Hitsumabushi eel rice bowl eaten 3 ways near Deoksugung: Tawa

Today I headed to City Hall Station — and right near Deoksugung Palace, I found a Nagoya-style eel rice bowl spot called Tawa~ Also known as hitsumabushi! I had it in Osaka once and never forgot the taste, so I finally went looking for it here~

Finding it from City Hall Station Exit 10

It's in the basement of Hansan Building, right there as soon as you exit City Hall Station Exit 10.

Take the stairs down to the basement in front of the building — if you see a 'squash' sign, you're in the right place haha.

As soon as you get downstairs, Tawa is on the left. The entrance already has that full Japanese-restaurant vibe, right?

There's a menu board at the entrance too, so it's easy to check before going in.

Waiting and parking info

There's a Catch Table sign out front! Checking Catch Table, you can make a reservation in advance or get in the waiting line, so keep that in mind~

Building parking is free for 1 hour when you dine at Tawa. It's a mechanical parking system, and once the free time runs out, it's ₩2,000 for the first 30 minutes and ₩1,000 per additional 10 minutes.

From private rooms to a 1-person bar table — the seating inside

Past the maze-like entrance, there are more seating options than I expected. On the right there are four rooms total for 4 or 6 people, which would be great for a private meal~

On the left there was everything from a 1-person bar table to 2-person and 4-person tables. I visited a bit after 1pm, when the lunch crowd had thinned out, so it was fairly relaxed.

I immediately chose the bar table where you can watch the eel being grilled! Right in front of me, I could watch the eel grilling over charcoal. Oh, I couldn't resist that haha — 'I have to sit here!' I thought, and sat right down. I wasn't actually that hungry, but watching the eel grill right in front of me suddenly made me starving.

The menu and ordering

Hitsumabushi, packed full of charcoal aroma, is the signature dish. The kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) also had a recommended mark on it! It even had anago liver in it, which got me curious.

• Hitsumabushi ₩30,000
• Cola ₩2,000
• ✔️ Total ₩32,000

I really love raw fish so the kaisendon was very tempting too, but after watching the eel grill right in front of me, I couldn't give up on hitsumabushi~

The hitsumabushi spread, 8 minutes after ordering

The hitsumabushi came out really fast — a neat, well-arranged spread. I walked into the restaurant at 1pm, and the dish arrived at 1:08pm. Wow, that's really quick!

The eel rice bowl smelled great, full of charcoal aroma. They opened the lid on the hot soup for me too — ready to eat!

There was a 'how to enjoy it deliciously' guide on the menu, so I followed it exactly!

1. Eating it plain

First, I scooped up a spoonful of eel and rice together to enjoy the charcoal aroma and sauce flavor.

The eel was so moist, packed full of charcoal aroma, and the umami of the sauce was so good it was genuinely delicious. There was zero fishy smell, and thanks to the charcoal grilling, the outside had a slightly chewy texture too. Delicious from the very first bite!

2. With the toppings

Second was eating it with the seaweed and perilla leaf that came alongside. I'm actually really good at making neat wraps~ so I made a proper one.

I put in a whopping two pieces of eel. There was plenty of eel, so I indulged a bit~ When the aroma of the seaweed and perilla leaf met the charcoal aroma of the eel, it was a dance in my mouth! The sharp wasabi cut through any richness that might have felt heavy, and it was absolutely amazing.

3. Ochazuke

Last was ochazuke (tea-poured rice). They first portioned some eel rice bowl into a separate bowl~ and the warm green tea water they'd prepared was ready to go too!

Pour the green tea water generously over the eel rice bowl and it's done. I took my first bite and honestly, it was even more delicious than I expected? The slightly bitter aroma of the green tea blended beautifully with the sauce soaked into the eel. This was really charming too — I finished the whole bowl in no time!

Which way was the tastiest?

Which one was the best... honestly, this time I really can't pick just one haha. I ate the first half-bowl trying all three methods once, then went through all three methods again with the second half. Plain if you want to really taste the eel itself, with toppings if you want something fragrant and refreshing, ochazuke if you want a warm, gentle finish! In the end, doing all three seems like the tastiest way haha.

Pro tip: hinoki-scented spray

After the meal, there's a hinoki-scented spray at the entrance you can use too. Since I sat at the bar seat right in front of the eel grilling, I gave myself a spray before heading out haha.

Final thoughts

I came here remembering the hitsumabushi I had in Osaka, and I loved it starting from the moist eel with its full charcoal aroma. The fun of eating it three different ways meant it never got boring until the end, and next time I want to try the kaisendon I was curious about haha.