This post was written in 2006. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
I didn’t actually want to go to a Japanese restaurant in Korea, but around Gangnam the only places I knew that were cheap, had a nice atmosphere and served food worth eating were this one and Mokran in Apgujeong, so here we are. A lot of people think of chanko nabe as the hot pot sumo wrestlers eat… but in Japan it’s such an everyday dish that it shows up as the soup course when you order a set menu at an izakaya. Hardly anyone goes out of their way to find a specialist place for it..
The table.
Clean and tidy. Great for a date where you’re trying to make a move, but that wasn’t the plan that day.. if it had been, I’d have gone to Grill H ^_^;;
The interior looks great too.
I guess if you want to do business in Cheongdam-dong, you need at least this much..
A flashy wine cabinet..
Looking over the wine list, it’s pretty decent.. not that there are lots of amazing wines, but there are lots of good-value ones.. still, wine with Japanese food is a bit..
The hand towels from earlier
Pour water on them and they expand.. at first I thought they were something to eat..
The basic side dishes.
In Japanese these are tsukemono. Nothing special.
The appetizer, maguro tataki.
Of course I ate tons of tataki in Japan too ^_^; but this place does it pretty well. The fish is fresh and the cooking is skilful.. only, as you eat, you run a bit short of the seaweed to wrap it in ^_^;;
Tofu.
Better than expected. Like every place that calls itself fusion, I figured I’d get something with a fancy name and not much else, but out came proper tofu.
The main dish, chanko nabe.
Four of us ordered two portions, and they serve it in bowls like this in just the right amount. I took the photo halfway through, so it looks like a small serving ^_^; Chanko nabe is humble food to begin with, but seeing it up close, it’s really, really humble. The taste.. about average..
For an extra 5,000 won they’ll make miso ramen in the pot.
The broth is fine but the noodles are meh.. then again this isn’t Japan, so you can’t expect much from the noodles..
The four of us ate well and the bill came to 85,000 won, which is unheard of in this neighborhood ^_^; Taste aside, it’s definitely an incredibly good-value place.
Here’s a bonus shot.
A big photo hanging in the Jil Sander store. I really liked it.. advertising photography is pretty fascinating. My own photos are a little influenced by Helmut Newton. ^_^; (If anyone would like to model for me, I’d happily buy you dinner ^_^)