Yakitori Mook @ Seoul (2024)

This is the second time I come to Yakitori Mook, but to a different store – the original store in Hongdae. The first time I went to their Insadong store.

You will see a door sign that looked like a French bistro that is featured the French national emblem. You are in the right place. Make your way inside this yakitori specialist and you will find an elongated counter and open kitchen, and a constantly smoking stove.

They used the highest-grade Japanese binchotan charcoal, which is more expensive and difficult to handle than normal charcoal. It takes a lot longer to blaze yet its firepower lasts longer without drastic temperature changes,

Everyone comes for their omakase, although they have an ala carte menu for you to add more sticks after the repertoire is complete.

We ordered our drinks, and they promptly served some snacks to go with our drinks. The otoshi was a cabbage salad with a Japanese vinaigrette, nothing else.

안심타다끼 Tenderloin Rare

Chicken tenderloins, or chicken tenders, are attached to the underside of a chicken breast. They are the juiciest and softest part of the breast and are served almost raw, dressed with soy sauce and yuzu, sprinkled with chopped chives.

닭다리살 (북채) 짚불구이 Chicken Drumstick Smoked with Hay

The next starter was slices of chicken drumstick smoked with hay straw in the style of charsiu, served on a bed of chopped Romaine lettuce with a wasabi sauce.

가슴살짚불꼬치구이 Chicken Breast Straw Roast / 藁炙り鶏胸

藁炙 Warayaki is a special way of grilling the chicken. Instead of using binchotan, straws are used. The burning straw provides a dramatic fierce fire with temperatures in the range of 800 – 900˚C- and this results in very fast and even cooking, as the high temperatures sear the outer layers and leave the centre of the chicken tender and juicy.

The condiments are almost useless as every stick has been properly salted or flavoured. You would want the natural flavours and smokiness to come through.

Chicken breast / mune, which wasn’t my favourite cut of chicken, had a soft texture and rich flavour; it was served medium-rare. In Japan, chicken breast is even enjoyed as sashimi.

다리살&대파 Thigh With Spring Onion / Negima

A classic yakitori favourite, the chicken thigh with leeks (which they have wrongly translated to spring onion) or negima (ねぎま) is one of the most popular types of yakitori that was often screwed up completely. Mook had done it properly; flavoured with shio (salt), the skin was crispy while the meat was moist and tender.

방울토마토 Cherry Tomato / チェリートマト

A vegetable interlude of grilled cherry tomatoes to cleanse the palate before the next item. The warm tomato burst with flavours of a delicious fruit.

치킨 남만 Chicken Nanban / チキン南蛮

Deep fried pieces of chicken seasoned with tartar sauce, chicken nanban is a Japanese fusion cuisine at its finest and one of Japan’s most popular ways to enjoy fried chicken. It was created in a small town in the Miyazaki. Allegedly, it was a humble meal made for the staff of a local diner Nao-chan during the 1950s, and it quickly gained popularity as a menu item throughout Kyushu before finding its way around the rest of Japan and around the world.

날개 Wing / Teba

Tebasaki 手羽先 is a traditional Japanese yakitori dish made with chicken mid-wings as the main ingredient. The wings are usually seasoned only with salt and pepper in order to better savor the crispy skin, and they typically come in butterflied pairs on a skewer. Here, the chef has removed the bones from the mid-wings and stuffed the wings with more chicken meat from the leg. It was similar to the Thai stuffed chicken wing ปีกไก่ยัดไส้; it does require some skill and time to debone the wings without damaging the skin.

닭간파테 Chicken Liver Pâté & Blueberry

The chicken liver pâté was spiked with cognac that gave it a lot of flavour.

It was a very rich spread on toast and balanced out with sweet and slight sour blueberry compote.

닭고기완자 와수란 Chicken Meatball / Tsukune

This is a must-order if they don’t give you in the omakase. The traditional chicken meatball / tsukune is always testimony of a good yaktori-ya and here they proved it once again.

Served on a poached egg ポーチド, you break the yolk and used it as a dipping sauce. The sweet and salty tare with the creamy wok just hit the spot.

토종닭육수 Chicken Soup / 土種鶏肉スープ

The chicken soup was packed with flavours from boiling a copious amount of chicken carcass, feet and neck into a rich consommé, further enhance with doenjang or fermented bean paste that is stronger than miso.

떡구이 Grilled Tteok (Rice Cake)

This was the only item that had Korean influence. The traditional Korean garaetteok (cylindrical rice cake) was grilled and served with a savoury sauce and with fresh shiso and mayonnaise.  Although they can be enjoyed on their own, because of their neutral flavour, the rice cakes are easily incorporated into various dishes, and more common in the street food rice cake in gochujang. 

모래집 Gizzard / Sunagimo

Next on the repertoire, gizzard / sunagimo done in the traditional shio method. Perfectly executed, it had a crunchy texture that was cooked ala minute.

꼬리살 Tail / Bonjiri (AO)

The stick that I will always order if it’s not on the omakase is the chicken tail / bonjiri. Fatty and soft, but with a crispy exterior, they are very good eats despite being the chicken bottom.

목살 Neck (AO)

The chicken neck is different from the Japanese style seseri as it took the entire neck and removed the bones in the middle.

염통 Heart / Hatsu

This part is easily overdone, but their chicken heart or hatsu was grilled perfectly, remaining crunchy and full of flavour. And in this shop, the whole heart was grilled (not like the other which had halved the heart).

가슴살병란마요 Breast with Mentaiko Mayo (AO)

The spotlight of this stick was the mentaiko mayo, but there was so little of it to make an impact. All you can taste was the shichimi powder on the perfectly grill chicken breast.

무릎연골&가슴연골 Cartilage (AO)

Two types of cartilages are served in one stick – soft chicken bones from the backbone called the thoracic cartilage and the knee cartilage; two different crunchiness, both equally delicious.

Japanese Cold Noodles

껍질 Skin / Kawa (AO)

The crispy texture and savoury oily skin are achieved by cooking over low heat for a long time. Chicken skin / kawa was made only from the skin that came out of the ankle.

명란구이 Grilled Salted Pollack Roe / Mentaikoyaki (AO)

아스파라거스 구이 Grilled Asparagus (AO)

Epic failure, the asparagus was grilled to death. One of two that I didn’t enjoy this evening, the other being the mentaiko mayo breast.

제철과일또는수제디저트 Dessert

I thought this was a palate cleanser but it came at the end so I can only think it was the dessert. A single scoop of shiso lemon flavoured sorbet was refreshing way to end the meal.

Yakitori Mook is a place where you can enjoy delicious food and alcohol, putting down your thoughts while watching the chef dances in front of the fire. The atmosphere of the place was fantastic, you would believe this to be a yakitori-ya in Tokyo but everyone’s speaking Korean. Limited language capability, but there’s English menu.

The basic omakase only cost SGD 45 per person for the second seating, but you are required to order a drink (or two or more). And the you would be tempted to move beyond the basic 10 items. Price wise, you are paying above the average yakitori prices, but the quality is worth it. Must reserve, three seatings per evening.

Yakitori Mook 야키토리 묵
서울특별시 마포구 성미산로 165-1 1층
1st floor, 165-1, Seongmisan-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Tel : 070-8835-3433 (Reservations)

Michelin Seoul Guide Selected 2024, Bib Gourmand 2021-23