Kappo cuisine is a new powerhouse of Japanese cuisine that is more luxurious than an izakaya and more casual than kaiseki.
Chefs who handle knives and fire make food that suits the customer's preferences on the spot, and in Korea, there are many restaurants nearby, starting with the Cheongdam-dong area. Above all, it is characterized by maintaining freshness with seasonal ingredients that match the season, and presenting creative dishes using the chef's expertise. Here are some places to eat kappo cuisine that you won't want to put down your chopsticks once you miss them.
1. Cheongdam “Gapposan†is perfect for dinner, night, meal, or snack
Located in Cheongdam, “Gapposan†is a restaurant specializing in kappo cuisine that is great for important meetings and second trips. In addition to courses for meals, there are also separate courses for those who want to have a light drink after a meal, which is very popular. All dishes, including sushi, are served neatly on a plate, and in particular, Anago tadaki has a special flavor that is recommended as a favorite menu for regulars. The signature menu of this place is kamameshi, which brings out the natural flavors of the ingredients. Eel kamameshi and sea bream kamameshi are particularly popular. Even with the same ingredients, Gapposan's dessert, which is presented to customers with slightly different shapes and flavors, is a homemade tofu tiramisu that cleans the mouth.
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â–²Location: 20, Apgujeong-ro 79-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul â–²Opening hours: Ebika Knife 18,000 won, Anago Taki 25,000 won â–²Price: Closed every day from 18:00 to 01:00 on holidays â–²Review (Shikigami Jodongari Club): I liked Mount Sushi, and I also visited Gapposan, a great decision! It was an evening without regrets
2. “Mozu†in Sinsa-dong, a restaurant specializing in clean and soft gappo dishes
“Mozu†in Sinsa-dong is a great place to visit late at night when meeting friends. It's an attractive place with casual snacks and a modern and clean atmosphere. Mozu has a variety of menus, including course meals, appetizers where you can enjoy fresh sashimi, charcoal-grilled dishes, tempura, and hot pot meals, and there is also a tasting menu where you can enjoy a variety of sake little by little. “Chidoriyaki,†which is one of Mozu's popular dishes, is a dish made by grilling free-range chicken legs that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, making it a great side dish not only for sake but also for beer.
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â–²Location: Haedam Building, 10-5, Eonju-ro 153-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul â–²Opening hours: 18:00 to 02:00 every day, closed every Sunday â–²Price: 5 types of assorted sashimi, 60,000 won, 2 types of honmaguro â–²Review (2): The taste is good and the atmosphere inside the restaurant is exotic, so it's great to be able to enjoy Japanese food and sake for a change of mood on a special day. I think it was worth visiting
3. Heal your body and mind with kappo cuisine at the same time, “Gappo Healing†in Cheongdam
Located in Cheongdam, “Gappo Healing†is a new restaurant that just opened its doors, and its clean, casual interior is easy to visit. Gappo Chiyu's popular menu is “Perfect Salmon Salad.†Cooked using the sous vide technique, you can enjoy the soft and unique texture of salmon, and lemon oil, pesto sauce, cream cheese, and salmon roe combine to create a rich flavor. Here, you can enjoy new dishes created using creative cooking techniques by blending special ingredients and various ingredients, and you can also find sensuous plating from sensuous chefs.
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â–²Location: 34-2, Eonju-ro 164-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul â–²Opening hours: 18:00 to 24:00 on weekdays, until 01:00 on weekends, closed on Sundays â–²Price: Perfect salmon salad 22,000 won, sous vide oncenter tamago 12,000 won, assorted sashimi 58,000 won for 2 â–²Review (Shikigami Aritaum 12): Beef melts in my mouth. The ingredients are very fresh, and the fish also has an excellent taste that has been aged
4. Sushi Hosan's second brand, “Gappo Hosan†in Daejeon, a specialty store for kappo cuisine
“Gappo Hosan†is one of the best Japanese restaurants in Daejeon. Unlike the restaurants specializing in kappo cuisine, which are mainly located in Cheongdam, Seoul, it is located in Daejeon and is well known as the second brand of the famous sushi restaurant “Sushi Hosan†in Daejeon. The popular menu is “shimesaba,†where mackerel is wrapped in seaweed, and the fragrant chives go well with the savory mackerel. Gappo Hosan sells raw wasabi per gram, so you can enjoy it fresh by grinding it on a grater of shark skin. It's a place that offers à la carte dishes rather than courses, so it's not burdensome to mix.
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▲Location: 112, Bunkanwon-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon ▲Opening hours: Weekdays 18:00 — 02:00 Closed on Sundays ▲Price range: Sashimi, Oriawase, 55,000 won ▲Review (Shikigami, Friday): You can enjoy this level of quality in Daejeon. I'm not envious of Seoul.
5. People who know Japanese food, come here. Cheongdam “Gappoakiâ€
“Gappo Aki†is located in Cheongdam-dong, which focuses on the best flavors with fresh seasonal ingredients. It is a Japanese specialty restaurant that recently received rave reviews at the Demand Gourmet Festival, and it is also the place that first presented Gappo cuisine in Korea. They take pride in cooking only with seasonal ingredients, so the cuisine changes little by little every day, and many menus are prepared. The most popular menu items are “sashimi Moriawase,†which has a fresh flavor, and “tsukune-yaki,†a charcoal-grilled meatball made from minced chicken and chicken cartilage, which has an excellent chewy flavor. The third Kappoaki store is slightly different from the first and second stores, so be sure to check it out when you visit. Due to its steady popularity, it is recommended that you make a reservation at least one week in advance.
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â–²Location: 651-5 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu â–²Business hours: Weekdays from 18:00 to 00:00, closed on Sundays until 01:00 on weekends (Friday, Saturday) â–²Price range: 15,000 won for sugaki, 19,000 won for sujidadaki, 29,000 won â–²Review (Food Explorer): Japanese cuisine izakaya representing Gappoaki. The fresh ingredients and sashimi are flavors that cannot be enjoyed in traditional izakayas. We present foods with fresh and refreshing flavors that make you feel drawn to alcohol. When it comes to cooking, it's as good as a Japanese restaurant in a first-class hotel. However, the table seats are narrow and always full of people, so reservations are essential, and it makes you feel like you are in a crowded Japanese downtown restaurant.
6. Just like the authentic taste of Japan, Cheongdam “Juanâ€
“Juan†in Cheongdam-dong is run by a chef with decades of experience sent from Zeniya. This is a place where you can find a kaiseki course menu prepared by the chef himself. It is a place that specializes in tempura, and its signature menu is “fried beef,†a dish made by frying top quality tenderloin and topped with plenty of demiglace sauce. Thanks to deep-frying, the outside is crispy, but the inside is soft and moist, making it particularly popular among women. It is said to be the only place in Seoul that properly embodies Japanese tempura, so if you miss the crunchy texture of authentic tempura, be sure to visit it. “Today's kamameshi†is another recommended menu.
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â–²Location: 81-10 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul â–²Opening hours: Every day 12:00 to 02:00 LN Monday (DN only available)/18:00 to 24:00 DN every day (closed on Sundays) â–²Price range: Minchikatsu 30,000 won, fried beef 60,000 won â–²Review (Shikigami Chadonam JL): An authentic gappo restaurant with delicious fried beef and kaiseki course dishes. Be sure to try the fried beef
7. “Negi,†a shrine where you can shout eureka even with onions
The izakaya “negi,†which means “green onion†in Japanese, is located at the shrine. By showcasing foods that use green onions, you can enjoy dishes that relieve the feeling and make good use of their lightness. The most popular menu item is “kuro tamanegi,†a dish that takes advantage of the characteristics of onions that are sweet when cooked, baked in an oven, grilled over charcoal until the outside is completely burnt, then split the onion, topped with a sauce made from Japanese miso, eggs, and fresh cream, and topped with fried green onions as a garnish. This is a space that can accommodate everyone from group gatherings to trendy people in their 20s, and the stylish and clean interior combines a sense of luxury, so I am satisfied with the atmosphere.
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â–²Location: 540-19 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul â–²Business hours: 18:00 to 02:00 Closed on Sundays â–²Price range: Kaisen nabe 27,000 won, grilled onion 7,000 won, seasonal sashimi Moriawase (2 people) 55,000 won â–²Review (every day of eating): Grilled onions.. It was a very addictive flavor. Hehe, I fell in love with the onions that kept coming out.
8. Cheongdam “Gapponanwoo†has a reasonable lunch course
“Nanwooâ€, located in Cheongdam, is famous for its chewy sashimi. It's not a sashimi with a soft texture, but you can feel the “chewy†texture the moment you put it in your mouth and chew it. Also, the characteristic of this place is that it is eaten with salt and wasabi instead of soy sauce. As a restaurant that specializes not only in sashimi but also in kappo cuisine, it is popular for its cuisine, and “motsunabe,†which has an excellent hot and refreshing soup, is representative. It contains plenty of offal and sushi, so you can feel relaxed while drinking alcohol.
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â–²Location: 2F, 22-14 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu â–²Opening hours: 11:00-21:30, reservation required â–²Price range: 90,000 won for course A, 130,000 won for course B â–²Review (Doctor Shikigami): A place where you can eat good Japanese food when you want to have a drink with good people.
9. True to the taste and pride of mainland Japan, the middle school district “Gappo Furuyaâ€
“Kappo Furuyaâ€, run by Japanese Furuya, is a kappo cuisine specialty restaurant located on the back street of the U.S. Embassy. It's a place where the chef, who worked at Japanese hotels and restaurants for over 30 years and worked hard to spread Japanese cuisine for 17 years at Hyatt hotels, cooks his own food. Most customers are looking for course meals because they can look forward to new flavors every time with the cuisine composition that changes every day. Steak rice bowls and eel rice bowls that can be ordered separately are perfect for those who are not comfortable with course meals. They say that you can enjoy lunch at a slightly lower price than dinner, so it's a good idea to visit for lunch
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â–²Location: 19 Junghak-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul â–²Business hours: 11:30 to 22:00 on weekdays, 21:00, break time 14:00 to 17:30 â–²Price range: Seafood salad 18,000 won, octopus sauce 11,000 won, 5 types of assorted sashimi 48,000 won â–²Review (Shikigin Pimakna is love): Gwanghwamun now has a proper Gappo restaurant. I want to go again
10. “Ichie†in Sinsa-dong, a good value restaurant that I would recommend to anyone
“Ichie,†located in Sinsa-dong, was mentioned in a recent broadcast, and even though its popularity has soared further, it still draws people's attention with its unchanging flavor. Ichie's most popular menu is sashimi, where you can enjoy plenty of seasonal fish, mackerel fried rice flavored with fresh mackerel, and crispy and savory deep-fried eel. In particular, fried rice made by frying mackerel and eggs together has a savory flavor that blends well with aromatic and fresh garnishes such as sesame leaves and pickled plums to soothe your hunger. Uniikiradon is also said to be a popular menu item along with sashimi, so don't forget to order it.
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â–²Location: 2F, 656-7, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul â–²Opening hours: 18:00 to 24:00 on weekdays, closed on Sundays and holidays â–²Price range: Sashimi Moriawase 63,000-78,000 won, Yakisabaja Port 16,000 won, Anago Tempura 25,000 won â–²Review (Shikigami Madonna Stocking): Every food was charming and really delicious. From the menu you can eat at home to the sashimi, I think the boss's taste was amazing in many ways.