Japanese restaurant near GS Art Center with self-serve rice: Chisot

(2026.09.11) Happy Friday evening! I'm usually the type to bolt straight home after work, but today I felt like eating out, so I strolled toward Yeoksam.

Where is Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch? 6 minutes from Yeoksam Station Exit 7

Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch is a Japanese restaurant a 6-minute walk from Yeoksam Station Exit 7. I've eaten here before at department dinners, but this was my first solo visit, and coming in the evening gave it a whole different feel.

Here's the exterior of Chisot. It looks like a great spot for anyone working near Yeoksam Station to come refuel.

Chisot's name literally means "a single flame rising over charcoal" — I eat eel rice bowls fairly often, so I was already looking forward to this.

Chisot Yeoksam menu: hitsumabushi and the weekday-lunch unagi bento

Here's the Chisot Yeoksam menu.

They only use Grade 1 domestic Japonica freshwater eel, aged 72 hours for a deep, rich umami flavor. Authentic Nagoya-style hitsumabushi finished with a subtle smoky char from premium binchotan charcoal — I was even more excited!!!!

I'd already decided on the hitsumabushi, but I took photos of the whole menu anyway. They also sell unagi bento on weekday lunches only, and it's delicious too!! I've had it at a work dinner haha. They also serve side dishes and drinks, so it'd be a great spot for a drink after work too~

There's ochazuke furikake sitting on the table.

They're also giving out salmon jang (soy-marinated salmon) through a Naver review event, so if you're interested, it's worth joining! I took part too.

Extra rice and ochazuke at the self-serve corner

At the back of Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch there's a self-serve station where you can help yourself to more warm rice and ochazuke. It was really convenient to use.

The names and instructions are kindly written out, so even first-time visitors should find it easy to use!

Since it's an open kitchen, I could see the eel being grilled. Fun to watch~~ They had already lined up a row of trays ready for evening diners. Made sense — customers kept coming in, and a lot of people were picking up takeout too!

What comes with the hitsumabushi set at Chisot

Here's the hitsumabushi set I ordered. Time to dig in solo, properly.

It's served on a tray as a neat, complete set. I always love how tidy Japanese food presentation is~~

It was a generous spread, and it looked like the kind of nourishing meal that gives you energy just by looking at it~

The portion was quite large, and it was piled high with eel. They also have a premium hitsumabushi — now I'm curious just how much more eel that comes with~~ I'll have to try it next time haha.

I took a video too. Gorgeous....!

The set came with the eel rice bowl, soup, steamed egg, ochazuke, and side dishes, plus a bowl and paddle for portioning it out~ There was a shrimp sitting right on top of the steamed egg.

It had a savory, fluffy texture, and being warm made it go down smoothly. The side dishes weren't skimpy either, but if you need more, you can just ask the staff!

How to eat Chisot's hitsumabushi in four steps

They gave me a little note on how to enjoy Chisot's hitsumabushi, which I read closely. Food always tastes best when you eat it the proper way.

First, use the wooden paddle to divide the eel rice bowl into four portions.

• Scoop just eel and rice into a bowl to taste hitsumabushi in its purest form
• Mix in seaweed, wasabi, and chopped scallions for a richer, more layered flavor
• Pour in Chisot's signature ochazuke and enjoy the warm, lingering finish
• Finish with whichever method you liked best and savor that rising energy

I went through them one by one, exactly in the order given.

Even step one was already delicious...! The pure hitsumabushi flavor was soft, with just the right hint of smoky char lingering subtly in the mouth.

I mixed in the seaweed, wasabi, and chopped scallions and gave it a good stir. The original hitsumabushi flavor didn't disappear — it actually became even more layered together with the other ingredients.

I poured in the ochazuke and ate it warm. Ochazuke literally means rice soaked in warm tea, and it has that easy, palate-cleansing, light-meal quality.

All three methods were delicious for me. The flavor changed slightly depending on how I ate it, so I kept switching between the different methods!

Eating it with ochazuke gave me a comforting, settled feeling, so by the end I think I mostly kept eating it that way!

Make sure you add the furikake too!!!! I forgot to add mine and only sprinkled it in near the end. I bet furikake would taste great mixed into plain rice too haha.

Finishing with salmon jang from the review event

I finished off the meal with the salmon jang I got from the review event haha.

Even the salmon jang was delicious — I sat there quietly impressed, eating it all the way through! Chisot Yeoksam Main Branch is great whether you go solo or with a group, and the hitsumabushi was so, so good. Feels like I got properly nourished, body and mind, as summer wound down! I want to come back again soon!!! Writing this up is making me crave that soft eel all over again~ Recommending it as a great Japanese restaurant near GS Art Center.