A note on the words: dak-galbi is a Korean dish of chicken stir-fried in a sweet chili sauce; the pan here is laid out in sections, with the cheese poured into the last one. Japchae is a stir-fry made with chewy sweet-potato glass noodles, bossam is boiled pork wrapped in leafy sanchu greens with kimchi, and gyeran-jjim is a fluffy steamed egg custard. Bokkeumbap is Korean fried rice, made at the end from what is left in the pan. Yukhoe is seasoned raw beef.
Table of Contents hide
Yamamoto Gyuzo Azabujuuban ten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Looking around for a place to have drinks in Azabu-juban, I came across Yamamoto Gyuzo Azabujuuban ten, a Korean restaurant famous for cheese dak-galbi. I eat Korean food once in a while, but it struck me that I might never have actually tried cheese dak-galbi, so that made my choice. Back when it was an enormous trend, all kinds of places were serving it and quality may have varied wildly! But any place that still keeps it front and center long after the fad passed has got to be good!
It is located on the third floor of a building along the Azabu Juban shopping street, towards the Azabu-juban Station side.
Casual course with 120-minute all-you-can-drink — 6,000 yen
Standard course with 120-minute all-you-can-drink — 7,000 yen
Special course with 120-minute all-you-can-drink — 8,000 yen
With all-you-can-drink included, the sets run from 6,000 to 8,000 yen. The difference between the Standard and Casual courses is basically just whether seared yukhoe is included or not. Well, we figured we could always order it separately if we wanted it, so we settled on the Casual course.
Beer!
Orders are generally placed on a tablet, but for the all-you-can-drink plan they asked us to call over staff and order directly. Apparently if you mistakenly enter them on the tablet, you might end up charged extra. Definitely something to watch out for!
This was for four people. Even divided evenly, it was quite a generous portion.
Beef tendon simmered in a sweet-savory broth. It was thoroughly braised and delicious. There is only a small amount, though, so I savored it carefully, ha.
This came in a generous heap. Japchae is made with thick glass noodles, so it is surprisingly filling.
We ordered an assortment of kimchi on the side as a snack with drinks.
It was a four-item platter of napa cabbage kimchi, daikon kimchi, oi-kimchi (cucumber kimchi), and perilla leaves cured in soy sauce.
I wondered if we had actually ordered this, but checking the menu, it seems this dish is bossam. It was definitely part of the course set, ha! You wrap the boiled pork in sanchu lettuce with kimchi, and it is delicious!
Finally, the cheese dak-galbi! The staff prepares it at the table, so we just watched quietly.
I assumed the section on the left was the cheese, but it actually was not — maybe gyeran-jjim? That Korean dish that resembles a savory steamed egg custard. At the very bottom of the pan is garlic in sesame oil, to the right of that is kimchi, followed by corn with butter.
Then, cheese is poured into the last open section, and it is ready!
You each take a portion and spoon the cheese over it. The chicken goes wonderfully with the Korean-style broth. There is a touch of heat, but it is mild enough that even people who struggle with spicy food could handle it without trouble. Spooning on the cheese makes it even milder. I see — this really might be quite delicious. Everyone was eager for the cheese, so it disappeared in no time, ha. If I were being greedy, a bit more cheese would have been even better.
Once the pan is finished, they make the closing dish for you. It is the style where they take the whole pan back to the kitchen and bring it out again.
They say this is called bokkeumbap. Apparently it is closer to fried rice than to a rice porridge. Soaked with the savory dak-galbi sauce, it was delicious!
Partway through, I noticed a photo posted in the restaurant announcing that BTS had visited. I cannot say for sure, but looking at the photo, I feel like we might possibly have been sitting in that very spot. Maybe that explains why Tabelog mentioned you cannot request specific seats. With good value overall, it might be worth a few visits for fans hoping to land that table.
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
