Daegu izakaya with air-conditioned outdoor seats: Gyodong Nakwon

What kind of bar is Gyodong Nakwon?

Gyodong Nakwon is an outdoor-tent izakaya at 90-2 Gongpyeong-dong, Jung-gu, Daegu, open weekdays 18:00–02:00 and weekends 17:00–02:00. Now that the weather's cooling down, it's the perfect time for a drink at an outdoor tent bar, so this time I dropped by Gyodong Nakwon, which has a really nice atmosphere.

There are so many bars in Gyodong that I had a hard time deciding where to go, but sitting outside with a gentle breeze while having a drink was such a great vibe. If you're looking for a Daegu Gyodong bar, a Gyodong izakaya with good atmosphere, or an outdoor tent bar where you can really enjoy that yajang (outdoor tent) feeling, this one's worth keeping an eye on.

Japanese lanterns, Ghibli films and outdoor seating

Let me show you a bit of the inside atmosphere at Gyodong Nakwon — they had Ghibli films playing, so it was full of Japanese vibes.

The weather was a little muggy that day, but even though it was outdoor seating, they had the air conditioning running, so it wasn't hot at all and felt nice and cool. Once it got dark, the lanterns lit up one by one and made everything even prettier — it felt like having a drink at an outdoor izakaya on a trip to Japan.

Can Gyodong Nakwon handle groups and work dinners?

Gyodong Nakwon has quite a lot of tables, so it was easy to come with friends, and the atmosphere was good for a date too. There's also seating where several people can sit together, so it seems like a good spot for group gatherings or work dinners.

What's on the menu at Gyodong Nakwon

Let me show you the menu too. The lineup was more varied than I expected, so I had a hard time deciding. There's nabe (hot pot), pasta, beef brisket bean sprout stir-fry, yakisoba, and other bar-snack style dishes, plus fried items like chicken nanban, fried shrimp, and fried chicken cartilage, and even aged salmon sashimi. The drink selection was pretty varied too — draft beer, soju, highballs, and sake — so it was easy to pick something to match whatever we were eating.

Shrimp chips came out as the complimentary snack.

How do the beef tendon stir-fry, gyoza and potato salad taste?

I was craving something spicy so I ordered the beef tendon-scallion stir-fry (suji daepa bokkeum). It had beef tendon and rice cakes along with scallions, all topped generously with mayonnaise.

The seasoning was a little spicy with a sweet edge, perfect as a drinking snack. Eating the chewy beef tendon together with the rice cakes gave such a nice texture. The mayonnaise toned down the spiciness a bit, so if you like spicy bar food, this one's worth trying.

We also ordered gyoza (pan-fried dumplings). One bite in, the outside was crispy and the inside was juicy — really good, haha. Eating a gyoza in between bites of the spicy beef tendon-scallion stir-fry made for a great combo.

My friend likes finger-food style snacks, so we also ordered the potato salad (gamja sarada).

Even the presentation was cute, coming with crackers alongside the potato salad. Piling the potato salad on top of a cracker and eating it in one bite was savory and light — good as a drinking snack too.

Final thoughts on Gyodong Nakwon

Overall, this was a place where I liked the atmosphere for the first time in a while. The Japanese-style lanterns blended so well with the outdoor space that just sitting there felt good, and even on a hot day the air conditioning kept things comfortable. We tried a good variety of snacks too, from the beef tendon-scallion stir-fry to the gyoza and potato salad, and it was fun picking through them one by one. Having Japanese films playing inside really brought out that distinctive izakaya atmosphere too. Gyodong Nakwon was great for a casual drink, and also good for visiting with several people to share snacks.