Hwajeong sushi restaurant lunch with a friend: Min Cook Dasima

Hi, I'm Smileday — I start every morning grinning, beaming, and smiling before I've even gotten out of bed. 😊 Today I want to talk about Min Cook Dasima (민쿡다시마), a Hwajeong restaurant I visited for lunch with a friend.

I was looking for somewhere to have lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and ended up at Min Cook Dasima, a Hwajeong Station restaurant known as one of Goyang's tourism restaurants. The moment I stepped inside, one line caught my eye before anything else.

We only make 100 servings of sushi a day.

Somehow that one sentence felt trustworthy. This is my honest review of Min Cook Dasima, a Hwajeong sushi spot, from an easygoing lunch spent with a friend.

• First impressions of Min Cook Dasima in Hwajeong
• Sushi made for only 100 servings a day
• Lunch and conversation with a friend
• What made Min Cook Dasima charming to me
• Why I'd want to come back
• 3-line summary

First impressions of Min Cook Dasima, Goyang's first sushi restaurant

Min Cook Dasima is a sushi restaurant on Hwasin-ro 260beon-gil near Hwajeong Station. I visited for lunch with a friend, and walking in, the sign reading 'Sushi restaurant Min Cook Dasima' caught my eye. Restaurant names these days really have their own personality, don't they.

At the entrance I could see the Goyang Tourism Restaurant mark and the Hundred-Year Store sign. It gave off the feeling of a place that's been loved for a long time.

Another thing that stood out was the ordering kiosk. On the screen, in big letters, was the phrase 'Goyang's first sushi restaurant.' I got curious about the story behind a place that's been making sushi in Hwajeong for so long, and my expectations naturally went up.

What does "we only make 100 servings of sushi a day" mean?

The line that stuck with me most at Min Cook Dasima was 'we only make 100 servings of sushi a day.' At first I thought, 'why exactly 100?' But rather than making and selling as much as possible, preparing a fixed amount and putting care into each plate felt genuinely sincere.

I was also struck by the wording itself — not 'making' sushi but sushi that's 'cooked' with care, the same way we say rice is 'cooked' with attention. It gave me the sense that they think carefully about the rice's condition and temperature and how the ingredients come together.

Sushi looks simple on the outside, but the balance between rice and fish can make a huge difference in flavor. So even a small phrase like this let me glimpse how Min Cook Dasima approaches its sushi.

A Hwajeong sushi lunch that tasted better shared with a friend

Min Cook Dasima's sushi is easy to eat in one bite, and trying a variety of ingredients piece by piece made it a light, unfussy lunch. Good food is also about who you share it with, isn't it. I went with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. Chatting away while eating something delicious together — that's a small happiness for me.

The older I get, the more I realize how grateful I should be just to sit across from someone I like, share a meal, and laugh together. Eating one piece, talking with my friend, eating another, tasting it slowly — that time was really lovely.

It wasn't a rushed lunch just to fill our stomachs, but a meal we took our time enjoying while talking. I'm the kind of person who always says laughter keeps you healthy, and that day, with good food in front of us and my friend to talk to, the laughter came naturally.

Good food + a good friend + laughter. With all three together, an ordinary lunch hour turned into a rather special scene in the day.

Hundred-Year Store and Goyang Tourism Restaurant: long loved in Hwajeong

Another thing I noticed at Min Cook Dasima was the number of certification marks by the entrance.

In the photos you can see the Hundred-Year Store mark, the 2025 Goyang Tourism Restaurant mark, and a sign showing Goyang Pay and government support funds are accepted here. In an era when restaurants pop up and disappear so quickly, keeping a name alive in one neighborhood for a long time is no small feat.

So while I do love discovering new places, visiting a restaurant that's held its ground in a neighborhood for years has its own kind of pleasure — looking into the story behind it. If you live in Hwajeong or Goyang and are looking for somewhere to eat with family or somewhere easy for lunch with a friend, I think this place is worth keeping in mind.

Why Smileday would go back to Min Cook Dasima

What stayed with me after my visit wasn't flashiness but the impression of 'a place that focuses on one thing: sushi.' The line 'we only make 100 servings of sushi a day' fit that, and I liked the clear identity of a dedicated sushi restaurant it projected. Above all, I liked being able to sit and talk comfortably with a friend over lunch.

On a day when I'm craving sushi in Hwajeong, want a casual lunch with a friend, or feel like seeking out an old, well-loved Hwajeong restaurant, I think I'll think of this place again.

Today too, I ate good food, talked, and laughed with a friend — and that alone makes today the best day of my life. 😊 You have to laugh to live. We have to laugh to live. This has been Smileday.

Min Cook Dasima in three lines

• Min Cook Dasima, a Hwajeong restaurant, stood out for the line 'we only make 100 servings of sushi a day.'
• Visiting for lunch with a friend made it even better — relaxed conversation, good sushi, and plenty of laughter.
• Worth remembering if you're looking for sushi in Hwajeong or a comfortable lunch spot to share with a friend.