A note on the words: dolsot bibimbap is mixed rice served in a piping-hot stone bowl that crisps the rice at the bottom, seasoned at the table with spicy-sweet gochujang chili paste and topped here with crunchy tobikko flying-fish roe. Banchan refers to the array of small side dishes served with a Korean meal, which at this lunch included japchae stir-fried glass noodles, kinpira braised lotus root, fried chicken, seaweed soup, and self-serve kimchi from an earthenware pot. Budae jjigae is army stew, samgyeopsal grilled pork belly, seolleongtang ox-bone soup, yukgaejang spicy beef soup, sundubu soft-tofu stew and naengmyeon cold noodles.
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Korean Kangansurure Higashi Kan on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Thinking I might have lunch in Akasaka today, I was wandering about. I decided to check out “Korean Kangansurure Higashi Kan”, a Korean restaurant along Misuji-dori. I seemed to recall there was also a branch along Hitotsugi-dori, but I had never been, so I had been curious about it! This location sits on the second floor.
Korean-style tonkatsu set meal — 1,100 yen
Harami (skirt) set meal — 1,000 yen
Kalbi set meal — 1,000 yen
Bibim naengmyeon — 1,100 yen
Dolsot bibimbap — 1,000 yen
The menu looks great — while wondering what Korean-style tonkatsu could be, from budae jjigae to samgyeopsal, seolleongtang, yukgaejang, sundubu to bibimbap, grilled meat to naengmyeon, ha, isn’t pretty much all of Korean cuisine here? With this much variety, there is no way you won’t find something you want to eat. Impressive, ha.
So this time, I chose the dolsot bibimbap. Looking forward to it!
Now, before I knew it, little side dishes were arriving one after another.
When you think of Korean food, you certainly think of this generous spread of banchan side dishes.
The portion of japchae on the far left is quite generous. The seasoning is mild, but delicious.
On top of that, there is salad and kinpira of lotus root. And to my surprise, fried chicken, steamed chicken and broccoli dressed with mayonnaise, and a seaweed soup. The kimchi sits in an earthenware pot, which they said to help yourself to freely.
You could almost just order a beer, nibble on these snacks, and head home completely satisfied, ha.
In fact, I felt like I might get full even before the main dolsot bibimbap arrived.
And then, the dolsot bibimbap made its appearance.
I gave it a vigorous mix to develop the crisped rice at the bottom. Well, it is your typical dolsot bibimbap, but the tobikko (flying-fish roe) is a great touch. I feel like typical yakiniku restaurants don’t usually put tobikko in their stone-bowl bibimbap, but having tobikko somehow gives it an authentic Korean feel. Mixing in the gochujang and blowing on each bite, it was piping hot and delicious.
Counting all the side dishes, finishing everything was practically impossible, so maybe asking for yukgaejang without rice might have actually been the better move, ha.
In any case, this is Korean dining with serious volume. At 1,000 yen for all this, the value is just unbelievable. In a world where everyone talks about inflation, I feel like places where you can get this full for so little are few and far between. Highly recommended when you want to eat a hearty meal. Also, if you crave Korean food but haven’t decided what you want, they have everything here, so I think you will like it. By the way, payment was cash only, so be careful.
Korean Kangansurure Higashi Kan (Korean / Akasaka Station, Tameike-sanno Station, Akasaka-mitsuke Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
