▲ Kim Jae-ho, CEO of Yedam (Nagoya style grilled ill rice – Hitsumabushi)

What makes Yedam unique?
If you find a great pleasure in ill dishes, you might have heard or tried Yedam located in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. CEO chef Kim Jae-ho crossed the Korean Strait to Osaka, Japan to study at TSUJI Culinary Institute Group, praised as one of the top three culinary institutes alongside Le Cordon Bleu and CIA in New York, at the age of 26. Back in Korea after successfully mastered all necessary skills at the school, Kim took over Sushi Yedam 2 years ago to turn it into an ill specialist inspired by Nagoya style grilled ill on rice presented with his uniquely made soy sauce. Like many famous restaurants, you might find it hard to secure a seat in the peak time despite the agreeably good enough space (66 square meter) restaurant with 3 rooms and 10 seats on the bar. Yet you might find it worth waiting at your first bite of the dish you ordered for you will be enchanted by the charcoal smell mingled with the specially made soy sauce; you cannot help letting out ‘ummm’ or ‘wow’ by the time you start to munch it with sticky boiled rice in your mouth. According to Kim, ills are rich in protein, unsaturated fatty acid and vitamin E. If you feel like you need a good accompaniment, a number of refined Korean rice wine and Japanese sake is waiting in line for you to choose. Worried about the price? It is only rational and there is no surprise on that point. You can also find on the menu an instruction to 3 ways of enjoying an ill that will be a fun to choose and to wrap a variety of ingredients presented in front of you. In terms of the sides, you can enjoy fresh salad, buckwheat cold noodle and steamed eggs. 

A success comes from hard work!
“A success comes from hard work” believes Kim and he has proved this belief during the course of his study and managing the business for the last 20 years. You might give a wow if you know that Kim’s restaurant makes average KRW 50 million won sales a month. Not to miss the momentum, Kim is about to open its first franchise in Jangyu, Gimhae City this June. Because all the recipes are provided from the flagship restaurant, you can run a franchise with 3 persons without a Japanese food chef based calculated on a 66 square meter space, according to Kim. A helpful advice from Kim: Japan is systematically well built for family businesses as long as the mastery skills are intact while Korea rather focuses on the scale of the business and sales; thus you need to work on it if you wish to keep your business in a long term perspective. So, whether you wish to try the taste or consider joining the wagon, you are highly advised to travel down for a heart to heart talk with him.