Waseda WeeklyWaseda Weekly

The taste of the food and warmth of the people are what make this restaurant so appealing.
"Korean Restaurant Dodam"

[Interview, text and photography]
Waseda Weekly Reporter (SJC Student Staff)
Nanami Yoneda, 3rd year, School of Social Sciences

Just one minute after leaving the north gate of Waseda Campus and going down Grandzaka Street, you will find a warm Korean restaurant in this easily accessible location. Korean Restaurant Dodam, which opened in October 2024, is a popular restaurant that fills up with Waseda students at lunchtime. The reason for this is not just its deliciousness. The food is hearty, and the warmth of the people will invigorate your mind and body.

The restaurant's name, "Dodam," means "a baby living a healthy and active life" in Korean. The owners, Jin and Seo, chose the name to express their wish to "make everyone who visits healthy." They also decided to open a restaurant in Waseda because they wanted young people to eat more K-food (Korean cuisine).

The interior of the store is decorated with a large screen, where music videos of K-Pop idols such as BTS and TWICE are playing. The walls are decorated with neon lights and retro Korean posters, making you feel like you've traveled to Korea.

Left: At the entrance, you are greeted by a frog figurine, which symbolizes the wish for the store's prosperity.
Right: There are 22 seats in the restaurant, and the interior is lined with retro Korean posters.

The appeal of "Dodam" is the overwhelming volume! There are 12 different lunch options, all of which come with a side dish, and you can get extra rice for free. On this day, there were three side dishes: kimchi, tofu, and stir-fried oden, all of which go perfectly with rice. This time, we tried the two recommendations, "stone-grilled bibimbap" and "budae jjigae."

"Stone-grilled bibimbap" 1,050 yen. Comes with soup and a side dish.

Let's start with the "stone-grilled bibimbap." The moment the "stone-grilled bibimbap" is served in a piping hot bowl, the fragrant aroma of sesame oil whets your appetite. The colorful ingredients include bean sprouts, wild vegetables, spinach, carrots, and Korean seaweed, and there is an egg yolk in the center. Underneath is the owner's special gochujang with ground beef. It is a unique blend of red pickled ginger and chili peppers and has a mild spiciness that is easy to eat even for those who don't like spicy food. When the egg yolk is mixed with the ingredients and rice, the exquisite balance of mellowness and spiciness enhances the deliciousness of the bibimbap. The scorched rice, which is unique to stone-grilled dishes, is crispy and fragrant, adding a nice texture to the dish. The accompanying wakame and shiitake mushroom soup also has a gentle taste that will make you feel at ease.

"Budae jjigae" 1,050 yen. If you don't like spicy food, we recommend topping it with cheese (250 yen).

Next up was the "budae jjigae." Served in a bubbling iron pot, it looked very impressive! It also came with rice and a side dish. In addition to five types of meat, including spam, ham, and pork, it also contained tofu, onion, kimchi, and instant noodles, making it a very filling meal. The soup was spicy enough to make you sweat a little while eating it, but the sweetness of the kimchi, which stood out against the spiciness, made the aftertaste milder. A connoisseur's way to enjoy it is to add rice to the soup and eat it like rice porridge. The rice, soaked in the flavor of the jjigae, was very satisfying.

The most popular lunch menu item is the Korean Chicken Set Meal, which comes with five fist-sized pieces of chicken.

Dodam is a restaurant run by a husband and wife. Jin is in charge of cooking, while Seo is in charge of the floor. The restaurant offers delicious, hearty, and voluminous food, as well as polite service. The couple smiles as they say, "We want more people to know about the appeal of K-food," and the warmth of the people is also part of the restaurant's charm.

If you want to eat your fill at Waseda, or if you're feeling a bit tired and want to recharge, come to this restaurant and you'll be greeted by the two of them with smiles and delicious K food. There's no doubt that this restaurant will continue to be a favorite among students for years to come.

Store Information
[Store name】 Korean restaurant Dodam
[address】Tokyo Shinjuku-ku Nishi-Waseda 1-6-3 Felio Nishi-Waseda 101
[TEL】03-4333-3880
[Opening times】
Monday to Friday 11:30-14:30 (last order 14:00), 17:00-22:00 (last food order 21:00, last drink order 21:30)
Saturday 17:00-22:00 (last food order 21:00, last drink order 21:30)
[Closed Day] Sundays and holidays
[Website】https://dodamu.owst.jp/

*All prices in the article include tax.

A word from the store owners, Seo (left) and Jin (right), to the Waseda students.

"I hope you will become more interested in and start eating K-food!" "Good luck with your student life!"