Haeundae Japanese restaurant eel ochazuke set: Yuok

Yuok Location and Visit Information

Yuok (유옥) is a Japanese restaurant in Songjeong, Busan, with a menu centered on unaju, Japanese-style grilled eel over rice, alongside a variety of Japanese dishes! My sister and I were planning to walk around the outlet all day, haha, so we decided to have a seriously filling lunch from the start 😊

The Restaurant at Opening Time

It opens at 11, but some people were waiting from 10:50, and the moment it opened—whoosh!—everyone came rushing in 🫣 (We got there way too early and wandered around the restaurant, hahaha.)

There are counter seats and around three facing tables! My sister and I keep saying we want to go to Japan.... This was like a little substitute for a semi-Japan trip, haha. There are individual restrooms through the back door, too!

So cuteㅠㅠㅠ Look at those details!!

Finally seated 😀 They thoughtfully serve barley tea (I love restaurants that do this~).

There are instructions on the table for how to enjoy the food! They explain it once again when the food comes out, but this is for when you forget, haha.

We were both driving, so we couldn't have beer, but leaving a review for a glass of beer sounds worth doing 👍🏻

Menu: Eel Rice Bowls to Udon

The main menu is posted at the entrance too, so you can decide beforehand, haha.

Besides eel rice bowls, the menu had salmon rice bowls, toridon (chicken rice bowl), saba ochazuke (mackerel rice with tea broth), udon, and more! There is a separate dinner menu, too.

Ordering the Jumbo Unaju and Salmon Rice Bowl Sets

Our picks! The signature Jumbo Unaju Set and the Salmon Rice Bowl Set. We ordered one eel and one salmon :)

As soon as the food arrived, we knew we'd made the right call ordering different dishes, hahaha. Japanese set meals are always so pretty, starting with the colors 🤍 Everything came out so neatly arranged that I couldn't not take photos...📸 (So colorful and pretty... this is why I want to go to Japan...) It was great that we could share and taste both dishes!

Jumbo Unaju Set

There were big pieces of eel right on top of the rice, so it looked filling at a glance 👀 Yuok reinterprets Osaka-style eel rice bowls in its own style, apparently! They say its defining feature is carefully selected ingredients that make the eel especially tender and generous to enjoy!

That glossy eel...🤎 The eel was nicely grilled and moist with sauce, too! Doesn't it look even more delicious up close? 👀 hahaha

How to Enjoy the Eel Rice Bowl

Before we ate, the staff kindly showed us how to enjoy the unaju :) First, use the rice paddle to cut the eel once lengthwise and then crosswise into bite-size pieces, then enjoy it however you like!

• Wasabi + scallions + sauce: Top the eel with wasabi and scallions, then add sauce.
• Rolled omelet + eel: Place eel on the rolled omelet hidden beneath it and eat them together.
• Ochazuke + eel: Pour the ochazuke tea broth over the rice, take a spoonful, and top it with eel 🍵

With bites of rice and eel together, I polished off the bowl properly! My pick was topping a spoonful of ochazuke with a piece of eel!

Salmon Rice Bowl Set

The Salmon Rice Bowl Set we ordered with the eel bowl! Glossy salmon was piled on so appetizingly, and the neatly served set was beautiful from the very first look 🧡 The salmon was sliced thick, too, so every bite was wonderfully full :)

How We Ate the Salmon Rice Bowl

The salmon rice bowl is simple to eat, too :) First, drizzle lemon juice over the salmon 🍋 Then put sliced onion and salmon on the rice, add scallions and wasabi, and eat it all in one bite! The bright lemon juice made the salmon taste even cleaner and fresher 🧡

Thoughts on Sharing Two Dishes

🤎 Overall, we were very happy with Yuok. We ordered one unaju and one salmon rice bowl, then shared them! Eel and salmon both~ When your food preferences line up like this, it's the happiest thing, hahaha 🤭 Both came as neatly arranged set meals, and each had its own way to enjoy the accompaniments, so it was fun trying them one by one!

The signature unaju especially stayed with me because the eel pieces were so big and there were several ways to enjoy it 🤎 I'd like to come back for dinner next time, hehe. If you're craving an eel rice bowl or a neat Japanese set meal in Songjeong, or looking for somewhere to eat near the Kijang Outlet, Yuok in Songjeong, Busan, could be worth a visit :) If you're visiting as two, I also recommend ordering an unaju and a salmon rice bowl like we did, then enjoying both dishes together!