Late-night pojangmacha open till 6am in Daegu: Room Pojangmacha

Special feature: running into a familiar face, take two.

Haven't seen Han and Cha in a while. Han had his saju (fortune) read that day and got some pretty shocking news, so we decided comfort was urgently needed — which meant heading to a bar in Dongseongno, Daegu.

Room Pojangmacha. A special space that adds a private-room feel to the classic pojangmacha vibe 🤵🏻‍♂️ Honestly the final boss of atmospheric pojangmachas 👏👏

A Samdeok-dong pojangmacha open until 6am

Open daily 17:00–06:00. Open until 6am — a Daegu Samdeok-dong bar that any night owl would love 🙋‍♀️

It'd been a while since I visited a pojangmacha in the Dongseongno club alley, and the value-for-money menu lineup was a very welcome surprise 🤸‍♀️ It brought back college-day nostalgia and was a refreshing change of pace for a gathering of aging young adults.

Pojangmacha vibes under club-style lighting

Wow... the pojangmacha vibe here is something else. The place was packed with people who looked college-aged, and I wondered — can we, self-proclaimed "young forties," really drink here? Haha. That's what I thought walking in, but soon enough I was having such a happy trip down memory lane under lighting that sparkled like a club 😍

They even stamp you at entry to confirm you're in. Nice touch.

Four dishes ordered via tablet

Ordering is done through the tablet at each table.

• Jeonnamchin toast ("ex-boyfriend toast" — no ex-boyfriend involved)
• Kettle eomuk-tang (fish cake soup)
• Room-style assorted tteokbokki
• Makchang (beef intestine) fritters

(This is basically a pork party at this point, isn't it 👨‍🦳)

On Han's recommendation we tried Saero Dallae soju — wow, one sip and I kept reaching for more. I'm supposed to be cutting back on drinking these days, but I nearly went through 4 or 5 bottles just like that 🙋‍♀️

Kettle eomuk-tang — the broth is the real kick

Maybe my absolute favorite pojangmacha dish, kettle eomuk-tang, arrived 🥸 Fish cake really should be served in a kettle to taste its best.

Han (still a bit down from his fortune-telling news) lifted up a well-cooked piece of fish cake just for my blog photo. Nice. One picture and you already get the appeal of kettle eomuk-tang!

And if there's a real kick here, it's the fish cake broth that kept simmering away in the kettle — honestly one of the best I've had in the past three years, both for seasoning and for that wave of spicy warmth that hit just right.

Makchang fritters made a fan out of someone who never liked makchang

And then, the makchang fritters, haha. Backstory: I don't normally like makchang, so I'd checked off chicken gizzard fritters instead — but I couldn't ignore Han's pleading eyes for the makchang fritters, so I switched the order. And, wow, they were so much better than expected that I instantly became a shocking new makchang fan 🫢 Can makchang really be this nutty and savory? I kept marveling at it while eating.

Our first feast is off to a happy start ^^

Jeonnamchin toast never disappoints

(No ex-boyfriend involved, but) jeonnamchin toast 🔥 In my experience, any dish carrying the "jeonnamchin" (ex-boyfriend) title never disappoints. True to form, this toast was sweet, fluffy, and had that nostalgic old-school toast flavor I got totally hooked on.

Golden-brown and perfectly timed — jeonnamchin toast for the win 👍

Ending with the signature room-style assorted tteokbokki

This might look like an all-out feast for aging young adults, but the last thing we ordered was the house signature: room-style assorted tteokbokki. Fried kimmari (seaweed roll), mini fried mandu, and classic melted-cheese tteokbokki all in one — sweet and spicy in exactly the way that captures everything great about tteokbokki. Nicely done.

This Dongseongno pojangmacha is full of youthful college energy, but it also stirs up nostalgia for us aging young adults — a genuinely welcome, budget-friendly find.

A go-to atmospheric pojangmacha when you think of good value — great for a Bandeukdang Station date spot (well, not for me 🧘‍♀️), and for me, exactly what a Daegu Samdeok-dong bar recommendation should be (haha) — a place that'll stay in my memory for a while.