Gyeongpodae sashimi set with free corn cheese, Gangneung: Samsami-ne

A review of the budget red sea bream yubiki set at Samsami-ne, a sashimi restaurant near Gyeongpodae in Gangneung

Where is Samsami-ne Gyeongpodae Main Branch, and where do you park?

Samsami-ne, a Gangneung favorite, sits right in front of Gyeongpodae, between Sky Bay Gyeongpo Hotel and Seamarq Hotel, between Gyeongpo Beach and Gyeongpo Lake — easy to find. There's a wide public parking lot along the beach right in front of the restaurant, and it's free.

Samsami-ne, a sashimi restaurant in Gangneung, is open from 11:30 AM to 11:00 PM.

You can see fresh fish and seafood being kept in front of the restaurant. There's also a menu board with the lunch specials and popular set menus posted outside, so you can check before going in — nice touch.

What is red sea bream yubiki?

Samsami-ne also serves red sea bream yubiki. Yubiki is a way of quickly cooking just the skin of unskinned fish with hot water and serving it on a plate. It's usually made with bream-type fish, and Samsami-ne uses red sea bream. Red sea bream is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and omega-3s, which are good for preventing arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular and lifestyle diseases. The skin also helps prevent skin aging.

Ocean-view seats and the dining room at Samsami-ne

The ocean view at Samsami-ne in Gangneung is really something. The East Sea outside the window was gorgeous.

The interior seating is also spacious, so it's great for family gatherings or group visits too.

Even the thoughtful aprons made a great first impression.

Samsami-ne menu and value set prices

Here's the menu board at Samsami-ne, a favorite near Gyeongpodae in Gangneung. Samsami-ne offers 2-, 3-, and 4-person sets, so you can order various combinations. There's also an assorted sashimi set, a yubiki sashimi set, and a sashimi-and-snow-crab set. At lunch there are single-person menus too, good for sashimi sushi, mulhoe, or makguksu.

And the best value of all: the budget assorted sashimi set at ₩70,000 and the budget red sea bream yubiki set at ₩80,000. What differs from the regular sets is that these are mulhoe-and-sashimi sets (no seafood platter, no spicy fish stew). I went back and forth between the assorted sashimi and the yubiki, and ordered the red sea bream yubiki since it's only available at Samsami-ne.

Eating the 80,000 won red sea bream yubiki set

Here are the basic side dishes at Samsami-ne, a Gangneung favorite. They set us up with aged kimchi, shrimp, leafy greens for wraps, peppers, garlic, makjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, and vinegared gochujang.

The steamed egg custard came as a complimentary side, and it was better than I expected. Perfect for kids to eat.

Here's the mulhoe included in the set. It was just the right amount for two. Packed with fresh vegetables and a generous amount of sashimi too. The broth has a vinegared gochujang base and is thick, so it's great for mixing with the fish and vegetables.

The ₩80,000 budget red sea bream yubiki set.

Red sea bream yubiki is made by blanching the skin of red sea bream with hot water. Red sea bream is said to be rich in unsaturated fatty acids and omega-3s, good for preventing arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular and lifestyle diseases. The blanched skin is chewy, and the skin also helps prevent skin aging.

They also gave us a seasoned vegetable mix, which was even tastier wrapped up with the sashimi.

The combination of nutty sashimi, crunchy vegetables, and a sweet-tangy-spicy sauce worked so well together.

They also gave us plates of sushi rice, so topping it with sashimi turns it into sushi. And we got complimentary corn cheese too! The corn cheese was really good — sweet and popping. I'd recommend this Gangneung favorite to visit with kids.

How to build sashimi sushi at Samsami-ne

• Prepare a plate of sushi rice.
• Dip the sashimi in wasabi soy sauce and place it on top.
• Add the seasoned raw vegetables on top and eat it as a three-way bite.

The skin was chewy and the sashimi was nutty, so making it into sushi made it even better. The red sea bream yubiki sashimi was delicious too, and it's a Gangneung favorite near Gyeongpodae that you can enjoy in all sorts of ways.

Located right in front of Gyeongpodae, it's an easy stop to add to a Gangneung trip food itinerary — great for mulhoe at lunch or sashimi with soju at dinner. That was my review of the red sea bream yubiki at Samsami-ne, a sashimi restaurant in Gangneung :)