Gangseo eel rice bowl restaurant with ochazuke: Una Magok

Una Magok (우나 마곡)

A great spot for Nagoya-style hitsumabushi, an eel rice bowl with irresistible charcoal aroma

I heard an overwhelmingly upscale eel rice bowl restaurant had opened in the K Square building near Magok One Grove and Seoul Botanic Park, so after work we went for hitsumabushi and torimabushi. Let me tell you about getting a real taste of Japan here!

Una Magok

The K Square Magok building is right behind One Grove.

Una Magok is on the first floor of K Square Magok Building 2. If you are coming by public transit, it is just a short walk above ground from Exit 5 of Magoknaru Station.

Walk straight from Exit 5 of Magoknaru Station, then go around the building where you can see Xi C&A or S&I Corporation.

Go in the direction of the arrow and you will see it right away!

What are Una Magok’s exterior and interior like?

Una Magok has a grand, luxurious atmosphere.

The overall feeling was like a veeery upscale hotel restaurant.

But Una Magok specializes in Nagoya-style hitsumabushi and says it makes its food with 30 medicinal ingredients and no artificial seasoning.

When I stepped inside, it smelled like an Aesop store. It genuinely felt like entering a hotel, which immediately put me in a good mood.

Right beside the counter, through a window, I could see eel being deliciously grilled low and slow over charcoal in the kitchen.

The black-and-white interior gave off the polished feel of a Japanese restaurant.

There is also group seating on one side, which looked great for gathering together over a meal.

There are around four private rooms farther inside. If you would like one, please reserve ahead through Naver!

The rooms are cozy, so they seem suitable for a meal with friends or family, or even a company dinner.

The menu, from grilled eel to torimabushi

Here is Una Magok’s menu. Since it is known for eel rice bowls, grilled eel dishes are the main event.

There is also torimabushi (charcoal-grilled chicken) and meromabushi (grilled escolar), so I think anything would be delicious depending on your preference! You can have it with mentaiko, too, and there are à la carte dishes and plenty of drinks, so keep that in mind 🤗

Trying hitsumabushi three ways

We ordered one hitsumabushi and one torimabushi. From the bowls and dishes to the cutlery and trays, it was Japan itself!

Hitsumabushi comes with one whole eel, while the special has 1.5 eels. With a whole thick, plump eel inside, it looked so generous, and the shredded egg omelet made it so pretty.

The chubby eel, nicely grilled over charcoal and giving off a gentle smoky fragrance, covered the square box in two neat rows. It was radiant!

In Japan, soft eel rice bowls are characteristically served with shredded egg omelet, and at Una Magok you can taste that local-style food.

Before eating, first read the guide on the table for enjoying mabushi deliciously.

• With rice, just as it is
• With scallions, perilla leaf, shredded seaweed, and wasabi
• With tea (or chicken broth for torimabushi)

The side dishes included pickled vegetables, perilla leaf, green onion, wasabi, seaweed, and soup.

But that was not all—there were more Japanese-style side dishes hidden under the rice bowl? 🫶 Such cute little Japanese vibes!!!

Soy-marinated konjac, cucumber topped with mayo, mushrooms that I thought were meat, and potato salad.

Now, let’s really try the hitsumabushi. The eel was wonderfully grilled: crispy outside and moist inside.

It was properly grilled over charcoal, with that smoky flavor deeply infused. The surface had been grilled while repeatedly brushed with tare sauce, so the seasoning had soaked in and it was moist.

To enjoy its natural flavor, I had it with just rice, eel, and egg. The eel’s nutty, clean taste came together with the charcoal aroma and seasoning for such deep flavor.

It was delicious plain, but Una Magok’s hitsumabushi was even better with a little wasabi. It brought out a deeper flavor and made the grilled eel shine.

It was so addictive that I kept adding wasabi for a while. The charcoal aroma was especially captivating.

I also followed the guide and added toppings such as perilla leaf and scallions, whose sharpness made it taste cleaner. But eating it with wasabi alone was absolutely the best!

Finally, the crowning glory of an eel rice bowl is pouring in tea for ochazuke, rice in tea broth. Add rice, shredded egg omelet, and eel, then pour in the tea.

Una Magok’s tea is seasoned and scented with katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), making ochazuke with even richer umami. Compared with eating the eel rice bowl as is, ochazuke is very moist and more umami-rich, letting you enjoy eel rice bowl in a whole new way.

Charcoal-grilled chicken torimabushi and chicken broth

This time, here is the torimabushi my husband ordered. The charcoal-grilled chicken thigh looked so appetizing.

Torimabushi is topped with charcoal-grilled chicken, and the portion was so generous that it felt like great value.

Looking closely at the surface, its dark char marks made it clear it had been well grilled over charcoal.

The side dishes were the same as for hitsumabushi, but torimabushi came with furikake separately.

I tried the chicken first. The outside was crisp and the skin slightly rough, while the inside was moist and tender.

Torimabushi uniquely includes sliced onion. Have rice, shredded egg omelet, onion, and chicken in one bite, and the onion’s sharpness spreads through your mouth, bringing nutty, clean, and refreshing flavors all at once.

Because it is a lighter chicken dish than grilled eel, anyone of any age can enjoy it without feeling weighed down.

I recommend adding perilla leaf to the torimabushi—the leaf’s aroma went well with the chicken.

The furikake added an even crisper feeling and amplified the nutty flavor of sesame and shredded seaweed. It also had little popping textures as you chewed, for more savory, salty deliciousness.

And once you add the umami-bomb shredded seaweed, it is so good that you cannot stop eating 😋

Torimabushi gets even more special from here. Its tea is chicken broth. Add rice, shredded egg omelet, chicken, and scallions, then pour in the chicken broth—it tastes incredible.

It had a deep flavor different from dak gomtang, chicken soup, and the broth, tender grains of rice, and chicken all worked so well together. I wanted to keep refilling the broth and mixing in more.

Green tea ice cream after the meal

After finishing our hitsumabushi and torimabushi, we even had green tea ice cream for dessert. Once you finish eating, tap “Call Staff” on the tablet and they will bring the ice cream!

With a clean green tea flavor and matcha powder sprinkled on top, it was a wonderfully rich and sweet ice cream. It refreshed my palate and rounded out a satisfying meal 💗

How was it for a Magok date meal?

From its grand exterior onward, Una Magok feels like an upscale restaurant in Japan. Its hitsumabushi captures the authentic flavors of Nagoya, making everything from the side dishes to the main course feel special.

It seems like the perfect place for a date in Magok, so I recommend it. ⭐️Highly recommended!⭐️

• People looking for a date-friendly restaurant near Magok Station
• People looking for restaurants near Magok One Grove or Seoul Botanic Park
• People who want to taste authentic Japanese eel rice bowls
• People wanting a special meal near LG Arts Center