Okonomiyaki with tabletop hot plate near Seoul Forest: Hotcho Seongsu

The weather's been getting nicer lately, and on a day this good I wanted an overseas feel without leaving the country, so I headed to Hotcho, a place absolutely dripping with Japanese vibes. Hotcho is an okonomiyaki specialty restaurant that usually has a wait, so I went in half-nervous, half-excited. Luckily, since we went on a weekday evening, we got seated right away with no wait, and the second we walked in we could really feel the Japanese atmosphere.

Location and parking at Hotcho Seongsu

Hotcho is located near Exit 5 of Seoul Forest Station. For parking, it's convenient to use the lot below, though keep in mind the lot is a bit narrow and slightly tricky to drive up into ㅠㅠ

• Parking: Seongdong-gu Citizens' Sports Center (89 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul)

Hotcho is on the first floor of the building, so it's easy to find — just look for the big sign that says "hotcho."

On busy days, you can join the wait through Catch Table like this.

Interior atmosphere and menu

First off, the dining hall overall is on the dark side, with the lighting concentrated at each table.

Every table has a cooking hot plate (?) set up, but since we ordered okonomiyaki, we barely used it — mostly just for keeping the okonomiyaki warm.

Below is the menu. There's an incredibly wide variety of okonomiyaki. On top of that, there was also yakisoba and dumplings, which we ordered too.

Once you've decided on your order, you write it down and hand it to the staff — we went with the signature two-person set.

What's in the signature two-person set

What we ordered

• Hotcho Hiroshima okonomiyaki
• Togarashi (chili) yakisoba
• Yaki gyoza

When you order, they give you cabbage — the cabbage itself was sweet and crunchy, and the dressing drizzled on top was nice and tangy haha

This is the sauce caddy — there's okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, and what looked like a Japanese pepper (?). These sauce bottles looked so cool that I wanted to stock up on a few next time I'm in Japan lol

Finally, the okonomiyaki arrives! They lay the okonomiyaki right on the hot plate and turn on the power, so the food stays warm the entire time you're eating — I loved this part.

Once everything's set up, it looks like this! The okonomiyaki and yakisoba were plated on the hot plate, and the yaki gyoza was set aside separately.

Hotcho Hiroshima okonomiyaki

Let me start with the okonomiyaki — it had a really delicious, health-food kind of feel. What I mean is, when I first came across okonomiyaki, it looked visually like something far from healthy, but once I cut into it, it was packed with cabbage and meat, which surprised me, and the taste surprised me even more.

This is the Hiroshima okonomiyaki! It's stuffed full of cabbage inside, and one bite in, the egg, meat, scallion, and cabbage came together so well — I ate it up happily.

It's actually pretty thick too, so just this alone filled me up haha

If you drizzle on the mayo from that sauce caddy earlier, it comes out in these thin lines — the whole time I was drizzling it I felt like a Japanese chef, which made me happy haha. Anyway, adding extra mayo or okonomiyaki sauce as you eat is a big recommendation!

Togarashi (chili) yakisoba

The togarashi yakisoba had a subtle chili aroma with a smoky char, and since that aroma wasn't overpowering, it paired really well with the okonomiyaki. It was also great eaten on its own.

The sauce is also quite thick and spicy, so it's amazing to take a bite of it right when you're starting to get a little tired of the okonomiyaki!!

Yaki gyoza

The yaki gyoza had a crispy bottom on the dumplings, and that crispiness is the kicker.

Dipping them in the ginger soy sauce they gave us was seriously, seriously good ㅠㅠ I hope everyone orders the signature set so you can try the yaki gyoza too.

Overall thoughts

When I first ordered the signature set, everything looked kind of similar, so I worried the flavors might all taste the same — but each dish was distinct in its own way and really delicious. And they went so well together when eaten as a combo, so I really recommend Hotcho. This was my first time ever trying okonomiyaki, and I think I'll be back for more!!