A few minutes’ walk from Yokohama Station brought us to Kimuchacha, a Korean restaurant on the west side of the station. We had actually tried once before, arriving right at opening on a weekend, only to be turned away — fully booked. This time we reserved properly and returned for an early 4:30 p.m. dinner, the three of us, on a small mission of revenge.
The elevator doors open — and it is Seoul
The restaurant sits on the 8th floor of an ordinary station-front building filled with izakaya. Riding up, I was half sceptical. Then the doors opened onto a neon-lit scene that felt like wandering into a Korean eating alley. That instant switch — office building to another country — is a genuinely fun piece of stagecraft.
The room was full of all ages, though groups of young women clearly dominated. The menu runs the full canon of Korean favorites — samgyeopsal, bibimbap, jeon pancakes, fried chicken draped in cheese sauce. Whatever you came craving, it is probably here.
Octopus-and-beef yukhoe, fresh samgyeopsal, and ganjang gejang
Our order: the octopus-and-beef yukhoe we had been looking forward to since seeing it in a vlog, plus fresh samgyeopsal, a cheese bowl (listed on the menu as the “UFO Cheese Ball”), and ganjang gejang, raw crab cured in soy sauce.
The samgyeopsal came off the griddle fragrant and crisp-edged; dragging pieces through molten cheese from the UFO bowl turned into a friendly family competition. The ganjang gejang was rich enough to demand another bowl of rice. Delicious across the board — on that, all three of us agreed.
An honest verdict from the one who knows the real thing
One amusing note. Our daughter, who has eaten her way through Bib Gourmand-listed places in Seoul, delivered a firm ruling on the octopus yukhoe: not quite the real thing yet — “you have to try it over there.” As a parent, all I could do was smile at how discerning her palate has become.
But that strict scorecard doubles as something to look forward to. We are planning a trip to Busan soon — a port city, where the seafood should be fresher still. Someday I would like to set today’s version and the original side by side in the same memory.
Notes from the day
- Kimuchacha Yokohama Nishiguchi, 8F of the INB Building, about 3 minutes on foot from Yokohama Station
- Weekends book up fast — an early 4:30 p.m. start worked well for us
- Fresh samgyeopsal ¥1,804, UFO Cheese Ball ¥3,278; budget roughly ¥3,000–4,000 per person (as of our visit — check official listings for the latest)
- Open 11:00–23:00, irregular holidays
More of our Korean food records: a late-night dak hanmari in Myeongdong and the queue at London Bagel Museum. Restaurant details are on the official Kimuchacha website.
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