Tokyo Seoul

Tokyo Seoul’s location has been a restaurant for as long as this Dewitt native can remember - prior to being Tokyo Seoul it was Coco’s, but it has been Tokyo Seoul for so long now, it’s hard to remember it as anything else. It’s a landmark on DeWitt’s “Restaurant Row.”

The exterior is a friendly stucco building with trendy dark grey and dark pink trim. There is plenty of parking, always a plus for us parking-spoiled Syracusans.
As you walk into the restaurant, you can see the daily specials on a large chalk board, and we were promptly greeted with a warm, friendly smile by our hostess.
It was quiet in the restaurant and the atmosphere was pleasant, with tasteful décor throughout each of the dining rooms. We were past the typical lunch time (1:30), and we were told that lunch was not as busy as dinner at Tokyo Seoul. The restaurant features three dining areas and a well-stocked bar. Among the choices were the sushi bar, a hibachi dining room and a Korean barbecue dining room, a little something for whatever mood you happened to be in.

On the Korean barbeque side, it was all dark wood and long shiny tables with covered burners, a perfect place for a large group. In the main bar and sushi bar area, booths and a more casual feel. Korean BBQ is cook your own, as opposed to hibachi (Japanese) grill cook at the table, which is more of a show. Tokyo Seoul’s hibachi area features the traditional seating grouped around the big griddles.
Our table was in a sunny corner of the atrium L – the perfect place for a business lunch, or a get-to-know-you first date. A formica-topped table, bamboo chairs, and a pair of elephants on the window sill mixed in an eclectic and fun fashion with oriental prints, Italianate hanging lamps, and a bold floral painting on the wall of the adjoining hibachi area. On the table are soy sauces, light and regular, and a sign informing you that you can opt for the more nutritious brown rice if you wish.

Prepare yourself for a delicious sampling of Korean and Japanese cuisine. We ordered the shrimp and vegetable tempura appetizer ($7.95). (Appetizers range from $4.95 to $16.95.)
Very good! Light and crisp breading with a light dipping sauce. My problem with most tempura is that it is all bread and too greasy…not this! Along with our appetizer we were presented with small dishes of sides, which we were told could be eaten as an appetizer or as palate cleansers during your meal. These included an array of pickled stuff: Kim chi, spicy cucumber, Dai Kan (radish), seaweed, and bean sprouts. There are unlimited refills for these; on weekends fish cakes are added to the mix.
Now it was time to order the main course. We were overwhelmed with all the amazing choices on the menu! Entrees ranged from $8.95 - $19.95 and the choices include:
Korean BBQ, Rice dishes, Noodle dishes, Chef Specials, Don Buri, Tempura, Teriyaki, Bento boxes, and of course, sushi.

We ordered the Scallops Teriyaki and the Hot & Spicy Shrimp($18.95) for our entrees. I was a little nervous as I’d had a Bi Bam Bop there before, which was, like the Hot & Spicy Shrimp, marked as “hot” by the little pepper icon on the menu. While that dish was delicious, it was also HOT, and took a while to eat! But the hot and spicy shrimp was perfect, the sweetness of the sauce cutting the heat perfectly. This dish was mild enough to be eaten even without the rice.

Nor was this delicate dish too heavy. BIG shrimp were deep-fried in a crispy breading - too big for a single mouthful! You could see scallions, flakes of pepper, all in a luscious-looking amber-colored sauce.
The scallops teriyaki were butterflyed and seared to perfection with a delicate teriyaki sauce. They were served with cold noodle salad with broccoli and carrots.
Our portions were the perfect amount of food for a lunch meal (a fault we frequently find with restaurants that prefer quantity to quality!).

Michelle, our waitress, was very attentive to all of our needs, serving and removing everything with a smile, and full of information about the dishes, as well as her own preferences. It’s always a good sign when the wait staff are fans of the food a restaurant serves.
The restaurant has been open in this incarnation for 18 years, and is owned by Mrs. Kim and her husband. They arrived in Syracuse from Korea in 1973, and soon opened Kim’s Oriental Grocery, which they ran for 12 years before opening their first restaurant (Erie Garden).
Tokyo Seoul was opened at first as a Korean and Japanese restaurant. They later added sushi, then Korean barbeque, and finally the hibachi area.

Mrs. Kim says the recipes originate from a variety of sources - her own, her chef’s - but they always reflect the creativity of the cook. She says the success of any restaurant rests on three things: the owner, the chef, and the server. Of these three, she says it is the server who makes all the difference in the experience the diner will have. She hires a lot of students from both Syracuse University and Le Moyne, but unlike many student wait staff, she says she develops a fond and lasting bond with these young people. “They call me mommy,” she says. And she trains them well, if our server is a testimony. Bright, efficient, knowledgeable, and friendly. What more could you ask?

And while we agree that service-with-a-smile can sweeten a lot of ills, a truly great restaurant needs to start with the basics: good food. “The emphasis is on the food,” says Mrs. Kim. “More quality, more service, more family-friendly.”
For dessert we ordered mochi ice cream (3.50) in mango and strawberry. Mochi is delicious ice cream wrapped in a sweet rice “”cake” layer, served quartered with a toothpick for easy eating. It presented a very delicate flowery flavor, hitting just the right note to finish a delightful meal. Delicious, fun, and we can’t wait to go back!

Closed Monday
Tues-Thurs: 11:30 - 11, 2-10 (closed 2:30 - 4:30)
Friday 11:30 - 11
Sat and Sun 11:30 - 11:30
Reservations are accepted.

Back to Top