Songjeong Japanese restaurant for tender eel bowls with egg: Yuok

While looking for somewhere to eat near Songjeong Beach, I found this place: Yuok. Daily 11:00–22:00 Break time 15:00–17:00

Yuok near Songjeong Beach: location and parking

Yuok is near Songjeong Beach, so it is easy to get to haha. It is in a good spot for heading over for a meal after looking around the beach in Songjeong, so I think it would suit anyone looking for a place to eat while traveling. A great place to visit when, like us, you have come to Songjeong and want a proper Japanese meal for lunch or dinner!

The building was beautifully done too haha. There is even a cute little pond.

There is a dedicated parking lot right next door too, so there is absolutely no need to worry about parking!

Japanese-style seating for a relaxed meal

Once we went inside, the atmosphere was even nicer than I had expected haha. They have counter seats like this too.

There are table seats as well. They were charming and full of Japanese style. It was a good place to visit on a day when you want to enjoy a calm meal rather than somewhere overly loud and bustling.

We sat by the window and looked out to the side, and the mountain trees were so lush that I almost wondered whether we were really in Songjeong haha.

Mackerel ochazuke and salmon rice bowls alongside eel

Yuok is best known for its eel rice bowls, but it also sold a variety of other dishes. There are mackerel ochazuke (rice in tea or broth) and salmon rice bowls too haha.

There was a separate dinner menu too, and it looked like it would be nice with drinks. Since there are lots of accommodations around Songjeong, I think it would be great to get a place nearby and come by in the evening with a drink.

A full eel rice bowl set with soft rolled egg

We ordered two eel rice bowls. The look of them caught my eye right away haha. There was a generous amount of eel on top of the rice, so they looked much heartier than I expected!

It was not just an eel rice bowl on its own; it came as a full set with soup, salad, plum tea, and other accompaniments, which made the overall spread feel generous.

Yuok says it reinterprets Osaka-style eel rice bowls in its own style, serving them softer and more generously. When I actually tried it, the eel's texture was what stayed with me first haha. It was very tender rather than chewy or overly firm!

There was rolled egg underneath the eel, and it was much more substantial than I expected. It is easy to picture an eel rice bowl as simply eel on rice, but the soft rolled egg beneath it added another layer of texture. Since both the eel and the rolled egg were soft, the whole thing was wonderfully moist to eat.

Trying the eel rice bowl three ways

There were several suggested ways to enjoy the eel rice bowl, so I tried all three haha.

First, I tried the eel itself without mixing in much rice or other ingredients. It was the most direct way to appreciate just how tender the eel was haha.

It was incredibly soft and just melted in my mouth.

Next, I tried the rice and eel together. This really feels like the most classic and delicious way to eat an eel rice bowl. Add scallions and wasabi, and the flavor changes completely. The wasabi in particular freshened up the rich eel flavor, so I could keep eating without it feeling heavy.

Finally, I could make it ochazuke-style too. It went down easily with the warm broth. Being able to eat one eel rice bowl in several ways meant the flavors never felt monotonous from beginning to end. After trying the different methods, my favorite was definitely the rice + eel + scallion + wasabi combination. The scallion aroma complemented the eel's soft texture, and the little bit of wasabi made the flavor much cleaner. The eel was so tender that it paired beautifully with the rice haha. With rolled egg underneath the rice as well, it was much heartier than expected haha. I also loved that it came as a full set with soup, salad, and plum tea!! If you want to see the sea in Songjeong and have a delicious meal afterward, I highly recommend Yuok haha.