Daehak-ro tonkatsu date spot: Akai Set and karaage don at Maison Akai

Where to eat on a Daehak-ro play date?

Maison Akai Hyehwa is the tonkatsu place in Hyehwa we found after watching a play in Daehak-ro. It's summer, so we've been doing lots of indoor dates, and I recently went on a Hyehwa date with my boyfriend!! Sitting in a cool theater and focusing on the actors' performances was so healing.

When people think of Hyehwa, they usually think of going to see a play in Daehak-ro!! We had booked the play, but I really agonized over what to eat, where the food is good, and whether it works as a date course!! My boyfriend loves tonkatsu, and for a rare Daehak-ro date you don't want just any ordinary tonkatsu place, right? You want somewhere with atmosphere. Maison Akai, where we went this time, has a mood that totally wins over girls' hearts, and the taste, the portions and the quality were all so good. It's a real Hyehwa gem!! haha

Maison Akai Hyehwa: location, hours and parking

Maison Akai Hyehwa is at 34 Daemyeong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul (2nd floor), and it's open daily 11:30–21:00 (last order 20:20). It's open year-round with no break time, and parking is not available.

Here's the outside!! Photoism is on the 1st floor, and you head up to the 2nd floor.

Maison Akai interior: how's the date mood?

Inside, Maison Akai has a wooden interior that looks like it came out of a Japanese Ghibli family home, with lots of pretty flowers. I said "wow" the second I walked in. The atmosphere was so good haha

The wood-toned interior is lovely and there are so many flowers, so I thought, this is perfect for a date course haha

For seating, there are tables for four like this, and tables for two too haha

What did we order at Maison Akai?

At Maison Akai we ordered the Akai Set with melon soda, plus a karaage don (fried chicken rice bowl)! The Akai Set is a set menu with Akai teishoku (set meal) + kimchi nabe udon + ade or melon soda, and the value is so good!

Every seat has plenty of chili powder, mustard and tonkatsu sauce, and the aburaage (fried tofu) miso soup that came as a side was so delicious haha

The melon soda arrived first!! You all crave melon soda in this hot summer weather too, right?! I had a glass of the fizzy, refreshing melon soda and took a photo with it hahaha (the photo came out so well!)

What were the Akai Set and the portions like?

The Akai Set at Maison Akai comes with hot kimchi nabe (hot pot) udon, tonkatsu, and refillable rice, so it's a really full lineup. The food came out faster than I expected, and wow, look at how it looks!! And then there's the karaage don, with the fried chicken piled up like a tower hahaha

Every dish was such good quality that even a quick snap looked delicious in photos!! And why are the portions so big? The two of us nearly burst eating it haha

Loin katsu and tenderloin katsu

Both the loin katsu and the tenderloin katsu at Maison Akai were crispy outside and juicy inside, proper Japanese-style tonkatsu that nobody could possibly dislike!! The coating is crunchy but the meat is thick and tender, so this is textbook tonkatsu.

Karaage don: won't it be dry?

The karaage don at Maison Akai surprised me when I ate it! Karaage don is often a bit dry inside, like chicken breast, but Maison Akai's karaage don is just like fried chicken. It was so juicy and tender. Can you see the drumstick juices in the photo?! The sauce also tastes like Supreme Chicken, so it's super addictive haha

Kimchi nabe udon

The kimchi nabe udon is one I'd have regretted skipping!! It's hot out, but I'm completely in favor of kimchi udon with this kind of flavor. The chewy udon, soaked through with the kimchi broth, came with assorted vegetables and tonkatsu, so we ate until we were full.

Is Maison Akai worth going back to?

Maison Akai Hyehwa is a real Hyehwa gem, perfect in taste, atmosphere and value. Even if it's not a date, I'd definitely visit, even alone.