Jung-gu Seoul Japanese restaurant with private rooms: kaisendon, Tawa

Today I visited Tawa, a City Hall, Seoul favorite! I was looking for a clean, well-styled Japanese restaurant near City Hall Station and finally went, on my own dime, to the kaisendon spot I'd only heard about by word of mouth. Honestly I walked in without much expectation, but from the space itself to the visuals of the food, I let out an actual "oh?!" out loud!!!

What Tawa looks like inside, and is there a private room?

When you go down into the basement of Hansan Building, Tawa greets you with a tidy facade — I heard it reopened under the name Tawa after previously being called Muwa. Right from the entrance, a calm, upscale mood flows through, and it looked more than fitting as a date-course spot near City Hall Station.

Step inside and you'll find warm wood-tone counter seats along with an independent private room, making it perfect for a company dinner near City Hall Station too.

Tawa's menu: how much is the kaisendon?

Open Tawa's menu and you get a real sense of authentic Nagoya-style dining, with a variety of Japanese rice bowl dishes neatly laid out. The signature dish at this City Hall, Seoul favorite is the kaisendon at ₩25,000, and the samsaekdong (three-color bowl) with flounder, salmon, and tuna is also ₩25,000. The kaisendon comes loaded with flounder, salmon, tuna, squid, and ankimo (monkfish liver), and the samsaekdong lets you enjoy the flavor of three kinds of fish generously as well.

I heard Tawa tracked down a charcoal brazier hand-made by a Japanese craftsman and grills their eel directly over charcoal, so I'm already excited about how good the smoky flavor and texture must be. Next time I definitely have to order their signature Nagoya-style hitsumabushi and pour ochazuke broth over it to enjoy it in different ways haha.

The place overall felt quiet and neat, and I thought there's really no better spot near City Hall Station for bringing your parents or having a private meal with people who matter to you!!

Tasting the fish in Tawa's 25,000 won kaisendon

The kaisendon I ordered came out as a neat full set, and the glossiness and thickness of the sashimi piled high in the bowl was seriously amazing. They only use seafood that came in that day, so there was zero fishy taste, and the moment it hit my mouth, the fresh umami of the sashimi just exploded ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Putting a thick piece of sashimi on the slightly seasoned, warm rice, then wrapping it in seaweed with wasabi, made for a fantastic combination. Given the quality and quantity of the seafood, ₩25,000 felt completely worth it — great value. The only small letdown was not getting to try the Nagoya-style charcoal-grilled eel rice bowl, which is apparently also a signature dish, this time around haha. Apparently the repeat-visit rate among actual customers at this Deoksugung-area favorite is really high, so I'll definitely have to come back soon to try the eel rice bowl.

How to eat Tawa's kaisendon, and who the restaurant suits

With its tidy full-course setup and independent private room, I'd strongly recommend Tawa as a date spot or gathering place near City Hall Station. Mixing the special soy sauce on the table well with wasabi and drizzling it lightly over the sashimi really brought out the seafood's natural sweetness even more.

The ankimo (monkfish liver) in particular has such a rich, savory depth that mixing it into the rice gave the umami a whole different level of depth. After eating about half of the kaisendon, I highly recommend wrapping rice, a piece of sashimi of your choice, and the perilla leaf served on the side in seaweed.

Next time you're craving a fresh, neatly plated bowl of kaisendon near City Hall Station, be sure to stop by and experience some upscale Japanese dining (´▽`ʃ❤ƪ)