Late 8pm dinner sushi set in Gimhae's Bongridan-gil: Sushi Hwa

Lately every blog post I scroll through has sushi in it, and it's making me crave it so badly ㅠㅠ!

Last time I wanted to try this place, I checked Naver and saw it was open until 9pm, so I went — but I showed up at 7:30 the night before their day off, and they were closing early, so I had to turn around without eating 🥹 So this time I called ahead to confirm they were open before heading over!

Where is Sushi Hwa on Gimhae's Bongridan-gil, and what are its hours?

• 📍Location: 32 Gimhae-daero 2315beon-gil, 1st floor, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
• ⏰Hours: Daily 10:00–21:00 (last order 20:40)
• ❌Closed: Open every day
• 🚘Parking: Parking in front of the restaurant or nearby lots

Since I had to come all the way from Changwon after my boyfriend got off work, I called ahead saying we'd arrive around 8pm, and they confirmed they'd still be open — so excited, we drove straight to Bongridan-gil in Gimhae the moment he clocked out! It was pretty dark when we arrived, but the restaurant was so brightly lit that we found it right away. There was even a parking spot right in front, so we parked quickly and went in haha!

What Sushi Hwa feels like at 8pm

Maybe because it was 8pm, delivery orders kept coming in but we were the only dine-in customers. Looking around, the place had a clean wood-tone atmosphere. The seating was arranged so the walkways weren't cramped, and it seemed like a good spot to eat solo too. I'd only visited Bongridan-gil in Gimhae during the day before, so seeing it at night felt kind of different haha.

Here's the menu at Sushi Hwa, the sushi spot on Bongridan-gil in Gimhae :) Each table had its own order pad, which made ordering easy haha. We went with the Sushi Hwa flame-seared sushi set for ₩38,000!

Utensils, paper cups, soy sauce, and napkins were neatly set on the table. Once we ordered, a staff member brought us water!! Not long after, the food we ordered

What comes in the 38,000-won flame-seared sushi set at Sushi Hwa

The Sushi Hwa flame-seared sushi set arrived :) It was generous enough for two people to share comfortably. It came with cold soba (naengmomil) for two, 27 pieces of flame-seared sushi, plus frozen blueberries for dessert and a yuzu salad to go with the sushi haha.

Since it's a flame-seared sushi set, the 27 pieces came in a mix of egg, shrimp, salmon, beef, clam, and fried tofu (inari) haha. One thing that surprised me — they gave us a whole new 75g tube of wasabi, and since my boyfriend loves wasabi, seeing that made him ridiculously happy lol.

Are they giving us this whole big tube to take home? Or do they just throw away what's left over?

That's my curious boyfriend for you ㅜ so cute 🥹

How the flame-seared sushi tastes with garlic sauce

My favorite kind of sushi is egg sushi! There were 3 pieces of egg sushi and I ate them all myself haha. The egg was sweet and just salty enough, totally my taste ㅠㅠ🥹

Since it's flame-seared sushi, it was full of that smoky char flavor — this was my first time trying sushi with so much of that flame-torched taste, and while I was a little worried it might not suit me since it's a different kind of flavor, I didn't need to worry at all, it was just delicious!? Each piece also comes topped with garlic sauce — when ordering, you can choose spicy sauce or garlic sauce, and you can even do half-and-half. I'm bad with spice so I went with garlic, and with the smoky char plus garlic flavor together, it was absolutely amazing 🥹 Now I'm in trouble because I just want to eat it again ㅜㅜ

Cold soba broth that works even without mustard

I usually load up on mustard whenever I eat cold soba, but I tried the broth first this time, and the seasoning was good enough that I didn't need any mustard — a real soba spot. Taking a bite of soba in between pieces of sushi was such a great pairing, I really loved that combo!? Driving 35 minutes from Changwon, all the disappointment from not getting to eat here the first time just melted away haha.

Frozen blueberries to finish the meal

After finishing the sushi and soba, I usually blend blueberries with a shake every morning, so I always have frozen blueberries in the freezer at home. I never thought to just eat them plain, but after finishing the meal, eating the blueberries left my mouth feeling wonderfully refreshing. Serving blueberries as dessert — the owner has great taste, I have to say 👍🏻

Restrooms and the verdict on Sushi Hwa

The restroom is out the back door of the restaurant, with separate men's and women's rooms — is it even allowed for a restroom to be this pretty? I remember thinking wow, how pretty, since it was clean and the interior was so nicely done.

Visiting Sushi Hwa, the sushi restaurant on Bongridan-gil in Gimhae, the combination of the smoky flame-seared sushi and soba worked so well together, and the portion was generous for the ₩38,000 price — the two of us couldn't finish it and left 4 pieces behind. We were completely full. The owner really delivers on value 👍🏻

We originally sat at a table for two, but since the portion turned out to be a lot, the owner moved us to a table for four so we could eat comfortably in a more spacious spot — I only came away with memories of how well we were taken care of. The food was great, and thanks to the kind owner and staff, I feel like I'll want to come back here whenever I'm craving sushi haha. Bongridan-gil is also a popular date spot, so if you're craving sushi, I'd recommend Sushi Hwa, the sushi restaurant on Bongridan-gil in Gimhae!