[Shin-Okubo] Gaemizib Opens in Tokyo: Chasing the Busan Nakkopsae I Could Not Forget

The nakkopsae I ate in Busan stayed with me. That pot of octopus, beef intestine and prawn simmered together in a red, biting broth. Months after coming home I was still thinking about it — and then I learned that the same name, Gaemizib, had appeared in Shin-Okubo. I booked a table and drove the best part of an hour to get there.

A SINCE 1972 sign, standing in Shin-Okubo

White Hangul on a red wall, and beneath it: GAEMIZIB, Shin-Okubo main branch. The round sign above the entrance reads SINCE 1972, KOREA No.1. The same sign I had walked under in Haeundae was now standing on this Tokyo street corner. It opened in May 2026.

Inside, the room is still new and feels clean. An extraction hood hangs over each table, and the logo I recognised is up on the wall. It was an easy place to settle into.

Nakchi, gopchang and saeu — hence nakkopsae

The name is built from its three parts: nakchi (octopus), gopchang (beef intestine) and saeu (prawn). It is a pot dish widely eaten in Busan, and Gaemizib traces itself back to a house founded in 1972.

Orders start from two portions. The side dishes and rice all come as part of the set, so nothing needs adding afterwards. The price range sat at roughly what I had paid in Busan.

The banchan arrived: kimchi, bean sprouts, namul, laver. Almost exactly the line-up from the Busan table. In the pot, the octopus, intestine and prawn sat raw, waiting for the heat.

The heat is dialled down. It still lands around instant-ramyeon level

The spice, I was told, has been eased considerably for Japanese diners. The menu still warns that it carries roughly the heat of Shin Ramyun — and that turned out to be accurate. It was about as hot as the version I had asked to be toned down in Busan.

The heat, the stock drawn out of the prawn and octopus, the richness of the intestine. The way those three settle into balance was no different from what I remembered. Set the photographs side by side and it is very nearly the same pot.

Worth an hour in the car, and I would go again

There is a category of restaurant that justifies going a little out of your way. Not the starred kind, but the kind that hands back more than you paid. If such an axis exists, this evening belongs on it.

Korean food has taken hold in this family lately. Even my parents-in-law are deep into it, and we have promised to sit around a Korean hot pot together over the New Year. Choosing the pot and the ingredients for that is already half the fun. Having somewhere close by where I can check the memory of that taste, without flying to Busan, turns out to matter more than I expected.

Notes from the day

• Gaemizib Shin-Okubo main branch, opened May 2026
• Nakkopsae — octopus (nakchi), beef intestine (gopchang) and prawn (saeu) simmered in a spicy broth; a Busan dish
• Orders start from two portions; side dishes and rice are included in the set
• The heat is adjusted for Japanese diners but still lands around Shin Ramyun level
• It is a popular place — booking ahead is the safer approach
• Menu, prices and opening hours change; check the official Gaemizib site for the latest

The Busan original — romanised as Gaemijip in that post — is written up in [Busan Haeundae] Collecting Our Daughter’s Homework at Gaemijip. From the same trip, the night we ate live octopus is in [Busan] My First Live Octopus at Sindonga Fisheries Market.

Visited in August 2026. Prices and opening information are as of the date of the visit.

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