Nowon sushi buffet, weekday dinner with Dad: salmon sashimi, Kuu Kuu

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch (쿠우쿠우 노원점) is on the 6th floor of 247 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul. It's open Mon–Fri 11:00–21:30 and Sat–Sun 11:00–22:00, with last order at 20:30.

Why I went all the way to Kuu Kuu Nowon: raw salmon sashimi

I sought out Kuu Kuu Nowon on purpose, because of the raw salmon sashimi that other branches don't have. Strangely, whenever the weather gets cold I crave sushi like crazy. I like raw fish and sushi anyway, but it hits extra hard when the wind turns chilly and winter comes.

So I went to stuff myself at Kuu Kuu! I'll find any excuse to keep going, haha. When was the last time I went to Kuu Kuu... anyway, it had been at least 3 years!

Mom was away on a trip, so Dad and I had to have dinner just the two of us. I really wanted sushi and Dad likes trying lots of different things, so I suggested Kuu Kuu for the first time in a while! And then I heard Nowon has raw salmon sashimi?! Even the Gold branch doesn't have it. So I skipped the Kuu Kuu near home and traveled all the way to Nowon, haha.

What time does Kuu Kuu Nowon close on weekday dinners?

On weekday evenings at Kuu Kuu Nowon, cooking ends at 8:30 pm. You can keep eating until 9:00, but the buffet food gets cleared from 9:00. In case of a wait or no free seats, I booked through Naver for 7:30 pm on a weekday, and since it was dinner, there really was a closing time on the buffet. Go a bit earlier so you can eat more and for longer!!

Parking and group space at Kuu Kuu Nowon

Parking is free for up to 2 hours in the building's underground garage. If it's full, you can use the Hagye Techno Town underground garage. But Hagye Techno Town only works on Saturdays, sadly.

The interior is done in wood tones and white, so it feels bright and comfortable. There are separate spaces for 50, 80 and up to 300 people that can be used like a private rental, and there's a fully equipped play room for kids, so it's good for events and gatherings too.

Buffet layout at Kuu Kuu Nowon: from the sushi zone to desserts

Time to properly explore the buffet!! Kuu Kuu Nowon also has microwaves, scissors and hygiene gloves.

Kuu Kuu Nowon serves real draft beer, not Filite (a low-malt beer), with Terra and Kelly on tap. If you join the review event, you can also drink unlimited draft beer worth ₩5,900.

Sushi zone: bigger flatfish and salmon pieces

As expected, Kuu Kuu is the king of sushi buffets. The variety is just so, so big, haha. I heard a Japanese sushi master tried Kuu Kuu in Korea and admitted it was delicious, and yes!! The flatfish (halibut) and salmon sushi were reportedly upgraded with bigger fish slices so you get a full mouthful, and the fish was clearly bigger than the other sushi. Yellowtail was out too. There was monkfish liver gunkan (seaweed-wrapped sushi), gimbap-style rolls, futomaki (thick rolls)... so many kinds that I didn't know where to start @.@

Salad zone, cold food zone, and Korean and Chinese food

To plan my eating properly, I scouted the salad and cold food zones. The napa cabbage kimchi at Kuu Kuu Nowon is also spicy and tasty,, haha.

Fried rice, dongpo pork (braised pork belly), sweet and sour pork, cream shrimp, chili shrimp, guobaorou (Chinese sweet and sour pork), LA galbi (marinated short ribs), tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), mala tang, ox knee soup and more. Kuu Kuu Nowon can win over everyone from little kids to the parents' generation.

There's also jajang (black bean sauce noodles), jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup), udon, miso soup and cold soba. I was a little sad there was no rice noodle soup, but with this many options you can still pick whatever you want.

Hot food zone: Kuringkle chicken is a hit with students

The hot food zone is full of kid favorites: assorted fried food, pizza, pasta, soup en croute, sausages, pork ribs, lamb chops, smoked duck, salmon steak, chicken, steamed scallops, steamed shrimp, corn and more. The chicken is Kuringkle chicken instead of Puringkle (a famous seasoned chicken), haha, and of course it was the most popular with the students.

Dessert zone: chocolate fountain and bead ice cream

And a dessert zone with a chocolate fountain, fruit, desserts, ice cream and waffles!! The ice cream selection is big too, including bead ice cream. The bead ice cream used to be available only at weekday dinner and on weekends, but I heard you can have it at lunch now too. Vacation is coming up, and I bet it'll be what kids eat most!

First plates: salmon salad and Uljin red snow crab soup

After a diligent lap, I brought back three full plates. To avoid a blood sugar spike you're supposed to eat salad first, but the moment I saw the sushi and raw salmon sashimi my eyes rolled back, and forget the plan, I just piled on whatever I wanted, haha.

Still, I did eat the salmon salad first,, and then the Uljin red snow crab soup to calm my stomach,, haha. The soup had just been refilled when I visited, so I got plenty of crab meat, and it was soft and so good! With so much else to eat, I still had two bowls of soup, haha.

I'd heard white fish tastes best eaten first, so I started with flatfish sushi, then yellowtail, then salmon~ Maybe because the flatfish and salmon were upgraded to bigger slices, that full-mouth feeling was fantastic. I also tried the monkfish liver gunkan I'd been curious about. It wasn't the super rich flavor I'd imagined, but it wasn't bad at all!!

How much raw salmon sashimi did I eat at Kuu Kuu Nowon?

I ate about three plates of raw salmon sashimi at Kuu Kuu Nowon alone. It's no exaggeration to say I came for this!! To think you can eat such good-quality raw salmon sashimi at a buffet, it's so delicious T.T

I dipped it in soy sauce, ate it with wasabi, topped it with capers, topped it with onion and Hawaiian sauce, and ate a huge amount of salmon in all kinds of ways. I had tuna once in between, but I'm still team raw salmon!! I couldn't photograph everything, but I think it was 3 plates of raw salmon alone. Slight exaggeration, but I ate bear-level amounts, haha. Ah, and now I want it again,,,

Happy with LA galbi and cream shrimp; let down by guobaorou and lamb chops

LA galbi can't possibly be bad~! The marinade wasn't too sweet and the seasoning was just right with rice, and the meat was so tender the bone slid right out. I told Dad to eat lots of sushi, but he came back with a heap of rice again and I was about to scold him when I saw he was eating it with galbi, so I let it go. The cream shrimp and chili shrimp were good! Especially the cream shrimp! Maybe I picked a bad one, but the guobaorou had a thick coating and was a bit disappointing, though the next table was piling it up and eating it, haha.

Lamb chops are supposedly available all day! I wanted lamb chops, but there were only bones T.T Every time I checked from the start, they hadn't been refilled, so I asked whether lamb chops don't come out before 8:30, and was told they don't, probably because they take time to cook T.T I wanted lamb chops, so that was a shame T.T

Here's the plate I brought to console myself.

Jjamppong and jajang that suited Dad, plus snow crab pasta

Meanwhile, Dad had jajangmyeon and jjamppong. He said the jjamppong had a smoky wok flavor and lots of ingredients, and when I tried a sip of the broth it was a pretty good jjamppong. The jajang tasted like old-school jajang and was good too! The photo was taken of what Dad was eating, so it doesn't normally look like that. It comes out much better, haha.

And the Uljin red snow crab pasta at Kuu Kuu Nowon is delicious!! The cream sauce was thick, the crab flavor was rich, and from the soup to the pasta, all the snow crab dishes were good. The Kuringkle chicken and fries are seasoned with Kuringkle powder too, which tastes just a tiny bit like Puringkle, and dipping the chicken in the pasta sauce made it even better, haha.

The fries from the Kuringkle chicken were so good that I only meant to grab fries, steamed shrimp and dessert, but there was flatfish fin sushi!! Of course I had to eat it!!!! I brought salmon and tuna along too, and it was delicious as expected. Salmon is the best, flatfish fin is the best.

Final dessert: popping candy and rainbow bead ice cream

Now the true, final, final, final dessert. There were so many ice cream flavors that I agonized, then ended with the power combo of popping candy ice cream plus rainbow bead ice cream! Haha.

Which elevator goes to the underground parking at Kuu Kuu Nowon?

If you parked in the same building as Kuu Kuu Nowon, you need to take Elevator No. 1 down to the basement. Finding the elevator to the parking lot is seriously hard, haha. There are 3 elevator spots in total, and you have to leave Kuu Kuu Nowon, go into the leftmost emergency exit, and take Elevator No. 1 to reach the basement!

Dad was very satisfied, saying the food was much better than at the Kuu Kuu in our neighborhood!! I was happy too, since I ate lots of sushi. Mom was away on a trip so it was just Dad and me this time, but next time I'll probably come with Mom again. Next time I'll eat even more raw salmon sashimi, lalala 😋