[New in Town] Goaji: Grab-and-go Japanese lunch boxes for office workers

Goaji's soy sauce pork bento (Goaji)

Inside Japanese bento restaurant Goaji (Goaji)

Whether you have it for lunch at your desk, in the car on your way to a meeting, or even save it for the end of the day, a Japanese lunch box, or bento, is a great mid-day meal option, especially for busy office workers. Bento is not only economical, it's a healthy and fun way to treat yourself to a variety of meats, vegetables and soups.

Goaji — a Seoul restaurant whose name in Japanese is suggestive of deep flavors — specializes in grab-and-go bento lunch boxes, which are prepared every morning. Located near Hyochang Park Station on Subway Line No. 6, the menu at Goaji changes every day, with the calendar outside the shop displaying the choices soon to come.

Under the motto "To make a meal more interesting," Goaji makes bento using the Japanese method — one soup and three side dishes — in the kaiseki culinary style.

The owners humbly say they don't have any special recipes, but the restaurant prides itself on cooking delicious food using high-quality broth, salt and soy sauce.

The entrees include teriyaki chicken, butano kakuni (braised pork belly), katsu, grilled mackerel in soy sauce, assorted tempura, and Japanese-style stir-fried beef. The side dishes include pickled veggies, stir-fried pollack roe, and a salad of carrot and pickled seaweed. The soup of the day alternates between hot miso soup and matcha tea, which is served cold and goes well with the meals.

Today's bento menu is written on a chalkboard outside the restaurant. (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)

Today's bento at Goaji (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)

One particular difference between bento at Goaji and the typical lunch box meals available at Korean franchises or even convenience stores is the generous amount of sauce on the rice at Goaji. This way, you can enjoy your bento to the last bite with just the right proportion of rice and flavorful side dishes, not running out of either.

While this 6,000-won bento is an attractive lunch option, there's one more reason to visit Goaji later in the day: starting at 5 p.m., Goaji transforms into a Japanese tapas bar.

The tapas menu is more varied, including Japanese-style pasta alongside a range of tapas plates based on different main ingredients -- meat, seafood and vegetables. The tapas menu includes braised pork and steamed potato, pollock roe and sliced cucumber and braised seasonal fish in soy sauce. Each tapas plate costs 4,000 won. The drinks list is also diverse, ranging from Kirin draft beer to Santoro highball and Goaji’s signature highball, which costs 5,900 won.

Goaji’s lunch boxes are sold from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day. After the break time from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., it's open until 10 p.m. Only 100 lunch boxes are prepared each day. Find out more on the restaurant's Instagram page, @goal2024.

Goaji

116-5 Saechang-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul

From the hippest Korean eateries to world-renowned restaurants’ Seoul branches, The Korea Herald tries out new dining spots in its New In Town series. The Korea Herald pays for all -- Ed.

By Kim Da-sol(ddd@heraldcorp.com)