Eel rice bowl and Kirin draft beer near Seoul City Hall: Tawa

I've been really into Running Man lately — probably an episode from ages ago, haha. Anyway, I've been watching old episodes on Netflix as dinner company, and in one episode the cast ate eel rice bowl so deliciously that I suddenly needed some myself. Luckily I had errands near Euljiro and City Hall, so I got the chance to have dinner at Tawa, a Seoul City Hall restaurant.

Tawa's location and the scene at 6pm

Tawa is a Japanese restaurant in the basement of Hansan Building, 115 Seosomun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul. Even though it's in a basement of a commercial building, this Seoul City Hall restaurant looks really pretty from the outside. I took a photo before going in, haha. There might be a wait at lunchtime too — there were a few chairs set up outside for waiting.

I showed up right at 6pm — much earlier than the usual office-worker rush hour, haha. So there was still plenty of space. By around 7pm the place was completely full. Now let's take a close look at the menu!

Tawa's menu and prices

Tawa's signature dish is the hitsumabushi, a Nagoya-style eel rice bowl set for ₩30,000, while the rice bowls kaisendon and samsaekdong are ₩25,000 each. For a lighter lunch, the set menus run around ₩15,000.

• Hitsumabushi ₩30,000 – Nagoya-style eel rice bowl set
• Kaisendon ₩25,000 – seafood rice bowl topped with halibut, salmon, tuna, squid, and monkfish liver
• Samsaekdong ₩25,000 – rice bowl with four pieces each of halibut, salmon, and tuna

• Japanese curry ₩15,000 – Japanese-style curry with mushrooms and shrimp tempura
• Umakarabuta set ₩15,000 – spicy Japanese-style pork with sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew)
• Shogayaki set ₩15,000 – ginger soy sauce Japanese-style bulgogi with sundubu jjigae

• Signature eel – Unagi kabayaki ₩28,000 / Unagi shirayaki ₩28,000
• Signature sashimi – Tawa assorted aged sashimi ₩39,000 / signature tuna assortment ₩39,000 / aged salmon sashimi ₩25,000

• Shogayaki (large) ₩22,000
• Umakarabuta (large) ₩22,000
• Mixed tempura platter ₩22,000
• Chicken karaage ₩20,000
• Clam sundubu jjigae ₩12,000
• Baby shogayaki ₩8,000

Wine, sake and other drinks

• Wine – Goutte d'Argent Pinot Noir ₩60,000 / Goutte d'Argent Sauvignon Blanc ₩60,000 / Goutte d'Argent Chardonnay ₩60,000 / Tapiz Chardonnay & Pinot Noir ₩55,000 / Menovilia Moscato d'Asti ₩30,000 / Colle Frisio Bianco ₩55,000
• Sake – Momokawa Daiginjo Shunmai Osho ₩264,000 / Momokawa Daiginjo Shunmai Hanaomoi ₩80,000 / Momokawa Junmaishu ₩29,000 / Momokawa Kinsho Okanbin ₩7,000
• Drinks & soft drinks – Kirin draft 360cc ₩6,000 / soju ₩5,000 / Cass ₩5,000 / cola or zero cola ₩2,000

I ordered a draft beer. The foam was coarse in a way I hadn't seen in a while — a really light, easy-drinking feel.

Nagoya-style hitsumabushi, eaten the proper way

Tawa's hitsumabushi is a ₩30,000 Nagoya-style eel rice bowl set, and there was a card on the table explaining the correct order to eat it in. Following the instructions, I tried the eel alone first, then over rice, then with wasabi, and finally with seaweed.

The Nagoya-style eel rice bowl arrived.

So, the eel rice bowl — underneath is rice with sauce, and on top is thinly sliced eel. They said the portion was pretty generous, so I only ordered one, but I probably could've added a side dish too, haha.

There was also seaweed, wasabi, and what looked like shiso or perilla leaves to go with it, plus pickled radish to pick at.

On the side, there was broth and hot water for ochazuke (tea-poured rice) too!

I tried the eel first. I'd only ever seen eel cut into wide, flat pieces, so this thinly julienned style was new to me! I picked up three pieces together, haha.

Then a piece on top of the rice.

Adding a bit of wasabi too, eating it as instructed, haha — I'm diligently following the guide right now.

And then wrapped in seaweed.

This one was surprisingly good. If you like fragrant herbs, you'd probably like this combination. Not telling anyone that I went home and boiled up instant noodles afterward, haha. I had a satisfying eel rice bowl after a long time at Tawa, the Seoul City Hall eel rice bowl spot.