Guro bar with window seats: fire-grilled hagfish, Apgujeong Sinpocha

Places with real experience behind them are just different, haha!

Where is Apgujeong Sinpocha near Gaebong Station?

Apgujeong Sinpocha is a pocha (Korean bar) one minute from Gaebong Station, on the 2nd floor of a building at 20-10 Nambusunhwan-ro 97-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's open from 6 PM to 3 AM.

Part two of our post-move dinner outings with my girlfriend! Today we visited Apgujeong Sinpocha, one minute from the station right by our new place. It's on the 2nd floor of the building.

Apgujeong Sinpocha is the go-to side-dish spot near Gaebong Station, run by an owner with 13 years in the restaurant business. Looks like they're especially skilled with spicy dishes!

★ Imported 'orange族' welcome ★ lol

Inside Apgujeong Sinpocha: the full-window seats

Inside, Apgujeong Sinpocha is decorated in wood and cherry blossoms, with a panoramic window seat that looks out over Gaebong Station. We picked that window seat.

They really decorated the place nicely. Wood & cherry blossom edition. Different season, still a good-looking bar~

The kitchen area is nicely done too haha, kind of feels like a little village inside the bar?

The bottle-decorated wall bumps up the drinking mood~

You're inside the bar but it feels like drinking outdoors! The weather's been getting warmer lately, and this fresh, cool feeling is nice.

This was the best part — this seat, where you can drink while watching people pass by Gaebong Station through the panoramic window, enjoying the cool weather. We picked this exact spot. (This is the best seat in the house.)

Complimentary sides and bean sprout soup

The basic side dishes are puffed rice crackers plus tangy-sweet pickled radish for a palate cleanser.

And once you've ordered and start eating, they bring out hot bean sprout soup — the broth tastes different from usual. Really refreshing. They could honestly sell this on its own.

Apgujeong Sinpocha menu and prices

Here's the Apgujeong Sinpocha menu. If you order 2 side dishes, there's a deal for soju at ₩3,000 and beer at ₩4,000. Mains + sides work too! True to the owner's spicy-food skills, there's fire-grilled cooking plus a wide range of side dishes. They also serve whiskey and highballs. We started with the Jeju sweet shrimp sashimi (₩25,000), something you don't usually see at other bars!

As a review event they're giving out steamed egg (1 per table), just so you know.

Jeju sweet shrimp sashimi, 25,000 won

Apgujeong Sinpocha's Jeju sweet shrimp sashimi is ₩25,000, served over crushed ice with sesame-oil-dressed cucumber on the side. Not a hint of fishiness, and the meat came off the shell easily.

Feels like it's been ages since I had sweet shrimp sashimi. Thinking about it, I only ever seem to eat this on special occasions. On moving day, the side dish has to be at least this good, haha.

Adding cucumber alone would've been appreciated, but the owner really knows flavor — a spoonful of sesame oil right on the cucumber. That's the kicker. The coolness of the cucumber with that nutty aroma creeping up is amazing~

When we ordered the sweet shrimp sashimi, they set it up on crushed ice, which actually matters a lot — it keeps the sashimi extra cold and enjoyable!

Plump yet tender-looking sweet shrimp sashimi. Proper Jeju sweet shrimp for sure~

These past few days of moving — cleaning the house, carrying boxes — have wrecked my body... maybe that's why the drinks have been tasting so sweet lately. Confirmed: you gotta suffer for the alcohol to taste sweet, lol.

What time does Apgujeong Sinpocha get busy?

Feeling the cool breeze outside, watching people pass by, sipping a cold soju — insane. Honestly, since it's not a chain, there were barely any customers when we walked in, and I thought we'd drink quietly, but by the time we'd ordered our side dishes the place had filled up completely. It feels more like a second-round bar than a first stop, so expect things to pick up from 7 PM, and brace for a wait from 8 PM.

Not a trace of fishiness, and the meat slides right out — sweet shrimp sashimi. As tender as it looks, genuinely delicious, no ifs or buts.

Being able to enjoy Jeju freshness at a bar one minute from Gaebong Station is just great, haha. The standard way is to dip it in chogochujang (vinegar-chili sauce), but it's fresh enough to eat plain, with that distinctive nutty sweet-shrimp flavor coming through.

A pinch of wasabi in soy sauce lets you enjoy the sweet shrimp sashimi's flavor even more intensely.

Was it chogyeran (vinegar-egg)? Something like that — dipping the sesame-oil cucumber in chogochujang was genuinely delicious. That was my bite of the day.

The soy sauce + wasabi + cucumber combo is tasty too~

Fire-grilled hagfish stir-fry, 19,000 won at Shin Ramyun spice level

Apgujeong Sinpocha's signature fire-grilled eel stir-fry is ₩19,000, and you can choose your spice level among Shin Ramyun, Buldak, or Hek-Buldak. I have a low spice tolerance so I went with Shin Ramyun level, and it was exactly that level of heat.

After all the hard work on moving day, back to more food after the shrimp~ We ordered the owner's signature fire-grilled dish, the eel stir-fry (₩19,000). It came out still sizzling. Drooling already.

There are three spice levels to choose from: Shin Ramyun / Buldak / Hek-Buldak. I ordered Shin Ramyun level, and it was exactly that heat — no pressure at all for someone with low spice tolerance like me, while still being spicy enough to enjoy. Perfect match.

Visually appealing too, with various vegetables and sliced chili peppers scattered on top.

Above all, the sauce is incredibly rich. "They don't hold back on ingredients" fits this perfectly. It's so glossy it looks almost gold-plated.

Gotta add another bottle of soju right away. That sweet-and-salty balance is amazing as a soju pairing.

Fire-grilled dishes are definitely this owner's signature. Just one bite coats your whole mouth in that delicious sweet-salty-spicy soy sauce marinade — the best. Practically a dopamine hit, lol.

The sweet mayo cuts the spiciness slightly while adding even more savoriness — an insane combo. The pieces are also cut into easy bite sizes, and the portion is surprisingly generous. Feels like you can't go wrong ordering any fire-grilled dish here. It'd been a while since I had dinner at a bar instead of a proper restaurant, more of a drinking-side-meal vibe, and it was a huge success. Highly recommend Apgujeong Sinpocha, a real side-dish gem right in front of Gaebong Station!