A note on the words: dakkalguksu is a Korean chicken hot pot, and ban-gyetang is a half-size portion of samgyetang, a Korean whole-chicken soup. Bossam is simmered pork eaten wrapped in leaves; sangchu is the Korean name for the lettuce leaves used for wrapping. Kimchi mandu are dumplings filled with kimchi, namul are seasoned vegetable side dishes, samgyeopsal is grilled pork belly, and dak-ttongjip is the Korean name for chicken gizzards. Negi is Japanese long onion, kakuni is Japanese braised pork belly, and makgeolli is a cloudy Korean rice brew.
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Shimon on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Reservations by phone only, and seatings turn over completely (about an hour and a half in practice)
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, to a long-established Korean restaurant in Azabu-juban called “Shimon.” I had known it was there, but since they only take reservations by phone I had never quite managed to go. This time someone booked a table for me, so I finally got to go. Much appreciated! It sits a little way back off the shopping street of Azabu-juban. So there was a restaurant tucked away here!
Inside, every seat was taken!
Packed shoulder to shoulder, with real momentum in the room. Hugely popular.
Since basically everyone orders the signature hot pot, a burner is set at each table.
The specialty is dakkalguksu, a chicken hot pot. Reservations are by phone only, and seatings turn over completely (about an hour and a half in practice).
Shimon menu
The signature hot pot
The house standard, with chicken, udon, potato and negi
The standard hot pot with ban-gyetang added. This alone is plenty to fill you up
A la carte
Simmered pork and kimchi, wrapped up in sangchu
House-made Korean-style boiled dumplings
Generous even in the small size
Chicken gizzards stir-fried with garlic
*Prices are as of the publication of this article in May 2025. Please check in person or by phone for the current ones.
We decided to build the meal around the signature dakkalguksu and order whatever else took our fancy a la carte.
Well, first, a beer.
For the signature hot pot, since we were here, we went with the S-Dakkalguksu rather than the plain one.
What does the S stand for, I wonder — Super, maybe? Apparently it is the ordinary dakkalguksu with ban-gyetang added.
First to arrive was the bossam. The dish it comes in is probably the same one used for the large size, so the small does end up looking a little lonely on it, ha.
That said, I think this is plenty, ha. Seasoned, simmered pork and clean-tasting, delicious kimchi, wrapped up in sangchu and eaten in one go.
Yes — the gently simmered pork is delicious! And it is not as fatty as kakuni, so it eats light and easy.
Also ordered at the start, the kimchi mandu. Kimchi buns? Dumplings?
They are house-made Korean-style dumplings with kimchi inside, served boiled rather than fried. It seems to be a home-cooking sort of dish, and eating one, the seasoning is gentle — properly good even plain, without any dipping sauce.
Right around the time these arrived, the hot pot appeared!!!!
Oooh, that looks good.
One sip of the broth and it is a gentle chicken base, so very mild! Delicious!
Black pepper works nicely as an accent.
It is the house standard — chicken, udon, potato and negi — bulked up further with ban-gyetang.
Little by little the potato dissolves and the broth thickens!
Eating it while huffing at the heat is the good part. There is a lot of potato in it, plus the udon, so this alone will fill you right up. Which is to say, the version without the ban-gyetang, with just the chicken, might feel a little thin. Delicious.
Gizzards stir-fried with garlic. Good with a drink!
And then the small samgyeopsal.
This one is loaded even in the small size!
Crisp, fragrant pork you cannot stop eating — the makgeolli goes down far too easily!
This place runs on a strict turnover system. They say two hours, but the check tends to arrive at around an hour and a half and out you go, ha, so if you go in thinking of it as an hour-and-a-half sitting you will not have to bolt your food. In winter a hot pot warms you up, so it might be just the thing! In summer it would be a bit hot, ha. Though there is an argument that this is precisely the appeal. A good place!
Shimon (Korean / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
