackerel stick sushi

The mackerel sushi came with mackerel laid over rice.

It was good on its own, but dipped in soy sauce with the accompanying condiments, it was a different kind of enjoyable from the sashimi.

We only expected the mixed sashimi, so getting complimentary sushi on top was a nice surprise.

Spicy fish stew: a 5,000 won add-on

After sashimi, a spicy fish stew is essential, right? We added the spicy fish stew at Rigo Susan for ₩5,000.

The spicy broth had tofu and vegetables in it, and it was a nice warm way to finish after all the sashimi. The broth was spicy enough to go well with rice, and worked fine as a drinking snack too.

Personally, I feel like a sashimi meal isn't complete without finishing with fish stew, so we ordered it. That said, some places include the stew automatically with a mixed sashimi order, so it's worth noting that here it's a separate ₩5,000 add-on.

Of course, if you really want that broth after your sashimi, adding it on is well worth it.

Is Rigo Susan worth a visit?

• Close to Jeonpo Station, easy to find
• Clean interior with plenty of tables
• Mixed sashimi comes with a wide range of complimentary starters
• The small mixed sashimi platter includes several types of fish
• Complimentary mackerel sushi was a nice extra
• Spicy fish stew is a ₩5,000 add-on
• No dedicated parking lot, so plan parking separately if driving

If you're in Jeonpo-dong craving sashimi and want a place where you can eat a mixed platter alongside lots of other dishes, this is worth a visit.

Between the complimentary starters, the mixed sashimi, the bonus mackerel sushi, and the fish stew, we left pretty full and satisfied. :)

※ Menu items and hours may change, so it's a good idea to check before visiting.