Mention Korean food to most Tokyoites and it conjures up images of yakiniku - thin slices of beef grill-cooked at the table to the accompaniment of lots of smoke, kimchi and beer. On the other end of the spectrum lies Korean katei-ryori, or homestyle cooking, best exemplified by gems like Hosenka in Azabu Juban (a little hard to find, a little hard to get into - part of what makes it such a gem). Katei ryori eschews yakiniku for the whole delicious panoply of Korean cuisine: kimchi and other pickled vegetables, hot and cold noodle dishes, one-pot stews. 

Jap Cho Ok falls somewhere between these two traditions. It's not authentic Korean homestyle cooking, but neither is it mainly yakiniku. It doesn't pretend to be much more than "Korean-based" though the food is fairly good, and served in a setting quite unlike any other Korean place I know. 

Some of the highlights of a recent dinner include a mixed Korean-style sashimi platter with a delicious dipping sauce (¥2800), daikon kimchi (¥450), a type of Korean-style pancake (¥800) and garlic prepared three different ways (¥800), including one succulent head of baked garlic. We stuck to beer, though there is, incongruously, Kendall Jackson wine from California on the menu. 

Though lunchtime lacks the bustling ambience of evenings, the sets are quite good value. Sansai bibimbap (¥1500), though minus the traditional egg, was satisfying and vegetarian, while yakiniku sets (¥1600), with salad, soup and namul, had tender meat (charcoal-cooked at the table) and all-you-can-eat rice. The piece de resistance, however, is the dessert: Mochi dipped in honey and then a succession of colored powders, served with a sublime cinnamon, ginger and pine nut tea.