Jeonpo-dong bar in Busan for aged sashimi platter and soju with a friend: Rigo Susan

I headed to Jeonpo-dong, the hottest neighborhood around these days, to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in ages over good food and a glass of soju.

We spent a good while agonizing over what to eat, and then it hit me: the sweltering summer is finally over and the weather's gotten nice and cool, so surely this is exactly the time you have to eat fresh, chewy sashimi, isn't it?

So the place we tracked down this time, on word of mouth, was Rigo Susan (리고수산), a bar in Jeonpo-dong. It's famous for its generous, tidy one-table spreads, the kind that look like they could snap the table legs.

As someone who absolutely loves getting a well-packed table spread, this was a place I'd been dying to try, so I went in with a fluttery, excited heart.

An aged live-fish sashimi bar in Jeonpo-dong

A Jeonpo-dong bar with fresh seasonal sashimi, a killer lineup of drinking snacks, and the atmosphere to match

Hours and signature menu

• Hours: daily 17:00–01:00, Fri–Sat 17:00–02:00
• Closed: open year-round
• Signature menu: aged live-fish sashimi platter, live shrimp set, gizzard shad sashimi set

Exterior and first impression of Rigo Susan in Jeonpo-dong

Sure enough, even on a weekday evening, Jeonpo-dong's streets were buzzing with crowds of people. Rigo Susan sits proudly right in the middle of this very hot street.

The banner outside showed off lively, wriggling live shrimp that seemed to be welcoming us in particular. True to its hot-spot reputation, when we stepped inside, plenty of people were already enjoying their meals and drinks even though it was still early.

From the entrance you could feel that distinctive lively, charming atmosphere, and I instantly thought, yep, we came to the right place.

Tables are close together, but the pocha vibe is great

Inside, the walls were decorated with fish objects that looked as if they'd been caught in a net at sea, a stylish bit of interior that caught my eye. Above the kitchen there's a big LED display scrolling welcome messages and witty little lines.

Apart from one thing, that the tables are a bit close together so the seats are fairly packed in, the overall lighting and that distinctive pocha (Korean pub tent) vibe were really good. It was just the right space for chatting quietly with a friend or tipping back a glass.

Ordering the aged live-fish sashimi platter on the kiosk

Every table has an easy-to-use kiosk, so we could check the menu photos ourselves and order quickly and comfortably. We didn't hesitate for a second and ordered the signature main at this Jeonpo Station favorite known for aged sashimi: the 'aged live-fish sashimi platter, small.'

I go around to good restaurants and Jeonpo bars pretty often, but I'd really wanted to experience this place's famously generous, varied table spread for myself, and finally I was getting to eat it properly. Once we'd ordered, the anticipation kept building until the main dish arrived.

From barley tea onward, a table with no empty spots

After we ordered, they brought out cold, nutty boricha (roasted barley tea) first. Personally I really love places that serve toasty barley tea like this instead of plain water.

Compared to regular bottled water, it feels like a small bit of care put in for the guests, and it gives the impression that they've prepared a lot and paid close attention even before you arrived. Above all, it's clean and tastes much better.

And then, at last, the basic table spread arrived! This overwhelming spread was exactly the picture I'd been looking forward to and hoping for.

Wow~~ seeing the table completely covered in all those colorful dishes, I let out a gasp without meaning to. It's a generous, neatly arranged sight you really don't see at your typical Jeonpo Station aged sashimi specialist or any ordinary bar, is it?

I really love this kind of packed lineup where you can taste all sorts of nibbles and side dishes in one place at once. Part of it is that I'm a light eater with a small appetite, so I like sampling a bit of many different things, but faced with a spread so hearty it fills you up just looking at it, I found myself craving a cold soju.

Aged live-fish sashimi platter with flounder and salmon

With snacks this good and a table this handsome laid out, there was no way we weren't having soju. Just as we were filling our glasses with cold soju, today's main dish, the aged live-fish sashimi platter, finally arrived.

The sashimi comes as a solid set of three kinds, including flounder and salmon, and it's served differently from your usual sashimi restaurant, where it's laid out plainly on a flat plate over cheonsachae (glassy seaweed noodles) or shredded radish. Here it's piled high in a neat, deep bowl that's easy to eat from, which was a novel and memorable touch.

On top of that, they thoughtfully included sushi rice so you can make your own dancho-bap (hand-pressed sushi) however you like.

The salmon, with its glistening orange sheen, especially stood out and looked incredibly appetizing. The springy texture was, as you'd expect from an aged sashimi specialist, aged for just the right amount of time, and the way it clung to the palate was seriously killer, absolutely amazing. Unlike freshly caught live-fish sashimi, the savoriness and chewiness doubled the more you chewed.

The two of us mixed and matched all sorts of combinations with the side dishes, and with the philosophical mindset that 'you must never leave good sashimi behind,' we diligently worked through our soju and polished off every last bit.

Catching up on each other's lives with a close friend I hadn't seen in a while, sharing small, fun conversations, and pairing a cold glass of soju with chewy aged sashimi that melted in the mouth, it was truly a scene of pure bliss, paradise itself.

The wind has turned chilly and my favorite romantic season has arrived, and with a good place, someone I like, and delicious aged sashimi all together, it was a truly perfect, happy day.