Chuseok holiday dinner at a Wolsan-dong sashimi restaurant, Gwangju

I'm travel influencer Chaekmeongneunyeoja (book-eating woman). I came home to Gwangju for Chuseok and met up with my sisters at Hwanggeum Hoe Pocha, a seafood restaurant in Wolsan-dong, Gwangju.

Every time I come home I just stay in, but this time I wanted to try a few Gwangju restaurants during the holiday.

Inside Hwanggeum Hoe Pocha Gwangju Wolsan Branch: mood and seating

We arrived around 6pm, and there were already customers enjoying drinks. The interior was pretty clean and the seating had generous spacing, so it was comfortable for the three of us to sit and eat. Since we got there early, we could pick our menu without rushing.

There was a sign that said "100% refund if not fresh or tasty." My second sister, who doesn't really use social media, said she'd seen Hwanggeum Hoe Pocha come up a lot as a seafood restaurant everyone recommends, and had wanted to come.

Frying your own pancakes before the sashimi arrives

One fun thing about this Wolsan-dong seafood restaurant was that you can fry your own pancakes. Waiting for the sashimi by making pancakes together with my sisters got the meal off to a great start.

What comes on the 85,000 won sashimi set for three

Since there were three of us, we ordered the raw shrimp and live fish sashimi set for 3, ₩85,000. I was especially curious since it was my first time trying raw shrimp sashimi. I usually eat live fish sashimi, so we waited chatting about what texture the shrimp would have.

The sashimi came out with a whole spread of side dishes. They also gave us mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) sauce separately, so I tried the live fish sashimi with it — the tangy flavor was a nice way to switch things up. There was also seaweed and aged kimchi, so I could vary the combination with each bite of sashimi.

There was plenty of aged kimchi, which paired well with the sashimi. The sushi rice, though, was a bit too hard for my taste. Since everything else was good, this part was a bit disappointing.

When we first saw the shrimp and fish sashimi plates, I thought the portion might be a bit small. But once we started eating our way through the seaweed soup and other side dishes, we ended up quite full. It was good for the three of us to alternate between sashimi and side dishes.

How does raw shrimp sashimi taste the first time?

The raw shrimp sashimi I tried for the first time that day came already peeled, so it was easy to eat. One bite in, the chewy yet springy texture really stood out. I thought the taste might feel unfamiliar at first, but I kept reaching for more.

The live fish sashimi is good dipped in just soy sauce, and tastes completely different wrapped in seaweed or aged kimchi. In between, we also tried it with the mulhoe sauce. The same sashimi tasted different depending on how you ate it, so we each found our favorite combination with my sisters.

The butter-grilled shrimp heads were surprisingly tasty, so I ended up eating most of them myself. They were the perfect beer snack.

It was a fun get-together with my sisters at this Wolsan-dong seafood restaurant after a long time apart. We had a refreshing glass of somaek (soju-beer mix).

Finishing with the 5,000 won spicy stew and sujebi

The dish my sisters especially loved was the ₩5,000 spicy stew. We were about to add ramyeon noodles, but cancelled when we saw it came with sujebi (hand-torn dumpling soup noodles). Tearing the sujebi in thin and letting them cook through let the broth soak in nicely. Finishing with the warm broth and sujebi after all the sashimi kept us full to the very end.

Is the Chuseok sashimi set worth it?

If you're looking for a place in Wolsan-dong, Gwangju to eat sashimi with a group, Hwanggeum Hoe Pocha was a good spot to enjoy raw shrimp and live fish sashimi, side dishes, and spicy stew all in one place. The sushi rice texture was a bit disappointing, but the raw shrimp sashimi I tried for the first time and the stew my sisters loved stayed with me. Most of all, it was a wonderful evening being able to sit face to face with my sisters and talk after so long.