Hongdae ochazuke lunch with a friend: eel and kombu salmon, Ochaya

Today I'm introducing Ochaya Yeonnam, a spot near Hongik Univ. Station that I'd recommend as a great place for a meal.

Ochaya Yeonnam 📍2F, 38 Donggyo-ro 38-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul ✅Hours: daily 11:30-20:30

I want to show you a place where you can properly taste ochazuke, a warm Japanese soul food. It's Ochaya Yeonnam, a Hongik Univ. Station restaurant that's been getting hot in the Yeonnam-dong alleys lately! The meal comes out neat and tidy, so it works for a date too, and above all it's a wonderfully comforting, filling lunch. I went with a friend, so I'll lay out my honest menu review and my tips for enjoying ochazuke 200% more. If you're mapping out Yeonnam-dong restaurants, open your eyes wide!

What kind of restaurant is Ochaya Yeonnam?

Ochaya Yeonnam is a Japanese home-cooking (gajeong-sik) restaurant in a Yeonnam-dong alley near Hongik Univ. Station, with ochazuke as its main dish. It suits anyone who wants an easy-on-the-stomach lunch instead of something greasy and heavy.

The area around Hongik Univ. Station, especially the Yeonnam-dong alleys, is famous for stylish, delicious restaurants, right? Among them, Ochaya Yeonnam is a clean Japanese home-cooking place that feels like rain in a drought for office workers and travelers tired of harsh, heavily seasoned eating out. Instead of greasy, heavy dishes, its main dish is neatly presented ochazuke (rice served with tea or broth poured over it, eaten with toppings). Each bowl is full of care, so it's a really great spot for an easy, comfortable lunch.

What's on the menu at Ochaya Yeonnam?

The ochazuke at Ochaya Yeonnam comes in five toppings: butanokakuni (braised pork belly), salmon, eel, kaisen chazuke (seafood), and pollock roe. Every dish comes with a separate kettle of warm broth.

As an ochazuke specialist, Ochaya has a wonderfully varied, generous range of toppings to go over the rice. Here's a quick summary of these charming menu items!

• Butanokakuni ochazuke: a hearty bowl topped with tenderly braised pork belly
• Salmon ochazuke: fresh salmon cured in-house with kombu (kelp) for maximum umami
• Eel ochazuke: grilled eel brushed with a sweet special sauce, full of smoky char flavor
• Kaisen chazuke: a sea-scented bowl generously loaded with fresh seafood like tuna, octopus and shrimp
• Pollock roe ochazuke: the most basic and salty, hugely popular, the classic of classics

Every menu item at Ochaya comes with a separate kettle of warm, deeply flavored broth! So you can first enjoy the toppings over the multigrain rice just as they are, then halfway through pour in the warm broth to get a whole other depth of flavor. You get both charms in one bowl!

Is Ochaya Yeonnam a good Yeonnam-dong date spot?

Ochaya Yeonnam has a warm, neat wood-toned interior that feels like a Japanese neighborhood restaurant. The table settings and tableware are tidy too, so it suits a Yeonnam-dong date restaurant.

Ochaya Yeonnam is great for the food, but the space itself is really clean and cozy too. Thanks to the warm, tidy wood-toned interior, it gives off an exotic feel, like a quiet neighborhood restaurant in Japan. From the table setting to every piece of tableware, everything comes out carefully and cleanly, so it's a perfect Yeonnam-dong date restaurant to visit with a partner. If you want to quietly gaze at each other over a tidy, healthy meal, you'll definitely get compliments for bringing them to this pretty space!

How to enjoy the eel ochazuke at Ochaya Yeonnam

At Ochaya Yeonnam, my friend and I ordered one eel ochazuke and one salmon ochazuke and shared them. For the eel ochazuke, I liked eating it first with wasabi and pickled ginger on top with the rice, then pouring in the broth when about half the rice was left.

We ordered Ochaya's strongly recommended 'eel ochazuke' and the bestselling 'salmon ochazuke' and shared them happily.

The moment it arrived, the glowing look made me gasp! Big pieces of grilled eel, brushed with sweet sauce, crispy outside and moist inside with smoky char flavor, sit on top of chewy multigrain rice that gets nuttier the more you chew.

First I put a little sharp wasabi and zingy pickled ginger on the grilled eel and ate it with the rice, and the flavor filling my mouth was a work of art. Then when about half the rice was left, I poured in the warm broth from the kettle, glug glug, and the richness of the eel melted softly into the broth, creating a totally different dish with a deep new flavor!

Side dishes and free refills at Ochaya Yeonnam

The side dishes at Ochaya Yeonnam are three kinds: kimchi, dried radish strips and godeulppaegi (Korean hawk's beard greens). The most touching part was that seaweed, broth, multigrain rice and side dishes all refill for free.

The kimchi, dried radish strips and godeulppaegi pair perfectly with the meal, so there's no time to get tired of the richness. And what really touched me is that the seaweed, broth, multigrain rice and even the side dishes can all be refilled for free! Big eaters can get very full here.

The nutty, chewy multigrain rice that comes with shredded egg was really delicious! It gave me a real healthy-feeling boost.

The eel wasn't fishy at all, had a smoky char flavor and a great texture, and tasted wonderful~!

The combo of smoky eel and nutty multigrain rice

Is the kombu-cured salmon ochazuke fishy?

The salmon ochazuke at Ochaya Yeonnam had no fishy taste at all, perhaps because the salmon is cured with kombu. The flesh is chewy yet melts softly, and pouring in the broth brings out an even cleaner, nuttier flavor.

The properly cured salmon ochazuke was moving too. Maybe because of the kombu curing, there's none of salmon's typical fishy taste, and the flesh is chewy yet melts softly in your mouth.

The natural nuttiness of fresh salmon strikes a perfect balance with the fluffy multigrain rice. Pour in the broth partway and eat it as if the salmon were lightly cooked, and the clean, nutty flavor doubles like magic.

When should you pour the broth into your ochazuke?

At Ochaya Yeonnam, you pour the warm broth from the kettle over the ochazuke when you've eaten about half the rice. Now that I've eaten about half, let's pour in the warm broth and taste the ochazuke!

When about half the rice was left, I poured in the warm broth from the kettle, glug glug, and the richness of the eel melted softly into the broth, creating a totally different dish with a deep new flavor!

Ochaya Yeonnam: the verdict

If you want a neat, easy-on-the-stomach Japanese lunch around Hongik Univ. Station where you feel properly looked after, I recommend Ochaya Yeonnam!

• The best easy-on-the-stomach place for lunch in Yeonnam-dong near Hongik Univ. Station!
• Great looks and a cozy mood make it a top pick for a Yeonnam-dong date!
• A variety of toppings to match your taste, plus the charm of enjoying ochazuke two ways!
• Both the smoky eel ochazuke and the soft salmon ochazuke were big hits! (Multigrain rice, broth and side dishes refillable)

If you want a warm, heartfelt meal that feels like comfort on a chilly day, or you're looking for a quiet, tidy Japanese restaurant in Yeonnam-dong, head to Ochaya. You might just meet the ochazuke of your life!