Seoul City Hall Japanese restaurant with ₩15,000 corkage: Tawa

A Japanese restaurant near Seoul City Hall that gets both mood and price right

Tawa is a Nagoya-style hitsumabushi (grilled eel rice bowl) restaurant on the basement floor of Hansan Building near City Hall Station and Deoksugung in Seoul. It's surprisingly hard to find a restaurant near City Hall or Deoksugung with a genuinely nice atmosphere that's still reasonably priced. Tawa turned out to be a really satisfying find — the space is clean and upscale, and the hitsumabushi was solidly delicious.

Especially considering typical hitsumabushi prices these days, ₩30,000 felt pretty reasonable 🥺👍

It also seemed like a good spot for a date near City Hall Station, or for a meal after visiting Deoksugung.

What is the interior of Tawa like?

Even though Tawa is below ground, the space feels clean and upscale overall. The moment I walked in, the atmosphere was already winning me over!

It's clean and upscale throughout, which made it feel right for a date or a meetup near City Hall Station. It's not so heavy or formal that you'd feel stiff going in, and it's the kind of place I'd think of when looking for a nice-atmosphere restaurant near City Hall or Deoksugung.

Bringing your own wine: corkage at Tawa is 15,000 won a bottle

Tawa also allows corkage. It's ₩15,000 per bottle, which includes glasses and chilling service, and hard liquor like whiskey is counted as two bottles.

They also run a wine import business on the side, so they apparently sell good wines at relatively good prices — worth keeping in mind if you're a wine person! With the upscale atmosphere, this place also works well for a City Hall Station wine dinner or a group gathering, not just a date.

Tawa's signature dish: Nagoya-style hitsumabushi for 30,000 won

I tried Tawa's signature dish, Nagoya-style hitsumabushi (grilled eel rice bowl).

The eel wasn't overly sweet or sharp in flavor — just solidly delicious.

It's great just eating the eel and rice together, but adding the accompaniments partway through lets you enjoy the same dish in slightly different ways each time — that's really the charm of hitsumabushi.

Rather than an especially unusual or intense flavor, it leaned toward the clean, crowd-pleasing style that's easy to eat without much room for dislike. I also ordered the mini shogayaki as a side, and it was so good 😍 Now I get why they sell it separately!!!

Finishing the hitsumabushi as ochazuke

And here's my favorite final step when eating hitsumabushi — ochazuke (rice steeped in savory broth)!

I saved some eel and rice, poured the broth over it, and it finished off even softer and more delicate than what I'd eaten before.

Compared to just eating one bowl of eel rice straight through, changing up how you eat it this way kept things from getting monotonous, all the way to the end.

Is 30,000 won hitsumabushi good value at Tawa?

One of the things I personally liked most about Tawa was the price point. The signature hitsumabushi is ₩30,000, which felt quite reasonable given how eel dishes are priced these days. The restaurant itself is clean and upscale, so for anyone looking for a good restaurant near Seoul City Hall or a date spot near City Hall Station, I'd say the balance between price and atmosphere here is solid.

Would I go back to Tawa?

My biggest impression was that this is a place where you can get a well-made, clean-tasting hitsumabushi at a reasonable price, rather than something flashy or heavily seasoned.

The flavors were satisfying throughout, and the ochazuke finish was great. Most of all, the price felt good relative to the atmosphere, so I'd happily come back. Recommended if you're looking for a restaurant near Deoksugung or Seoul City Hall, especially if you want a clean Japanese meal for a date near City Hall Station!