Euljiro bar for Osaka niboshi shrimp oil pasta: Hey Jinny

Hey Jinny’s location and atmosphere in Euljiro

With Euljiro’s signature cool alleyway vibe, warm lighting, and vintage interior all together, it was just right for a date or a casual drink, haha.

It’s on the second floor at 7 Euljiro 12-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, and it’s close to Euljiro 3-ga Station, so it’s fairly easy to get to. Hours are 17:00–24:00 Tuesday through Friday and 15:00–24:00 on Saturday and Sunday; it is regularly closed on Mondays. Last order is at 23:30!

You just head up to the second floor of the building tucked inside the alley. The HEY GENIE sign is right there from the entrance, so it was easier to find than I expected. You can feel that distinctly cool Euljiro vibe from the moment you start climbing the stairs, right? Haha.

Inside, the overall space has dark wood tones with soft orange lighting. Wine bottles fill the wall-side displays, and the tables and chairs have a vintage feel, so it was quite pretty for photos too 📸 Above all, natural light comes in by the windows, so the mood feels different during the day or around sunset.

It doesn’t feel like an overly formal wine bar; it has a casual atmosphere where you can comfortably eat and have a glass of wine, so it was easy to walk in without feeling pressured.

The menu and what we ordered

Here’s the menu, and the drink selection is huge!! Beer, whisky, spirits, port wine, red and white wine, and more... Corkage is also available for a fee.

We ordered the Osaka niboshi shrimp oil pasta for ₩21,000, fried eoyang eggplant (eggplant in a sweet-spicy, Sichuan-style sauce), and two glasses of house wine 🍷

The food is here~!

How was the Osaka niboshi shrimp oil pasta?

First of all, it looked completely different from a usual oil pasta. It was piled with shrimp and seafood, plus dried shrimp and little fish, so you could practically smell the sea just looking at it.

When you actually eat it, the seafood flavor is very intense. It was a style I’d never had before, so my first bite was like, “Oh, this is so unusual?” But interestingly, there was hardly any fishiness, and the umami was pretty strong.

The shrimp was springy, and the noodles had really absorbed the seafood flavor, so it went down so easily with wine, haha. Still, since it’s oil pasta, it can start to feel a little rich if you keep eating it; that’s when the fried eoyang eggplant we ordered alongside it made the pairing just perfect.

A perfect bite, haha.

The dishes are so cute and pretty too, hahaha. Really great for a date!!

Why the fried eoyang eggplant worked so well with pasta

Personally, I thought the fried eggplant was seriously delicious 😂❤️ Big pieces of eggplant come fried, crisp on the outside but moist and tender inside. It’s topped generously with bell peppers and sauce, so the colors are pretty too, and one bite fills your mouth with that sweet, savory sauce.

There was also a subtle mala-like spice aroma, so it wasn’t just ordinary fried eggplant—it had a more addictive flavor. When the pasta starts to feel a little rich, one bite of this completely resets your palate! I really felt we did so well ordering both together 👍

Finishing up with house wine

We also ordered two glasses of house wine, and they went well with both dishes. The niboshi pasta especially has a strong seafood flavor, so having it with wine made it go down much more easily. The atmosphere was quiet and the lighting warm, making it nice to slowly sip wine while eating.

It would be nice for a blind date or date, of course, but also for casually stopping by with a friend as a first or second round in Euljiro 😊

Cleared every last bit~~~~!

If you’re looking for a different kind of pasta

Hey Jinny (을지로 헤이지니) is a place I’d recommend when you want to try something a little different from your usual pasta. The Osaka niboshi shrimp oil pasta has a very definite seafood flavor, so it may be a matter of taste, but I found myself reaching for more than expected because it was so umami-rich without any fishiness. It stood out even more because it was a style I was trying for the first time, haha.

And I seriously, seriously recommend the fried eoyang eggplant✨ The crisp-yet-moist eggplant went so well with its sweet, spicy sauce with a slight mala aroma. It even cut through the richness of the pasta, so the two-dish combination was really good.