Staff-grilled waffles and marbled shrimp sushi at Kuu Kuu, Nowon

I really love exploring restaurants, and this time I zipped over to Nowon 🚗

The biggest daily debate in our house is what to eat after work today 🤔 At times like that, nothing beats a buffet so we don't have to argue haha. Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Western — it's all there, so everyone can dig into whatever they're craving 👍

So this time we headed to Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch, known for its solid menu lineup and now word-of-mouth as a Nowon family gathering spot 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Kuu Kuu Nowon Branch location and pricing

• Location: 6th floor, 247 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul (near Hagye Station Exit 2)
• Hours: Weekdays 11:00–21:30 / Weekends & holidays 11:00–22:00 (last order 1 hour before closing)
• Price (adult/teen): Weekday lunch (leave before 5pm) ₩27,900 / Weekday dinner (after 5pm) ₩31,900 / Weekend & holiday ₩35,900
• Elementary school kids: Weekday lunch ₩16,900 / weekday dinner ₩17,900 / weekend ₩18,900
• Preschoolers (36 months+): ₩9,900
• Time limit: 90 minutes if there's a waiting line, otherwise you can take your time

Good to keep these prices in mind when planning your visit.

The Nowon sushi buffet MVP: fresh salmon sushi

Everyone knows Kuu Kuu means sushi, right? Sometimes at buffets the sushi counter uses frozen fish and the texture disappoints.

But the salmon at Kuu Kuu Nowon is genuinely amazing 😍 They use moist Norwegian raw salmon with a quality like a dedicated salmon restaurant — it melts the moment it hits your mouth, total magic haha.

Not a hint of fishiness, so clean that I lost count of how many plates of salmon sushi I brought back.

On top of that, the nutty, chewy raw salmon sashimi is unlimited too, so as a seafood-obsessed salmon lover, this was total heaven 🍣💕 (salmon is on the weekday dinner & weekend/holiday menu)

Upgraded halibut and salmon sushi toppings

Also nice to see this visit — the halibut sushi and salmon sushi toppings have been upgraded! The fish pieces are now bigger, so the sushi feels packed with fish. Take a bite and you taste the fish before the rice — sushi lovers will definitely notice haha.

Shrimp sushi now made with moktan (peony) shrimp

The shrimp sushi got an upgrade too — they now use moktan shrimp, giving it a much deeper shrimp flavor.

So many types of shrimp sushi, with a bouncy texture and sweetness that really comes through — delicious 🤤

Salads, hot dishes & soups

Beyond sushi there was a mountain of other good stuff, my eyes had no rest 👀 As you can see from my photos, the varied salad corner grabs your attention first 🥗

Sweet pumpkin salad, tomato chicken salad and more — full of fresh ingredients, perfect as a light appetizer to whet your appetite.

Hot dishes like oil vongole pasta and Uljin snow crab pasta were kept nice and warm, rivaling a fancy Italian restaurant 🍝

The dogani seolleongtang (ox knee bone soup), with its rich hot broth, was the best for filling up hearty and satisfying,

and the mala tang, loaded generously with meat, had a rich and amazing broth too 🍲

Overall the food quality was excellent and the seasoning was spot on — not a single dish disappointed.

My husband cleaned out his very first plate with salad, meat, and sushi all at once, no holding back,

He's the type who never feels the buffet money is wasted, and watching him eat with such gusto made me proud and happy. Well done, you 👏 haha.

New menu items you shouldn't miss: smoked duck & lamb chops

I have to mention the new menu items we discovered on this visit!

First, the smoked duck has an amazing chewy texture that pairs well with everything, I kept reaching for more. Great on its own or mixed with other dishes 🦆

And lamb chops are newly launched too, with tender meat and that distinct lamb flavor — meat lovers will be especially pleased. No gamey smell, so it works cleanly as both a drinking snack and a main dish!! haha

There's always room for dessert: staff-grilled waffles and marble ice cream

No matter how full you are, you can never skip dessert, right??

These days a lot of buffets make you grill your own waffles, but here staff kept grilling them fresh and crispy nonstop, which was really convenient.

I slathered the freshly grilled waffle with plenty of sweet whipped cream and it was so good that I demolished two of them even while already full 🧇

And the highlight that made me do a double take was the marble ice cream 🤩

Marble ice cream is usually pretty pricey outside, so I can't easily indulge, but here they had several flavors right at the ice cream corner. No guilt about scooping as much as you want here — pure happiness 🍨 (used to be weekday dinner/weekend only, now upgraded so lunch guests can enjoy it too)

For my husband, who can never walk past a chocolate fountain, I coated Oreo cookies generously in chocolate and delivered them sweetly 🍫

At the yogurt and cereal topping corner, Chex, cornflakes, various jams and nuts were all neatly and hygienically set up,

There were also 12 kinds of premium herbal tea, great to sip after the meal — with dessert quality this good, you really feel like you got your money's worth ☕

How about a Nowon family gathering spot?

Looking around one corner of the buffet, there's a slide-equipped kids' café safe for kids up to 7, plus baby chairs, all very well set up 🧸

Maybe that's why there were so many families around — bright, comfortable atmosphere, plenty of large tables, and a spacious 300 pyeong!! Apparently it can handle group seating for up to 200 people, wow. Next time we bring the nieces and nephews and our parents for a family gathering, we're going straight to Kuu Kuu with zero hesitation about where to go.

Kids can play comfortably and adults can enjoy a full spread without worrying about anyone — if you're looking for a family gathering restaurant in Nowon, this is about as good as it gets 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Write a review, get unlimited draft beer

Oh, one more thing — if you write a review, you get unlimited draft beer worth ₩5,900 for free, so if you enjoy a cold drink with your meal, don't miss this event 🍻 And it's not the cheap Filite, it's real draft — Terra and Kelly haha.

There was so much delicious food that I wanted to eat everything, but my stomach had its limits, so there were plenty of dishes I couldn't finish — I already felt regret the moment I stepped out of the restaurant 😭

If you ever struggle to decide where to eat and want a hearty, can't-go-wrong feast, I highly recommend giving Kuu Kuu a visit ❤️