Hongik Univ. Station izakaya with sweet shrimp soba: Hongdae Gonggam

I met up with a friend in Seoul to catch up on everything we'd missed, and we ended up around Hongik Univ. Station for the first time in a while. We were looking for a private-room izakaya (Japanese-style pub) nearby where we could drink and talk quietly, and we found "Hongdae Gonggam" (홍대공감). Here's my review!

Hongdae Gonggam location, hours and parking

Hongdae Gonggam is on the 2nd floor at 10 Wausan-ro 17-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's open daily from 16:00 to 02:00 the next day, with last order at 01:00. Groups and reservations are welcome, the restrooms are separate for men and women, and they do delivery, takeout and paid corkage.

There's no dedicated parking, so you'll need a nearby public or paid lot. The closest is the Sangsang Madang public parking lot, about a 5-minute walk from the restaurant.

Hongdae Gonggam menu and drinks

As a Japanese restaurant near Hongik Univ. Station, it had plenty of the high-quality dishes you'd expect at an izakaya. The sashimi looked perfect for fresh autumn, and the yuringi (Korean-style fried chicken with sauce), chicken karaage, okonomiyaki and chili shrimp come as set menus with 2 glasses of Kirin draft beer, so choosing is easy, haha.

They sell lots of drinks, including ones for serious drinkers like Suntory draft beer, Saeroh Omija and Byeolbit Cheongha, and there's a wide range of highballs too, like a homemade grapefruit highball and a homemade strawberry highball. Loved that!

How many people fit in a Hongdae Gonggam private room, and is it good for a date?

The restaurant is on the 2nd floor, and when you walk in you first see a neatly arranged hall seating area.

Hongdae Gonggam also has separate rooms, so we made a reservation through Naver and visited.

Because the rooms are fully separated, it seemed great for friends to chat comfortably in a quiet space over drinks and food.

There are rooms for 4 and 6, but also for 2, so it works even for a small group. Personally, I think it's a perfect spot for a date!

Hongdae Gonggam's free side dish: seasoned gungchae (celtuce stem)

When you order, you get gungchae muchim (seasoned stem lettuce salad) and pickled radish salad as basic side dishes. A bar serving gungchae isn't common, and as a gungchae lover, I was so happy!

Here's what we ordered. Both dishes were seafood, and they looked so fresh that I was super excited.

• Sweet shrimp perilla oil soba ₩20,000
• Seasonal sesame leaf sashimi ₩29,000
• Terra Zero ₩5,000

What does Hongdae Gonggam's sweet shrimp perilla oil soba taste like?

The first dish out was the sweet shrimp perilla oil soba (₩20,000). Raw shrimp sashimi is trending these days, so I ordered it to get my shrimp fix too!

The noodles were totally springy, and the perilla oil sauce was so savory that you just keep eating. The sweet shrimp was fresh and melted in my mouth, so with one bite of noodles and one bite of shrimp, the bowl was empty in no time...

Seasonal perilla leaf makhoe tastes best wrapped in seaweed

Hongdae Gonggam's seasonal sesame leaf sashimi (₩29,000) is fresh seasonal sashimi topped with fragrant sesame leaves, which you wrap with rice in seaweed.

There's plenty of fresh sashimi under the sesame leaves and plenty of fragrant leaves on top, so it was tasty on its own, but

if you put a little vinegared rice on a sheet of seaweed, pile on sashimi and sesame leaves, add a bit of wasabi and take a bite, it's honestly heaven.

After the seaweed is gone, eating the sesame leaves and the seasoned sashimi on their own is delicious too!

Is Hongdae Gonggam a good quiet room bar near Hongik Univ. Station?

If you're looking for a quiet room bar with a nice atmosphere near Hongik Univ. Station, I recommend "Hongdae Gonggam"!