김뿌라 연남동본점 — Restaurant in Seoul

I have been a fan of the chef for 15 years and had been eating at his restaurants every time I am in Seoul. The quality of his service and food are excellent and consistent. I recently visited Korea again after a 10 year hiatus and the first thing I did after landing was to eat my favorite salmon sushi and yakiudon at Kimpura. I was amazed that they still tasted delicious and fresh as I remembered. I was so happy! I first had their yakiudon 15 years ago during a summer holiday in Korea. The portion was huge, it had so much seafood, and its seasoning was a perfect balance of sweet and saltiness. I couldn't forget how good it was so when I came back to LA I must've visited 30 different Japanese restaurants in LA that year alone to see if any of them had comparable yakiudons. None of them did. The price is not cheap but it's not expensive, especially considering how delicious and fresh their food is. The chef spends inexorbotant amount of time and effort preparing every single dish from scratch and it shows. That is why this is a celebrities' hidden 맛집 or fave restaurant. And have regulars who come back every chance they get, even from abroad. I hope they stay open as long as possible for me to enjoy the most amazing Japanese food I...

This isn’t an “authentic” Japanese sushi restaurant but it’s a good price (4000 won for each hand roll) and the food is good.

The service was excellent. It was 2 older people running the shop; I did take out since it was 30 min before closing and they gave me hot tea as I waited (since it was chilly outside). They also give you soy sauce, ginger, and chopsticks.

I ordered hand rolls to go, and they put mayo and lots of fish. It’s quite good. I would definitely come back here for the people and it reminds me of a good old mom and pop shop.

Even tho I got back to my place much later the roll...

연남동의 터줏대감과 같은 일식집 김뿌라. 2만원대의 가격을 고려했을때 초밥의 네타(생선)는 퀄리티가 좋은편. 크기가 조금 들죽날죽 하지만 기성품이나 활어가 없기 때문에 네타의 구성이나 질만 놓고 보자면 스시야로써의 최소한의 구색은 갖췄다는 느낌. 하지만 이집의 문제는 네타를 제외한 초밥의 밥인 샤리와 그외의 디테일들에 있음. 밥의 질감은 잘 부서지고, 크기가 과하게 큼. 김뿌라만의 특색이라고 하기에는 한입에 넣기가 불편할 정도이기 때문에 인정하기 힘듬. (밥크기에 대한 컴플레인이 잦았기 때문인지 안내문구에 주문시 밥크기는 개별적으로 요청해달라고 되어있기는 함. 밥양을 임의로 조절하면 네타와의 조화는 일정부분 포기해야겠지.) 그리고 개인적으로 연어위의 양파나 참치뱃살위의 초장은 올릴 필요가 있나 싶음. 저런걸 가미할 필요가 없는 충분히 좋은 네타인데 굳이? 싶은 느낌. 네타별로 와사비의 양을 요리사 나름에는 조절하고 있는것 같으나 와사비 사용법 자체에대한 이해도가 현저히 떨어지는 느낌. 김이 너무 질김. 재료 준비시간에 김의 수분도 좀 날려뒀으면. 그리고 접객. 대놓고 불편한 상황은 없었으나 직원들의 태도나 분위기가 다 제각각인데 여기에서 오는 묘한 불편함이 있음. 요리사 분들은 기본적으로 무뚝뚝하고 말걸기 힘든 분위기. 젊은 여성 서버 분은 친절함. 그리고 이모같은 분이 계신데 이분은 그냥 식당 이모같은 느낌인데 일하시는 분들끼리 서로 잘 어우러져있지 않다는 느낌이 듬. 그리고 코로나 방역수칙에 대한 안내 문구가 곳곳에 붙어있는데 다소 강압적으로 느껴질수도 있어 보여서 조금 더 부드러운...