Sangam DMC izakaya for cheap small plates and warm sake: Hanamato

What is Hanamato Sangam DMC?

Hanamato Sangam DMC is a two-story izakaya near Digital Media City Station in Sangam-dong. The first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the izakaya space for guests.

This day I headed out to Sangam-dong. The whole two-story building is one izakaya. I thought, wow, the owner is bold, did they just buy the entire building? haha. But when I went in, the first floor was where the food is made and the second floor was the proper izakaya space for guests. A whole floor just for the kitchen? The cooks must have it easy.

Is Hanamato a late-night bar in Sangam DMC?

Hanamato Sangam DMC is open until 3am, so you can drink comfortably late into the night. These days, apart from the Hongdae area, bars open until 3am are rare, so I figured a lot of people living nearby must come here.

This is the mood on the first and second floors. Since it's a Sangam DMC kind of place, there were lots of people who came to enjoy the evening after work, couples on dates, and groups of male coworkers. Are they all broadcasting-station people? I was a little curious, but I couldn't exactly ask.

Hanamato review event and free shrimp chips

For its review event, Hanamato Sangam DMC gives you things like chicken heart skewers, ginkgo skewers or a highball. These are menu items that make you want to write a review. It takes only a minute to write one, so definitely join in.

Even the complimentary snack is good! You know what these are, right? Shrimp chips. I guess they order the unfried chips in bulk and fry them in-house. I once bought some and fried them myself, and they never came out that pretty, haha.

The draft beer came out first. Dishes don't take too long, and the staff are quick, so it isn't maddening like at some other bars.

A place with Kikkoman soy sauce and shichimi on the table definitely knows what it's doing.

How was the warm tokkuri sake at Hanamato?

I ordered warm sake in a tokkuri (ceramic sake flask) at Hanamato Sangam DMC, and it was surprisingly delicious. I don't know which sake it was, but the taste is pretty great.

Hanamato's sweet-glazed grilled eel: is it real eel?

The seasoned grilled eel at Hanamato Sangam DMC is a bit small, but it really is eel. It was the dish I most wanted to eat, and the price was so cheap that I doubted it was real eel. It's real, I promise.

There's a convenience-store snack called a shrimp fish cake bar, with a shrimp shape drawn on top of the fish cake. When I first saw it, I thought it was real shrimp. But they'd drawn the shrimp on the fish cake with food coloring, haha. Ah, totally fooled, right??

Yes, yes, it's eel. It's a bit small, but for the price it's a very kind eel. The taste is exactly the seasoned eel flavor we all know. They even topped it prettily with pickled ginger and fresh wasabi.

I'll put a piece of eel on the cabbage salad, add a little wasabi and dig in. I say a little prayer before eating. Mr. Eel~~~ thank you for living for me, haha. And it's freshwater eel, too! Thank you, haha.

Is Hanamato good for drinking solo with single-portion plates?

The dishes at Hanamato Sangam DMC are cheap but small, so it's great for ordering several as one-person dishes when drinking alone. The tomato mozzarella salad uses fresh mozzarella. Being able to order a bit of everything is actually a plus. I think it's even better for people who come alone to drink. It's hard to eat two or three servings of snacks at once, after all.

Having tried it, it's very light and fresh. The tomatoes are slightly marinated and the mozzarella is mild through and through. It all just works together.

Who said the tail is the best part of an eel? When did that saying start? I think the body is delicious and so is the tail, but when I'm eating with other people, I should give up the tail for them, haha.

13,000-won seafood nurungji soup: taste and portion

The small-plate seafood nurungji soup at Hanamato Sangam DMC is ₩13,000. I think this was over ₩15,000 even ten years ago, so I wondered, wow, is it okay to be this cheap?

Even if you order several, three dishes, the total isn't much. The tokkuri is also very cheap. A full meal out of snacks is totally doable.

The broth is very thick. If you're hurting from drinking too much the night before, have this as a hangover cure. It loosens you up in one go.

The nurungji (scorched rice) is good dipped in the broth, but it's also crispy and nutty on its own. I ate half dipped and half plain. Half dip, half plain.

It has clams, seafood and springy udon noodles, so it's a small dish with real substance.

The udon noodles were boiled just right and springy, and they went well with the thick broth. An impressive nurungji soup.

Chicken skewers and grilled shishamo at Hanamato

The chicken heart skewer I got from the Hanamato Sangam DMC review event was lightly coated in oil and nutty. Heart is normally lean and plain, but this one seems to have a light coating of oil, so it was really rich and nutty.

Grilled shishamo (smelt) showed up too, which I hadn't had in a long time. I first tried shishamo in college, and when I ate it I was amazed at how many eggs it had, what an amazing mother. Shishamo really is an amazing mother fish.

Then the chicken thigh skewer arrived. When it comes to chicken, it's the thigh. Both the upper thigh and the drumstick meat are delicious. It's the most popular part of the chicken, so when you order fried chicken, there's always that awkward moment of figuring out who gets the leg first. Here you can tear into chicken thigh to your heart's content without worrying about that, haha.

Who should you bring to Hanamato Sangam DMC?

Hanamato Sangam DMC suits groups of friends whose tastes in snacks are all different. We ate lots of different delicious things, and where I'd normally order soju, this time I ordered tokkuri too. It was a hugely satisfying Sangam DMC hangout, Hanamato. If you're meeting friends and everyone's snack tastes are totally different, this is a great place to gather. You eat this, I'll eat that, order a bit of everything, fill the table and have a party~~