Yangsan sushi restaurant with a kids' pork cutlet set: Shirokuma

Shirokuma, a sushi restaurant near Busan National University Hospital in Yangsan. Honestly, one of the best sushi places I've been to lately in terms of both taste and quality! Since they have a separate kids' menu on top of the sushi, it was such a satisfying spot to visit with the kids too. Review go~*^^*

• Hours: 11:30–21:00 (break time 14:30–17:30)
• Closed every Sunday
• Parking: 2 spots beside the shop, 2 in front

Shirokuma's location, parking, and waiting

Shirokuma, a Mulgeum sushi restaurant in the Beomeo residential area near Busan National University Hospital in Yangsan. There are 2 parking spots right beside the shop and 2 right in front, and apparently the Hwangsan Village public lot offers free parking from 6pm to 9am. We arrived around 12:30pm on a Saturday and luckily one spot was free, so parking was a success right away.^^

Shirokuma, this Mulgeum, Yangsan sushi restaurant, is also known for its waitlist — but there's a CatchTable at the entrance where you can reserve, and then wait comfortably inside in the cool air conditioning.

A modern, clean interior with booth seating

The interior blends black and wood tones for a clean, modern feel. The staff greeted us so brightly that I felt good the moment I walked in.^^ I think this kind of lively, bright atmosphere feels more comfortable for ramen or sushi places somehow.ㅎ_ㅎ

Since I'd called ahead to reserve, we were shown to a booth-partitioned seat where we could eat privately, which made for a much more relaxed meal with the kids.

Shirokuma Special Sushi 10p and Premium Sushi 12p

Cabbage salad and miso soup first. The soup is on the milder side, which goes great with sushi~

Our sushi order: Shirokuma Special Sushi 10p (₩17,000) and Shirokuma Premium Sushi 12p (₩22,000). My husband and I both gasped at how good it looked, way beyond expectations,,,,haha. I've eaten sushi at this price range many times, but this genuinely rivaled truly high-end sushi restaurants in both taste and presentation — Shirokuma, this Mulgeum, Yangsan sushi spot, was seriously satisfying.

My order, the Shirokuma Special Sushi 10p, includes 3 kinds of aged sashimi, salmon, tuna belly, egg, beef, squid, eggplant, and soy sauce shrimp. Light eaters would probably be fine with the standard 8p, but for people with a normal appetite like me, this Special set is plenty filling.

Thick-cut salmon sushi

Being a huge salmon lover, salmon sushi is always the first thing I reach for. Apparently Shirokuma's salmon sushi uses only fresh Norwegian Superior grade salmon! It was the thickest cut I've had in a long time. No fishy smell, just a subtle richness that spreads gently on the tongue, and a texture so soft it practically melts without chewing — genuinely a work of art.

My husband's order, the Shirokuma Premium Sushi 12p, includes 4 kinds of aged sashimi, salmon, tuna belly, beef, garlic shrimp, eggplant, squid, grilled salmon, and futomaki (thick sushi roll).

Look at the size of that futomaki,,,hahaha. Not much of an exaggeration to say it's roughly the size of a newborn's face.^^ We figured if we touched it first we wouldn't be able to eat anything else, so we saved it for last and split it in half.ㅎ_ㅎ

Beef sushi at a sushi restaurant is usually one of those things I don't expect much from, but wow — even the beef sushi here has an amazing texture.haha Fair warning: it's better than a lot of well-known beef restaurants.

An unexpected favorite: eggplant sushi

Along with the salmon, the eggplant sushi turned out to be an unexpected favorite. At first glance I thought, is this grilled hairtail?ㅋㅋㅋ I found it curious that they had a separate eggplant sushi menu item, but one bite and I got it immediately. It was so satisfying that next time I want to order it as 5 salmon + 5 eggplant. Honestly, not many people — kids or adults — actually like eggplant, but once you try this eggplant sushi, you'll definitely discover a whole new side to eggplant....!ㅎ_ㅎ The eggplant's clean flavor combines with just the right amount of richness for a nutty taste, the texture is great, and that lemon-colored sweet sauce on top pairs perfectly with the eggplant!

Lunch special udon/soba and the kids' menu

Visit between 11:30–14:30 and you can choose either udon or soba as a lunch special — such great value~!

Kids' Pork Cutlet Set, ₩10,000. A truly generous set with crispy fried pork cutlet plus shrimp, fried tofu, and egg sushi, along with 2 potato croquettes! My kids can't really eat sushi except for shrimp sushi, so I always check whether there's something for them whenever we go to a sushi place, and this lineup was really satisfying.^^

Shrimp Tempura Udon, ₩9,000, with chewy noodles and a cool broth that's really appealing. If pork cutlet isn't tempting, I'd recommend this udon as a solid choice for the kids' menu!^^

Would I recommend it as a top Yangsan sushi spot?

It's been a while since I left a sushi place this full.ㅎ_ㅎ Freshness of the ingredients, no need to even say — the thickness of the fish cuts was just on a different level.

This kind of high quality sushi at such reasonable prices — if someone asked me to recommend a Yangsan sushi restaurant, this would be my number one pick without a doubt: Shirokuma, this Mulgeum, Yangsan sushi restaurant! Such a delicious meal.^^