Ichiryu Bekkan

Rating: Excellent
Meal:  Lunch for 3
Price:  4860 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: 3 orders of Seolleongtang and accompanying dishes
English Menu: No

Smoking: Yes

Ox bone soup

We had to go to the US Embassy in Akasaka last weekend to renew my son's passport.  I was told be 2 of my friends at work (whose taste I trust) that I had to try this Korean restaurant nearby.  Apparently this Korean lady opened up several years back and eventually a bunch of other Korean restaurants opened up in the same area, such that now it gives "Korea-town" (Shinokubo) a run for it's money.

All of the fixins

This particular restaurant specializes in Seolleongtang which is Ox bone soup.  It's a milky white, mild broth with chunks of meat and some clear noodles in it.  Along with the soup, you get a spread of little Korean dishes including several kinds of kimchee and stuff you may not be able to identify but is delicious.  And the requisite small bowl of rice.  All of this was just assumed and brought to us.  The lady in charge speaks excellent English and was delighted by our general delight in the food she brought us.  A bit surprised too, but I guess we weren't the usual clientele.

Wow...it was such a delicious meal.  The best korean we've had in Japan so far!  Very simple really, but all those little dishes really make the meal.  The broth itself isn't spiced at all really, and there was a big container of salt on the table indicating we were to salt it to our preference.  As we finished up some of the little dishes, they were automatically replaced, so you might want to not finish something if you didn't really like it!

I'm so glad we finally found some good Korean food in Japan, though it's a pity we have to go so far downtown to find it!