Nagoya-style hitsumabushi restaurant in Yongsan: mentaiko set at Una

I suddenly had a craving for eel rice bowl and while looking around found out there's a place in Yongsan that serves hitsumabushi. So I went straight to Una, a Yongsan eel rice bowl restaurant.

Where is Una Yongsan Main Branch, and what are its hours?

Una Yongsan Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of Episode Yongsan 241, 37 Hangang-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It's open Monday–Sunday 11:30–22:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00 and last order at 21:00.

• Location: 37 Hangang-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Episode Yongsan 241, 2nd floor
• Hours: Mon–Sun 11:30–22:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00 / Last order 21:00
• Parking: 1 hour free in the building's parking lot, then ₩1,000 per 10 minutes

Walking about 10 minutes from Yongsan Station, you'll see the HYBE building, and right across from it is the Episode241 building where Una is located.

Una is a hitsumabushi dining spot that reinterprets traditional Nagoya-style eel rice bowl in a modern way.

Going up to the 2nd floor, you see a gold sign and a wooden door. The exterior already gives off such a cool vibe -

Inside Una Yongsan Main Branch: atmosphere and private rooms

Una Yongsan Main Branch is a calm Japanese dining space with black and brown tones, and it has separate 4-person and 8-person rooms. Open the wooden door and you see an open kitchen; open the curtain and you enter the hall. You know that vibe you feel right when you walk into a place? The interior felt really upscale and calm.

The hall had quite a few 4-person tables. The atmosphere seemed great for celebrating an anniversary or having a meeting :) You can reserve a room in advance, so if you need one, booking through Catch Table is a must.

Ordering the mentaiko hitsumabushi (small) for 42,000 won

You order everything through the tablet on the table. I was debating between eel alone, but there was a menu with a strip of mentaiko on top too, so I ordered that right away!

• Mentaiko hitsumabushi (small) 42,000 won

Wow •• the mentaiko hitsumabushi came out as a full spread. Hitsumabushi? It's a Nagoya-style eel rice bowl made with a tare sauce aged over 10 hours with about 30 kinds of medicinal ingredients, then grilled over charcoal for deep flavor.

Rice + egg garnish + half an eel + a strip of mentaiko, plus banchan (side dishes) to pair with it and tea served alongside for making ochazuke. The difference between small and regular is just half eel versus whole eel - everything else comes the same.

How to eat hitsumabushi at Una in three stages

• ☝️ Eat rice and egg with the eel
• ✌️ Eat rice and egg with the mentaiko
• 👌 Make it into ochazuke

Can you see how plump the eel is? The plump, soft texture of the eel was so delicious. There's tare sauce served separately, so you can drizzle it on to taste. Careful not to add too much though, or it gets salty and sweet.

Refillable side dishes and the mentaiko ochazuke finish

The banchan at Una Yongsan Main Branch are mushroom, konjac, sweet potato salad, and cucumber salad - all four are refillable, so just ask for more if you run out. (The sweet potato salad is amazing.)

Once you've enjoyed the mentaiko, eel, and rice bowl for a while, it's time to switch to ochazuke. Put rice and mentaiko in an empty bowl and pour in the tea that comes in a tokkuri.

I tried to make it look pretty haha

Mentaiko ochazuke - the salty-savory taste of the mentaiko met the broth and turned into pure umami. Eating it as a warm soup felt like a completely different, charming twist from eating it as a rice bowl.

Matcha ice cream to close, and is Una Yongsan worth it?

And to finish, matcha ice cream. A dessert that's just sweet enough to cleanly wrap up the meal! An absolutely perfect meal.

If you're craving eel rice bowl in Yongsan, looking for a Yongsan room dining spot for an anniversary, or searching for a good restaurant near the National Museum of Korea, I recommend Una Yongsan Main Branch. Great atmosphere, great taste, kind staff - it was the best.