Goat Restaurant Namsan

Right up the road from the Rycom mall (about a two minute drive) is this Japanese goat restaurant. The lady who (I’m guessing) owns/runs it is an absolute gem and the food is delightful, even if goat isn’t your favorite. The name is in Japanese on google maps, I actually thought it was called “Japanese regional restaurant” until just now when I translated it. That explains all the goat on the menu!

My husband and I were at the hospital across the street from the mall and needed some lunch that wasn’t hospital or mall food when we found this place. The inside is decorated like your grandmas house with a hint of Okinawa, all the paintings are ones I’ve seen before at yard sales. The statues and vases were very Japanese. There was a feeling of warmth and familiarity about the decor. One thing I’ve noticed when the interior design is a hodgepodge like that, the food is usually phenomenal.

There seemed to only be one person working, but she wore all the hats well and was understanding of the language barrier. She brought us tea as soon as we sat down and left us to decipher the menu as it is in Japanese. From what I could tell there was a little something for everyone. The menu had soups, stews, pork cutlets, fish, tofu, and of course lots of goat. The non-goat portion of the menu is super cheap so when I tried to order the pork ginger and the eggplant miso she laughed and gestured that it would be way too much food. I couldn’t believe that seven dollars (we paid in yen, but I still think/talk in dollars) would fill me up but I took her word for it.

My husband ordered a goat set and I ordered the pork ginger. I have never been a huge fan of goat but like to try things I don’t like periodically just to make sure I still don’t like them. So, I tried his goat sashimi and goat stew and turns out I still hate goat. That said, if goat is your thing, I highly recommend this place, and if goat isn’t your thing, the pork ginger is BOMB. As I was paying she asked how everything was and I said, “so delicious! Arigato gozaimasu.” The image of her clapping, and jumping , and look of pure joy on her face as she repeated, “dishes!” is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.