Gangnam Station Japanese spot: whole eel and kaisendon for two, Ilpum

Today my husband and I went to Ilpum Gangnam Branch near Gangnam Station. I'd been looking for a clean, tidy Japanese place around Gangnam Station, and I got curious when I heard this one is famous for kaisendon and unagi-don. It's especially well known as a Gangnam Station kaisendon spot, so it looked good for either lunch or dinner.

Where is Ilpum Gangnam Branch, and what are the hours and parking?

Ilpum Gangnam Branch is at 23 Seocho-daero 74-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul (B1, Unit 106; Seocho-dong 1327). It is open Mon–Sat 11:00–21:30 with a break time of 15:00–17:30, and closed on Sundays. You can use the building's underground parking, and they say up to 1 hour of parking is covered.

Naver reservation perks

• Reserve on Naver and get 2 free pieces of sushi of your choice as a show of support for expecting mothers
• Reserve on Naver and get 2 pieces of birthday-celebration nigiri sushi
• Reserve on Naver and get 1 bottle of free corkage
• Reserve on Naver and tap "get notifications" to receive 2 pieces of croquette

Must-know tips before you go: waiting and seating

At weekday lunch, there's quite a line at Ilpum Gangnam Branch because of the office workers. The restaurant is mostly counter seating, perfect for solo meals or dates, and there are also 4-person tables. When there's a wait, you need to write your name and party size on the waiting list.

We came in the evening right when the break time ended, so we got in without any rush.

The very menu the stars raved about on TV

Ilpum Gangnam Branch was featured on KBS's "Baedal Wassuda" (Delivery Arrived). As soon as we walked in, a notice caught my eye, and it was the one about the TV feature.

They said these were the dishes that national actor Hwang Jung-min and mukbang godmother Lee Young-ja raved about and picked, so my expectations were sky-high before we even ate. Getting to see the dishes I'd drooled over on TV right in the middle of Gangnam was so exciting!

That day we ordered the two signature menus of Ilpum.

• Kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) - ₩26,000
• Whole-eel unagi-don (eel rice bowl) - ₩40,000

It's a special pop-up menu you can only try at Ilpum.

What does the basic table setting at Ilpum Gangnam Branch look like?

After you order at Ilpum Gangnam Branch, a table setting of chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard), soup and white kimchi arrives by default. The chawanmushi was soft and jiggly, like a pudding.

There was even a plump shrimp inside the warm chawanmushi, so it was a perfect appetizer to settle the stomach.

Ilpum kaisendon (₩26,000): what's in it and how it tastes

The kaisendon at Ilpum Gangnam Branch is ₩26,000 and came out quickly after we ordered. It looked like the whole ocean packed into a single bowl.

The first thing I thought when the bowl arrived was how generously it was loaded. Sashimi, shrimp, scallop, crab meat, flying fish roe, tamago (Japanese rolled omelet) and more seafood were neatly arranged on the rice, and the colors were so pretty that I was in a good mood the moment I saw it.

The sashimi, aged with kelp to push the savory umami to the max, wrapped around my tongue with a chewy texture the second it went in my mouth, and the balance with the vinegared sushi rice was excellent.

Topping it with ankimo and wrapping it in seaweed

Above all, the rich, nutty ankimo (monkfish liver) was the masterstroke. I put rice and sashimi on the dried seaweed sheet they give you, dabbed on a bit of wasabi and wrapped it up, and the taste made me forget all my worries.

You can dip things in soy sauce or wrap them in seaweed, and since you get to taste lots of different seafood in one bowl, I never got tired of it until the end.

If you're looking for a kaisendon near Gangnam Station, Ilpum's kaisendon is worth ordering first.

What is the ₩40,000 whole-eel unagi-don like?

The whole-eel unagi-don at Ilpum Gangnam Branch is a ₩40,000 eel rice bowl topped with one whole eel. It's the legendary stamina-boosting eel bowl that national actor Hwang Jung-min picked and praised endlessly on KBS's Baedal Wassuda.

When it landed on the table, my husband and I gasped at the same time. A whole eel sits there, big and chunky, so the visual impact is huge. They say they use only top-grade Korean freshwater eel of the japonica species, and maybe that's why the eel flesh is so thick and plump.

The eel in the unagi-don was soft and moist. When I picked it up with chopsticks, the flesh came apart naturally, and the eel's signature nuttiness hit first in the mouth. The sauce was sweet and salty, and not too heavy or overwhelming.

The sauce had soaked into the rice just right, so it tasted best when eaten together with the eel.

Under the eel there's sweet, thick Japanese rolled omelet (tamago) and soy-sauce rice with the sauce soaked in just right, and eating those together with a piece of eel was seriously delicious.

Karaage udon and hallabong panna cotta dessert

At Ilpum Gangnam Branch, udon topped with karaage (Japanese fried chicken) comes out in the middle of the meal, and a hallabong panna cotta dessert comes at the end. Just when you're enjoying the meal, the hot udon gets served at a perfect time.

Chewy noodles, a deep, rich broth and crispy karaage on top made it just right for filling the stomach with warmth after the cold food.

For the final palate cleanser, you get a soft panna cotta pudding topped with refreshing hallabong (Korean citrus) filling, and its sweetness tidied up my mouth and kept me happy all the way out the door.

If you join the Naver receipt review, you can also get 2 croquettes as a service, so don't forget to claim them and enjoy a fuller meal!

It was a perfect meal where I felt, with my whole body, why Hwang Jung-min loved it so much.