Yeoksam Japanese restaurant: heat-wave eel and salmon bowls, Chisot

The weather has been so hot lately that I keep looking for food to restore my strength. I had errands near Yeoksam Station and heard about an eel rice bowl place whose name means "energy soaring up", so I stopped by!

Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch: location and hours

• 59 Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (1st floor)
• Daily 11:00–21:30
• Closed every Sunday
• Groups welcome / reservations available / takeout available

Chisot (치솟) is close to Yeoksam Station, so it's a great spot for office workers nearby to have lunch or dinner. I heard many people dropped in while running errands, loved the food and came back. It's well known as a Yeoksam Japanese restaurant that gets both flavor and access right!

After finishing my errands nearby, I went to Chisot because it has lots of reviews, good ratings and plenty of repeat visitors!

In July and August, for Boknal (the hottest days of summer), they were also running an event giving baby ginseng, good for recovering energy, with every hitsumabushi order!

Solo counter seats to group tables: inside Chisot

Inside, the first thing I saw was the counter seating, great for dining alone. It's a long bar-style counter, so even a solo visitor can eat comfortably!

One side has tables for groups too. Lots of office workers come on weekdays, so it looks perfect for lunch with colleagues.

There are also plenty of larger tables for bigger parties. Little Japanese-restaurant touches around the room made me feel like I was eating eel rice in Japan, haha

Chisot menu and what we ordered

The menu covers Chisot's signature hitsumabushi set, plus various rice bowls, drinking snacks and sides. I liked that on a hot day like this, you can have an eel bowl, perfect stamina food, in different sizes to suit your appetite.

• Mini Hitsumabushi
• Superior Sake-don

It was really hot that day, so the cold barley tea was wonderful! And I kept saying how hot I was, haha;; and the owner noticed and even brought over a small tabletop fan. So kind!

Every seat has toothpicks and ochazuke furikake (rice seasoning) ready. Everything you need is right beside you, which was handy, and the sauce bottle was so cute, haha

They also had a Naver review event going! Leave a review and you get 2 pieces of soy-marinated salmon, so do join in, haha

The name Chisot is said to mean "a bite that lifts your energy over sizzling charcoal". It serves traditional Nagoya hitsumabushi (freshwater eel rice bowl) using only Grade 1 domestic Japonica freshwater eel! Authentic hitsumabushi made with good ingredients seemed to be Chisot's charm.

If you run short of rice while eating, you can refill freely! There's also broth for ochazuke (rice with tea or broth) and tare sauce ready.

After a short wait, our food arrived! That's my hitsumabushi and my fiancé's Superior Sake-don. The hitsumabushi with charcoal-scented eel and the sake-don heaped with fresh salmon looked completely satisfying, haha

Mini hitsumabushi: half an eel and how to eat it

Hitsumabushi (freshwater eel rice bowl)

First, my hitsumabushi (freshwater eel rice bowl)! Even though I ordered the mini size, the set had lots of components, which I liked, haha

Before the eel, I tried the chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) that came with it. It was so soft and moist, it melted in my mouth, haha. It had the nutty richness of steamed egg and a subtle savoriness, and wasn't salty, so it was clean and easy to enjoy.

When you order hitsumabushi, they also explain how to enjoy it.

• Scoop out just eel and rice to taste hitsumabushi in its pure form
• Add nori, wasabi and scallions for a richer flavor
• Enjoy it warm as Chisot's special ochazuke
• Finish with whichever of the three ways you liked best

The mini size I ordered contains half an eel. If you want more eel, the regular size (one eel) or special size (one and a half eels) would be more satisfying. Thanks to the Boknal event running only in July and August, mine even had baby ginseng on top for energy, haha

First I divided the hitsumabushi into four sections to get ready! I'd actually tried hitsumabushi in Nagoya before, so I was extra excited, haha

1. Eel and rice on their own

For the first way, I scooped out only eel and rice to taste hitsumabushi in its purest form! Without anything else, I could fully taste the eel's flavor and seasoning. The eel was lightly crisp outside and moist inside, tender to chew, and the salty-sweet tare sauce had soaked in deeply, with great savory depth.

2. With wasabi, scallions and seaweed flakes

Next I piled wasabi, scallions and crumbled nori on the eel! The sharp kick of wasabi on the rich eel made the flavor cleaner, and the fragrant scallions and the salty, nutty nori went together really well!

3. Pour in broth for ochazuke

Then I poured in warm broth and had it as ochazuke too! The savory broth blended naturally with the rice and eel, keeping the eel's rich flavor while making it softer and cleaner. The moist rice and tender eel went down easily, and it tasted light yet deeply savory.

Superior Sake-don with kombu-cured salmon and egg yolk

Superior Sake-don (salmon rice bowl)

Next I tried the Superior Sake-don! Big, thick slices of salmon were generously piled on the rice, which caught my eye right away. The yolk on top made it look even more appetizing!

I popped the glossy yolk and mixed it through the salmon and rice! The yolk spread out, making it richer and even more tempting, haha. It looked so mouthwatering that I couldn't wait to taste it.

The glossy salmon tasted fresh from the first bite! A nutty flavor spread gently as I chewed, and the texture was soft yet chewy and springy, so appealing, haha. Maybe because the salmon is cured the traditional Japanese way with kombu (kelp), the savory depth was even richer.

I put a little wasabi on the rice, then the popped yolk and thick salmon on top, and took a bite! The yolk blended naturally with the rice and salmon and boosted the richness. The mild kick of wasabi finished it cleanly, so it wasn't greasy at all, and the salmon and rice went together really well.

Is Chisot worth it for a heat-wave meal?

Overall, Chisot was a place where I could properly enjoy Nagoya-style hitsumabushi. If you're looking for a restaurant near Yeoksam Station and want hearty stamina food or a tidy Japanese meal, Chisot has plenty to offer, so give it a try 👍🏻