Yeoksam Japanese restaurant for seafood roe stew dinner: Chisot

Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch hours and parking

Open weekdays 11:00-21:30 and Saturday 11:00-15:00, closed Sunday. No parking available.

A 7pm visit and about a 10-minute wait

Tonight's dinner was at Chisot in Yeoksam-dong. It's popular for solo dining, lunch, dates, and evening drinks with food! Located between Yeoksam and Seolleung stations, it's easy to get to and convenient for office workers nearby at GS Tower, Centerfield, and Josun Palace.

We arrived around 7pm and the place was already full, so we waited about 10 minutes before getting in. The interior is on the cozy side, so expect waits during lunch and dinner peak times.

Inside Chisot: a small, cozy Japanese-style room

Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch has a Japanese-style interior — small but cozy and clean. The tables are set fairly close together!

There are counter seats, so solo dining is possible even during peak hours, and tables can seat up to 6 with a reservation :)

Furikake (seasoned seaweed and sesame topping) and sauce are set out at every table.

Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch uses domestic eel, rice, and even domestic kimchi for its main menu 👍🏻

Free rice refills and what we ordered at Chisot

Rice refills are free!! Isn't that great? The grains are fluffy and go really well with Japanese food.

I scooped myself a bowl and sprinkled on plenty of furikake.

• Seafood roe stew ₩28,000
• Mini hitsumabushi ₩25,000

The char siu-don and yakisoba I actually wanted were sold out, so I ordered the roe stew instead haha.

Is the seafood roe stew better with drinks?

The stew's main ingredients are fish roe, gonads, and mussels. The broth has a mild spicy kick! It seems like a great snack to order with a drink in the evening.

We ordered it as a meal though, so it was a little disappointing ㅠ..ㅠ We should have ordered two hitsumabushi instead!!

Mini hitsumabushi: an eel rice bowl to savor slowly

This is Chisot's signature eel rice bowl. 📍Note that the eel rice bowl takes quite a while to prepare after ordering!! It's not a quick in-and-out dish, so keep that in mind.

Even in the mini size, it comes with a generous amount of quite substantial eel. It was a good size to share alongside the stew.

The side dishes — miso soup, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), wasabi — are also neatly and beautifully presented. Everything is seasoned mildly, without being harshly salty.

The best way to eat the eel rice: chives, seaweed and wasabi

You can mix the glossy, shiny eel rice bowl however you like. I mixed in both chives and seaweed, then topped the eel with a little wasabi. That method was the tastiest :) If you want more umami, try adding furikake!

Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch menu and prices

Weekday lunch-only unagi bento

• Chicken nanban ₩16,000
• Salmon sashimi ₩18,000
• Char siu ₩17,000

Chisot rice bowls

• Sake-don ₩16,500
• Shoyu sake-don ₩17,500
• Half-and-half shrimp don ₩16,500
• Char siu-don ₩16,000

Hitsumabushi sets: mini, regular and premium

• Mini hitsumabushi ₩25,000
• Regular hitsumabushi ₩37,000
• Premium hitsumabushi ₩45,000

Dishes for drinks and side menu

• Salmon sashimi ₩35,000
• Whole fried eel ₩17,000
• Assorted oden nabe ₩24,000
• Seafood roe stew ₩28,000
• Buttered mentaiko ₩16,000
• Assorted croquette ₩15,000
• Mini salmon sashimi ₩17,000
• Mochi tofu ₩8,500
• 4 croquettes ₩8,000-14,000