Grilled chicken torimabushi in Yongsan, Seoul: Una Yongsan Main Branch

After work on a weekday, I was meeting my boyfriend in Yongsan and trying to figure out what to eat when I remembered saying I wanted eel — so I looked around, made a reservation, and headed to Una Yongsan Main Branch.

I'd heard this place is run by a Japanese chef with 22 years of experience cooking eel the traditional way, and it's known as a Yongsan eel rice bowl specialist, so I went in with high expectations. 🤤

How to get to Una Yongsan Main Branch, and where to park

Una Yongsan Main Branch offers 1 hour of free parking in the building's garage, with extra charges after that. It's ₩1,500 per 10 minutes, and SUVs and large vehicles can park too. You must register your parking after your meal!

🐢I came straight from work on foot, and it was a straight 10-minute walk from Exit 4 of Sinyongsan Station (with the escalator haha). Take the elevator or stairs up to the 2nd floor!

Outside Episode Yongsan: finding the entrance

Una Yongsan Main Branch is on the 2nd floor. The exterior gave off an upscale Japanese restaurant feel, with waiting seats set up on one side.

📍Hours are daily from 11:30 am to 10 pm. (Break time from 3 pm to 5 pm ⚠️)

Private rooms and hall seating at Una Yongsan Main Branch

Inside, Una Yongsan Main Branch is split into room-style seating — two 4-person rooms, one 8-person room — and an open hall with about 15 table seats. Facing the entrance is an open kitchen where you can watch the cooking.

The moment I walked in, my eyes went straight to the autographs behind the counter haha. Facing forward was the open kitchen where you could watch the cooking, and to the left of that was another space.

That side had the room seating — two 4-person rooms and one 8-person room. They were curtained off with fabric, which gave the space an upscale, very private feel. 👍 They're also running an event where groups of 4 or more using a room for a wedding invitation gathering get free champagne 🍾 — worth noting if you're planning one!

Further in on the right was the spacious open hall, with about 15 table seats.

In the middle of the hall, wooden decor, sheer curtains, and the lighting design combined for a calm, upscale interior mood. The dark-toned tables and chairs probably added to that feeling too haha.

There were a lot of nice-looking spots, so after some deliberation, we sat by the window.

Menu and what we ordered: hitsumabushi 42,000 won, torimabushi 29,000 won

At Una Yongsan Main Branch, you check the menu and order via a tabletop kiosk. My boyfriend said we absolutely had to try their famous eel rice bowl and chose the hitsumabushi (₩42,000), while I wanted to try chicken, so I ordered the torimabushi (₩29,000).

They also said you get Una ginseng liquor if you participate in the receipt review event, so if you like a drink, take part! 😋

What is the tare sauce at Una?

Before the food arrived, I checked out the tare sauce sitting on every table. From the look of it, it seemed like a clear tsuyu-type sauce, but apparently it's simmered for over 10 hours with more than 30 kinds of herbal medicine ingredients. 🫪 It had a faint sujeonggwa (cinnamon-persimmon punch) smell, which cracked me up.

How does the hitsumabushi (eel rice bowl) taste?

The hitsumabushi comes with eel brushed in tare sauce aged for 3 days, grilled over charcoal more than 3 times. From head to tail, it looked really solid — the amount of eel was more than I expected!

They use top-grade eel, so the flesh was really plump, and the skin was no joke either. I got curious and snuck a bite of my boyfriend's — the flesh was soft, the skin was chewy, and it was so plump it filled your mouth for a satisfying chew. Thanks to the tare sauce, it was slightly sweet and salty with great umami on top. 😋

Torimabushi (grilled chicken rice bowl): side dishes and what comes with it

The torimabushi comes standard with seasoned mushrooms, potato salad, seasoned cucumber, braised konjac, plus wasabi, seaweed flakes, broth, perilla leaf, green onion, furikake, and pickles (gungchae, wild garlic, carrot).

• Torimabushi comes with furikake but no separate soup
• Hitsumabushi has no furikake but comes with separate broth
• The braised konjac and potato salad were amazing.!!

The grilled chicken was brushed with tare sauce and grilled over charcoal three times, coming out perfectly crispy outside and juicy inside. Wow... so glossy... 🥹 They use whole chicken thigh meat, so it was delicious on its own, and it paired great with wasabi, egg garnish, or onion too!

Best combination: tare sauce, perilla leaf and wasabi

There's rice underneath, and mixing it with tare sauce, egg garnish, and onion is already good — but adding perilla leaf and wasabi and mixing it all together was next level, fragrant with a sharp kick. Totally recommend the tare sauce + perilla leaf + wasabi combo!! ⭐️

How to make ochazuke with the broth

Once you've eaten about a third of the torimabushi, you use the provided rice bowl to make ochazuke haha.

• 1️⃣ First, add green onion, seaweed flakes, furikake, and chicken to your taste.
• 2️⃣ Pour in the broth that came out earlier.

Super easy haha 🤭 Mix it well and eat it with the chicken and you get that little "oh!?" moment. The seasoning is just right too, so it goes down surprisingly smoothly haha. You end up wondering why it's so good 😆

This bone-broth-like broth tastes like an extremely light miso soup — more of a light flavor than a deep one. Almost like it's slightly watered down haha. But it's subtle with good umami, and eating it with furikake made the seasoning just right haha.

For dessert, we got green tea ice cream. Sweet and slightly bitter, rich and thick — even though I was full, I kept eating it! We both kept saying this is real green tea while eating it haha.

Is Una Yongsan Main Branch worth a visit?

That hearty rice bowl spread really felt like a nourishing meal. I left feeling completely satisfied haha. And that unstoppable tare sauce was so good I wanted to buy a bottle to take home!! (I love cinnamon 🤭) Whatever you mix it with, it makes it delicious!

The free champagne event for wedding invitation gatherings is great, the upscale vibe makes it a good spot for group meals, and if you want to try authentic eel rice bowl, I recommend Una Yongsan Main Branch!