Gangnam Japanese bar with spicy seafood nabe: Izakaya Goko

Izakaya Goko Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Branch is a Japanese-style pub near Gangnam Station where you can enjoy a wide range of Japanese dishes, including sashimi, all in one place.

Izakaya Goko near Sinnonhyeon Station

Izakaya Goko is about five minutes from Sinnonhyeon Station, with great access from both Gangnam and Sinnonhyeon Stations! It is on the second floor of Banseok Building, in the same building as Daebong Samgyeopsal.

Inside, there were bar tables, regular tables, and private seating. Since they sell so many kinds of sake, bottles are displayed around the space, and the floor-to-ceiling windows make it feel wonderfully open!

A menu with sashimi and yakitori together

Izakaya Goko sells such a huge variety of Japanese dishes, and being able to have both sashimi and yakitori at one restaurant is a major plus! They also have various fried dishes and soup-based dishes, making it perfect for enjoying all kinds of drinking snacks!

For drinks, they have not only regular soju but draft beer and many kinds of sake, so I think you can choose whatever suits your taste! The sake even comes with simple descriptions, which was nice haha. Corkage is free for up to one bottle, with an additional ₩20,000 charge from two bottles, so it does not seem too burdensome. For corkage on alcohol purchased at the restaurant, there is an additional ₩20,000 charge regardless of bottle count.

We ordered sashimi for two, seven kinds of yakitori, mackerel pressed sushi, and spicy seafood nabe, and enjoyed them with Dassai 23!

Japanese drinking dishes paired with Dassai 23

Just look at that gorgeous Dassai 23,, They even brought over an ice bucket so we could drink it nicely chilled haha.

Our first dish was sashimi, with such a variety of seafood including salmon, halibut, tuna, yellowtail, and sweet shrimp! Everything tasted fresh without any fishiness, so we enjoyed it so much~~!

The mackerel pressed sushi did have mackerel's characteristic fishy aroma, but it was so, so nutty, and wrapped in gim (roasted seaweed), it became a drinking dish that went wonderfully with sake haha. I highly recommend Izakaya Goko's mackerel pressed sushi to anyone who loves the taste of mackerel!!

The spicy seafood nabe that came next was, literally, quite spicy..! The kind of spice that someone who cannot handle heat might not be able to eat much of.. I loved that bracing, peppery kick though, haha! With mussels, squid, and all sorts of seafood in it, it was a great soup dish to order!

The seven kinds of yakitori included a nice spread of different cuts, from chicken thigh and neck to skin and wings, and as you tasted them one by one, the drinks just disappeared, haha! I thought they would be absolutely perfect with draft beer.