Seongsu izakaya with straw-grilled tataki for a double date: Jindoken

Here's my write-up after crushing six dishes at Jindoken Seongsu, a Seongsu bar. The tataki grilled over rice straw was so moving — the straw-scented tataki and every other dish that followed kept us going wild all night.

Jindoken Seongsu Branch hours, seating and how to reserve a table for four

• Tue–Sun 17:00 – 1:00 the next day / closed Mondays
• 5-minute walk from Seongsu Station Exit 7
• Tables for 2 and 4, plus bar seats; book ahead for a table of 4
• Open kitchen, so it's fun watching them grill straw tataki and yakitori right in front of you
• There's a gap between dishes arriving, so it's worth ordering ahead
• Highly recommend the straw-grilled sashimi tataki — genuinely full of straw aroma
• We crushed six dishes total
• They gave us a 10% discount coupon for booking as a wedding invitation gathering

We visited Jindoken Seongsu Branch on a Sunday for a double date with close couple friends of ours!

Head up to the 3rd floor and the entrance to Jindoken appears. Don't panic if the door looks closed — there's a button next to it that opens it, haha.

What does Jindoken Seongsu Branch look like inside?

Jindoken, a Seongsu bar, has a dim, cozy space. It's made up of tables for 2, tables for 4 and bar seats. There are mostly 2-tops, so if you're coming as a group, I'd recommend booking ahead. We were four people, so we reserved in advance.

This is the space next to ours! It was almost full so I couldn't get a proper shot, ugh.

If you sit at the bar, it's an open kitchen so you can watch the cooking happen right in front of you. Since they grill things over straw, it looks like it would be fun haha. Probably hot, but the fun of sitting at the bar seems worth it — I want to sit there next time, haha.

Sashimi tataki trio grilled over rice straw

Since we'd booked ahead, the table was already set when we arrived. The stir-fried cabbage was a little oily but paired well with the bonito flakes on top — kind of a hidden gem?? What we ordered was the sashimi tataki trio, grilled over rice straw.

It's made up of salmon, tuna and Spanish mackerel.

I'm not a fan of salmon, so I tried the mackerel first. Completely clean-tasting but full of straw aroma!!! Plus it was cut thick, so the texture was great too.

The tuna was completely soft too, and the just-right oiliness plus the straw aroma made me so happy, ugh.

Seafood cream jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup): spicy, not greasy

We also ordered seafood cream jjamppong on top. Maybe because of the chili oil on top, it wasn't greasy at all and had a bit of a kick, which made it so delicious!! There was a lot of stuff in it too — plenty of vegetables and seafood! Eat some of the solids first, then add noodles and simmer it.

Highly, highly recommend this one — genuinely nutty + smooth + spicy. It was so good we couldn't resist and ordered more food. And so the binge began.

Salt-grilled chicken neck, grilled vegetables, fried chicken cartilage and grilled atka mackerel

Salt-grilled chicken thigh skewers. Chewy, and really delicious eaten with the tarae sauce over the cabbage, ugh. But watch out — there were some spots that were quite salty!!

We ordered grilled vegetables to eat alongside the chicken. The vegetables were cooked just right too — the eggplant, zucchini and shishito peppers were genuinely delicious. My boyfriend hates vegetables, but he ate the zucchini first and said it was good, which honestly moved me...

The four of us, now fully in binge mode, ordered fried chicken cartilage hahahaha. It wasn't just cartilage — there was actual meat in there too, so the crunchy + soft texture combo went really well together!! We were full so we ate it in small bites while still binging.

Salty + crispy fried food — need I say more. It's just good, unconditionally good!!!! One more bottle of soju please, ma'am.

And there's still more... grilled atka mackerel, haha. Soft... oily... makes my mouth water, ugh.

Is Jindoken Seongsu Branch worth a second visit?

It probably would have been hot in there, but it was so delicious, ugh. Thank you, chef. Jindoken, a Seongsu bar, is a legit destination for great food to go with drinks — the cozy, atmospheric vibe would be great for an important gathering or a date, so I highly recommend it!! The tataki was packed with straw aroma and every single dish was genuinely delicious and high quality, so I felt like anyone I brought here would be satisfied. That said, since the dishes come out slowly after ordering, it might feel long, but for us the time flew by while chatting, haha. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely want to go back!!!!