Nowon sushi buffet dinner with lemon cream shrimp: Kuu Kuu

When nobody can pick a menu in Nowon, go for a sushi buffet

My sushi cooldown period was over, y’all. My friend and I were practically pounding the ground because we couldn’t decide between conveyor-belt sushi, spicy braised ribs, or aglio e olio… and then Kuu Kuu popped into my head. Sushi, tons of other food, and dessert too—what a solid way to cover all the bases!

For me, sushi buffet = Kuu Kuu, first and foremost. When I visited Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch (쿠우쿠우 노원점) on my birthday, the dining room was comfortable and the sushi quality was better than expected, so I knew I had to return. Then I heard the Nowon branch was newly serving Norwegian fresh salmon sashimi, which isn’t available at Kuu Kuu Gold branches, so I ran over immediately with zero questions asked. Just note that it is served only at weekday dinner, weekends, and holidays.

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch information

• 6F, 247 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Weekdays 11:00–21:30; last order 20:00
• Weekends 11:00–22:00; last order 20:30
• Adults and middle/high school students: weekday lunch ₩27,900 / weekday dinner ₩31,900 / weekends and holidays ₩35,900
• Elementary students: weekday lunch ₩16,900 / weekday dinner ₩17,900 / weekends and holidays ₩18,900
• Preschoolers (36 months and up): ₩9,900
• Up to 2 hours of free parking at Seoul Oncheon Building; use paid parking if it is full

I arrived around 6:30 p.m. after work on a weekday and walked right in—no wait! Holidays and weekends may have a wait, though, so I recommend Naver Booking for groups of two or more. You can also register on Catchtable, which should make waiting easier.

There is a huge waiting area right beside it, so you don’t have to stand there gripping your aching legs. The restaurant is an enormous roughly 300 pyeong, and groups of 50, 80, or even 300 can use separate spaces almost like private rentals. It seems well suited to anything from family gatherings to Nowon work dinners, since the seating is so roomy. The air felt fresh, and the warm interior color palette made it comfortable too. Secretly important stuff. Hehe.

From gunkan and rolls to fresh salmon sashimi

Let’s solemnly begin this mukbang. Drooling already, tiny sob… There are so, so many kinds of gunkan sushi and rolls! The double-cheese smoked salmon roll comes drizzled with cheddar and chili sauce; if you love rich, thick flavors, I hugely recommend it.

There was soy-marinated shrimp gunkan and yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) gunkan too! The soy-marinated shrimp gunkan was not overly salty, with bouncy chopped shrimp, and the yukhoe gunkan? Say no more. I loved that nutty sesame-oil flavor haha.

The Norwegian fresh salmon sashimi I had been waiting for most, haha. It is available only at weekday dinner, weekends, and holidays, so aim for those times. In person, the salmon quality really was good, and there were belly pieces too. There were also soy-marinated shrimp, marinated crab, mulhoe (chilled raw-fish soup), and tuna.

The fresh-fish garlic sushi was appealing too, topped with fried garlic chips and garlic sauce.

The flatfish sushi looked high quality too; I heard both the salmon and flatfish toppings had been upgraded in size. The larger pieces gave a nice bite! A few pieces of flatfish engawa also appeared here and there, so I watched for them and grabbed them right away. The tuna belly sushi was also an easy, tasty pick with no fishy flavor 🥲

There was lots of shrimp sushi too, and the shrimp looked springy and appetizing. I took a few pieces, and maybe because they use botan shrimp, the flavor seemed better than on my last visit. Yum yum. There was already yellowtail sushi too! The color on that yellowtail: good. And I super recommend the seared salmon sushi!!! It would probably be even better fresh off the torch, but it was delicious as is too 🥰

There were loads of other sushi options too!!! Can you hear my eyes rolling around… I enjoyed the cheese salmon sushi, yukhoe tataki, and soy-marinated shrimp sushi, so give them a try 🫧🫧🫧 You’ll probably take them just for the looks.

The lemon cream shrimp was so sweet, tangy, and delicious that I refilled it twice! I liked it better than the chili shrimp.

I tried the mala shrimp because it was interesting. It was not a full-on mala flavor, but it was salty and addictive, and my friend said it was tasty.

There is spicy mala tang too!! I tried a bowl, and it was packed with beef brisket, wood ear mushrooms, tofu skin, and more.

I was too full to try it, but if you ask one of the resident staff members for a noodle dish, they will whip one up for you 😇

The dishes I kept eating besides sushi

A buffet is not complete without a soup station. I really love sweet pumpkin porridge, so naturally I ladled some up; it was so savory and genuinely delicious. From salads and pizza to en croûte soup!!! There was a balanced mix of light salads, Korean food, and Western dishes, so I thought it would suit everyone from kids to adults.

The fried-food station had fries, cheese sticks, fried seaweed rolls, and more, but the chicken drumettes were so good that I got them three times hahaha. Why is everything at a sushi place this good ㅠㅠ Omg.

The newly added smoked duck and lamb chops!!! The smoked duck was chewy and light, and I think it would go well with any dish. It is available only at weekday dinner, weekends, and holidays. The lamb chops looked tender and had that distinctive flavor, apparently. Lamb chops are available at weekday lunch and dinner, plus weekends.

There were lots of juices, including ube latte, so curious people should give it a taste. It is similar to sweet taro milk tea. There were steamed shrimp and steamed blue crab too, but the Uljin snow-crab cream pasta was especially delicious. Rich and creamy, with a big hit of crab flavor… I want it again already;

Attention, grown-up kids: at Kuu Kuu, unlimited draft beer is just ₩5,900!!!! And if you do the review event, it is literally ₩0. I wanted to drink up, but I had sushi to demolish… sob. The Nowon branch has Kelly and Terra draft beer, not Filite, so don’t miss it.

Dippin’ Dots and a chocolate fountain too

Instead, this tiny sobbing grown-up loaded up on slushies. The gold kiwi one was tastier—so refreshing… it took me back. Mukbang starts now!!!!! The salmon sushi had zero fishiness and tasted every bit as good as sushi from a dedicated sushi restaurant. As a salmon-crazy person, I loved it so much I ate it crying ㅠㅠ Every roll, gunkan, shrimp sushi, and yellowtail sushi was delicious without exception.

At this level of quality, I think I would come to Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch at dinner whenever I wanted lots and lots of sushi. Because there is fresh salmon sashimi, you know ^_^.. It is not in the photos, but I diligently ate around six plates. Banana split is my favorite Dippin’ Dots flavor—what about you?.. (No answer.)

There were eight ice-cream flavors too, and they did not taste cheap; they were wonderfully chewy, like gelato! I only had Choco Bongbong, but the chocolate flavor was rich and I had it twice!!!

And wow, there are Dippin’ Dots… A cup used to be so expensive that I could never eat much of it ㅠ But now you can scoop as much as you want ㅠㅠ It used to be a weekday-dinner and weekend item, but now you can enjoy it at lunch too! Great, great for coming at lunchtime with little kids, enjoying sushi, and having four kinds of Dippin’ Dots.

There is also a chocolate fountain that kids love, plus marshmallows and cookies for dipping, so I think kids would have fun dipping their snacks.

I patted my very full belly after such a delicious meal! I think I will come back for special meals with extended family, friends, or coworkers. Especially if you love salmon, I absolutely recommend coming here hahaha.