Cycle 15 – Item 321
21 (Thu) November 2024
Iroriyaki Mutsu
4.0
at Robata Neko
-Yeonnam, Mapo, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with MtG
Robata Neko is a Japanese restaurant. Specializes in seafood.
After the wrap of the book fair at SFS this afternoon, met up with MtG for dinner, whom I hadn’t seen since the summer (see most recently 15.167 Omakase).
No destination in mind, I suggested that we go somewhere that we’d never been, an independently owned/operated business (i.e., not a franchise), with seafood on the menu, preferably Japanese or Chinese. A few minutes of walking around, we happened upon Robata Neko, which neatly checked every box.
Iroriyaki is a method of Japanese cooking. Derives from the tradition of cooking over an irori, a sunken hearth often found in older Japanese homes, filled with coals, primarily designed to heat the home, but also served as a heat source for food preparation. In modern practice, items are typically placed on skewers and cooked either above or adjacent to coals stacked on an elevated/open surface (i.e., not in an actual pit). Essentially the same thing as robatayaki (derived from fisherman cooking food over the irori on the boat), though the coals are often placed within an encased vessel (e.g., hibachi grill).
Mutsu is a species of fish. Scombrops boops in Linnaean taxonomy, also known as gnomefish or Japanese bluefish in English, or gerchi (게르치) in Korean. Popular for grilling in Japanese cuisine, especially at izakaya.
The food was excellent across the board. Pristinely fresh ingredients, expertly prepared, gorgeously plated.
The highlight for me was the mutsu, roasted to perfect doneness, achieved through the slow-and-low irori method, perfectly crispy skin, perfectly juicy flesh, perfectly seasoned with nothing but salt – reminiscent of but far superior to the grilled gulbi at Oki Sushi (see for comparison 15.164 Grilled Gulbi).
Will definitely go back next time that I’m in the neighborhood.
(See all GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See all RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)