01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
The royal-style bossam kimchi, which wraps fish or fruit in kimchi, captures the Japanese-Korean character of Wakasa. One visitor described fish with apple and pine nuts wrapped in napa cabbage; another recalled bossam kimchi with flounder, black sea bream and avocado. The ingredients seem to vary by visit, but the combination of seafood or fruit with the heat of kimchi makes a distinctive opening to the course.
That interplay continues in the dishes that follow. A visitor who tried the beef tenderloin suyuk reported that the meat, cooked at a low temperature in beef-bone broth, was tender enough to cut with chopsticks, and was enjoyed with an apple-based sauce and napa cabbage. Another course featured red beef tenderloin shabu-shabu with onion sauce and crown daisy; the visitor remembered the savoury meat and the lift from the greens. Japchae also takes different forms: one diner described a version with raw nori, courgette and octopus, topped with karasumi, while another reported one that made the most of clam broth. Rather than relying only on what familiar dish names might suggest, expect variations shaped by seasonal ingredients and the broth.
There is further choice in the main course and the dish to finish. Reported main-course options include bulgogi, samgyeopsal, samgyetang and dakhanmari. Menu information for the stone-pot dishes also lists seafood and soy-milk hot pot, Kuroge wagyu gomtang hot pot, samgyetang and seafood sundubu jjigae. Visitors have chosen cold noodles, bibim noodles, yukgaejang, beef-tendon curry and seafood rice bowls to finish; one noted that the final dish could be ordered in bite-size, half or full portions. A seafood rice bowl makes a more substantial ending, while cold noodles offer a fresher finish—the choice lets diners shape the end of the meal to their appetite.
Drinks range from Korean fresh makgeolli and Baekseju to sake and wine. One visitor enjoyed the banchan as drinking snacks. If you would like to match the meal with sake or wine, you can ask the staff what they recommend that day. Green-tea pudding was also mentioned by a diner as the final dessert.
Private rooms are available, and the restaurant can accommodate groups, though reservations are recommended for dinner. With a course of individual dishes as its centrepiece, Wakasa suits an evening spent putting together a meal from the main course, final dish and drinks.
