Gangseo eel restaurant for family lunches: Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa

I went to a great eel rice bowl place at One Grove in Magok to recharge with an eel rice bowl alongside Blog Fan No. 1. One Grove has all kinds of restaurants, and I’d been curious because the food always looked so upscale whenever I passed by. It was such a happy lunch break—I hadn’t had a proper eel dish in ages.

Location and parking at One Grove by Magok Station

The restaurant is Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa One Grove Branch. It is in E101 and E102 on the first floor of Building A, 165 Gonghang-daero, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and is reachable from Magok Station on Line 5. It is open daily from 10:30 to 22:00, with last orders at 20:50. You can use the One Grove parking lot, and parking is validated with payment.

• Free for 1 hour with a spend of ₩20,000–₩30,000
• Free for 2 hours with a spend of ₩30,000–₩50,000
• Free for 3 hours with a spend of ₩50,000–₩100,000
• Free for 5 hours with a spend of ₩100,000 or more

How to get there

It is also close to Magok Station and Magongnaru Station, so it is pretty accessible for office-worker meals or group get-togethers.

• If arriving underground, enter through the Office Building A entrance
• Take the escalator to the first floor, then turn right
• Walk toward the Tim Hortons
• With Tim Hortons behind you, walk toward the elevators
• Come to the door leading outside on the left, go out, and the restaurant is on your right!

Interior with window seats and private rooms

The overall atmosphere was neat and polished. With its upscale feel and beautifully presented dishes, it was great for a work lunch like ours, but would also be perfect for a date or a family meal.

We were shown to a window table, and there were also rooms that could seat larger groups.

Even though we visited at 11:30, there were quite a few people there.

Hitsumabushi ₩38,000

Hitsumabushi (₩38,000)

Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa serves food based on the traditional eel cuisine of Nagoya, Japan, so it had many dishes that were a little different from typical grilled eel.

Along with hitsumabushi, it was nice that you could try a broad range of Japanese dishes, including sashimi set meals and tempura set meals.

Its signature dish is Nagoya-style hitsumabushi made with two-thirds of a whole grilled eel, so we all ordered that!

Trying the eel in different ways

Rather than eating it all at once like a regular eel rice bowl, the special thing is dividing it up and enjoying it several ways.

• Scoop out the eel and rice as is to enjoy the eel’s natural flavor
• Eat it with the accompanying condiments
• Pour in broth or tea and enjoy it like ochazuke (rice in tea or broth)

It was one dish, but the flavor changed depending on how I ate it, which was more fun than I expected. I first tried just the eel and rice; perhaps because it was charcoal-grilled, it was crisp and pleasantly chewy. It was mild, and the eel’s distinctive nutty richness came through nicely.

If eel is seasoned too strongly, you can get tired of it quickly when eating it with rice, but the seasoning here was not overpowering, which I really liked. The side dishes totally hit the spot too..

Most of all, the eel flesh was so tender!!

The outside was nicely browned while the inside felt moist, so it was amazing with the rice.

At the end, I poured in the broth. The warm broth made it softer and gave it a completely different feel from the eel I’d eaten before.

If you like eel but find ordinary grilled eel or eel rice bowls a little heavy, this could be a good way to try it.

Especially because I changed up the accompaniments along the way instead of eating only eel and rice the whole time, I did not get tired of it even at the end. It is not exactly a budget meal, but if you want to experience Nagoya-style eel cuisine, I think it is well worth visiting at least once. It was the place that felt most similar to what I ate in Nagoya.

Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa One Grove Branch was a great choice when I wanted a proper eel meal in a clean, polished space.

The eel itself was tender and mild, so people of all ages can enjoy it without feeling burdened. It seems like an ideal spot for a family meal. I liked it enough that I want to revisit for an anniversary.

One Grove itself has well-designed rest areas, so it is also nice to look around before or after your meal.

• If you are looking for a special-occasion meal spot
• When you want a meal that feels different from usual
• For anyone looking for a good eel rice bowl restaurant at One Grove in Magok

The atmosphere is just right for it, so do pay it a visit. Next time, I want to try other eel dishes or a course meal too〰️〰️