Gwanak Japanese restaurant Friday dinner: cold udon at Kosi

When you’re craving cold udon near Seoul National University Entrance Station

It is open daily from 11:00 to 20:50, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00. The indoor restrooms are separated by gender, and parking is not available on weekdays. According to the restaurant notice, on weekends and public holidays, if the building parking is empty and a sign is out, you can move the sign aside and park for one hour; there also seem to often be empty spaces along the main road beside the building.

There wasn’t a good cold-udon spot near Seoul National University Entrance, so I used to go all the way to Seongsu… 🥹

I pass Exit 5 of Seoul National University Entrance Station every day, and I thought, “Has an impressive new restaurant opened on Syarosu-gil?!” Turns out it was a great cold-udon place 🏃♀️🏃♀️ I ran straight over!!

Friday evening counter seats that are easy for solo diners

It was 7 p.m. on a Friday evening, and takeout and dine-in customers kept coming ‼️ All the street-facing window seats are counter seats, so they are set up nicely for people dining alone without feeling awkward. Here are the cold-udon options!

And here are the pork cutlet options! The nice thing is that the set combinations are so well planned: you can add a mini pork cutlet to cold udon, or mini udon to a pork-cutlet dish, so you can try several things!! 👉 When sharing feels a little awkward, or you came alone but want to eat everything… you know this matters, right?! ‼️⚠️

There were two of us, so we sat at the counter, where the big windows gave us such a pleasant view outside ✅ There were quite a few solo diners too! With the counter seats, table ordering, and mini-menu combinations, it looked genuinely great for eating alone. Next time I need to come by myself and try cold udon with a mini pork cutlet 🤤

You can order and pay at the table all at once!!! Perfect for shy people 👏

Since there were two of us, we ordered two individual dishes—and they have Kirin beer here? Ordered immediately 🍻🍻🍻

Right in front of us were salad dressing, sesame seeds, utensils, wet wipes, napkins, and even paper cups! Personally, at pork-cutlet places like this, it is oddly annoying to call a staff member every time I need more sauce or sesame seeds. Everything I needed was right there, which was so convenient!! I hate having my meal interrupted, so I tend to give lots of points for little details like this..⭐️ ✅ (This is important too.)

Ordering tempura bukkake udon and half-and-half katsu

🍜🍤 Tempura bukkake udon (cold udon with tempura) ₩11,000 It comes with inari sushi, assorted toppings (daikon radish, scallions, tempura flakes), and salad.

🥩 Half-and-half katsu (Japanese breaded cutlet) ₩13,500 It includes 2 pieces of cheese katsu and 6 pieces of pork loin katsu!

Broth on the side, tempura texture your way

The udon comes with the broth on the side!! That means you can choose whether to let the tempura get soft or keep it crispy, haha. But that tempura was seriously delicious ‼️✅ The noodles were bouncy and chewy. Yes, this is it.. haha

How the pork loin and cheese katsu tasted

Since the half-and-half katsu includes pork loin, the regular katsu did feel a little dry. But you can moisten it with the cold udon. The cheese katsu was packed with mozzarella and very tasty ❤️ At first I dipped it heavily in sauce, then halfway through I tried just a little salt. Personally, I liked the salt better because the meat flavor came through more clearly. The rice and clear soup served alongside also went together nicely, making it a filling meal.

Above all, there are so many menu choices that I don’t think it would be hard to pick something no matter who you come with! I think of it for days when I’m craving pork cutlet but want to have a bit of this and that too, hahaha 🍽️ Next time I definitely need to try the cold udon too.. I’ve already picked my next order ✅ The staff were so kind, and the restaurant was very clean, so I had a really pleasant meal!