Magok eel restaurant: mero mabushi ochazuke, konjac refills, Una Magok

Where is Una Magok, and how is the parking?

Una Magok is on the 1st floor of Case Square Magok Tower 2, 105-7 Magokjungang-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. It is open daily 11:20-22:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 21:00. Parking is free for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Here's my review of eating hitsumabushi and mero mabushi at Una Magok, a great spot at One Grove Mall in Magok. Let's go!

Una Magok, the One Grove Mall favorite, is on the 1st floor of Case Square Magok Tower 2. Parking is free for an hour and a half, so just park in the underground car park and come up.

What's the atmosphere at Una Magok? Good for blind dates and business meals?

Una Magok is clean and calm, so it suits blind dates and business meals, and it has private rooms too. The interior is pretty and keeps the focus on the food, maybe that's why one table was clearly on a blind date! Magok is packed with big companies, so it's great for anyone looking for a business meal spot. If you want privacy, book a room before you visit~

What are mero mabushi and hitsumabushi at Una Magok?

Una Magok specializes in hitsumabushi, the traditional Nagoya way of serving eel (grilled eel over rice). It also has a rice bowl made with mero (Patagonian toothfish) that you won't find elsewhere, the mero mabushi. It's said to be a first in Korea, so I'd say definitely try the mero mabushi.

Grilled mero is always my order at an izakaya (Japanese pub), so I already love mero, and since this bowl uses it I chose the mero mabushi (₩42,000)!

My boyfriend got Una Magok's signature hitsumabushi (₩42,000)! Its special sauce, simmered for over 12 hours with around 30 kinds of herbal ingredients and aromatics, is said to lift the flavor of the eel even more.

There's also a clear guide on the table to eating hitsumabushi and mero mabushi, so first-timers may want to follow it.

What comes with the mero mabushi set?

The mero mabushi comes with the rice bowl, 4 side dishes, perilla leaf, scallion, seaweed and wasabi garnishes, a soup, and a bowl for ochazuke (rice with tea broth). This is my mero mabushi! It's the first of its kind in Korea and you can only try it at Una~

Under the bowl there are 4 sides: braised konjac and radish, cucumber salad, potato salad, and stir-fried king oyster mushrooms with perilla seed.

Perilla leaf, scallion, seaweed and wasabi come to eat with the rice, and the salad, soup and ochazuke each get their own bowl too.

The hitsumabushi also has sides laid underneath, with thick pieces of eel, tail included, neatly arranged on top.

How do you eat mero mabushi for the best flavor?

At Una Magok you eat hitsumabushi and mero mabushi first as a rice bowl, with egg omelet strips and the fish on top of the rice, then pour in tea broth and eat it as ochazuke. First, put the omelet and eel on the rice to enjoy the flavor of the eel.

I put omelet and thick, soft mero on my rice, with a little perilla leaf on top.

Next I poured in the tea broth for ochazuke, and I fell in love after one bite,, the mero mabushi tasted richer as ochazuke than as a rice bowl, so I had just one bite as a rice bowl and ate the rest as ochazuke.

What about side dish refills and dessert at Una Magok?

At Una Magok, if you ask for a side dish refill they give you a generous amount, and the meal ends with green tea ice cream for dessert. This One Grove Mall favorite has tasty sides as well as rice bowls, so I finished the first helping and asked for a refill, and they piled on so much that I wouldn't run short ㅠ The braised konjac was especially my taste ㅠ Other places give you a tiny portion, but here they filled the plate when I asked, so I cleaned all of it up before leaving.

Dessert is included too, and finishing with cool green tea ice cream wiped away the greasiness left in my mouth, so I left feeling happy and full after a satisfying meal.