Daegu terrace bar with unlimited fish cake broth: Eomuk Pocha Tong

The weather's been really nice lately. The heat wave that felt like it would never end has finally backed off as fall approaches, with a cool breeze blowing in the mornings and evenings. There are a few places I think of when it's like this, and Dongchon Recreation Area is one of them. Nothing special about it exactly, but it's good for walking, good for eating, and good for a drink. Today I wanted to walk a bit and then enjoy some cold draft beer with tasty anju (drinking snacks), so I headed to a Dongchon outdoor bar spot.

Daily 16:00–01:00 (last order 00:30) / Closed the last Sunday of every month

That place is Eomuk Pocha Tong (어묵포차통).

How to walk from Dongchon Station to Eomuk Pocha Tong

Eomuk Pocha Tong is on the 4th floor of a building at 27 Hyodong-ro 2-gil, Dong-gu, Daegu, South Korea. Since we wanted to walk a bit, we took the subway to Dongchon Station and crossed Haemaji Bridge. The sunset was beautiful.

Coming out of Exit 2 at Dongchon Station, you can cross Haemaji Bridge right away.

Walk a little and then have that cold, cold draft beer — it tastes even better.

Cross the bridge and head toward Ayang Art Center, and you'll spot the 4-story building.

When you go up to the 4th floor, you'll see two shops side by side.

Eomuk Pocha Tong is the one on the right. Don't get confused, haha.

Since it's newly opened, congratulatory flower stands catch the eye.

I wondered if this person was the owner — and once we went in and met the owner, I could immediately tell, haha.

Seating at Eomuk Pocha Tong: partitioned tables and the outdoor terrace

Inside, Eomuk Pocha Tong is filled with private, fully partitioned tables, and there's a separate terrace for outdoor drinking (yajang) next to the kitchen. Once you walk in through the entrance, it's a long, stretched-out layout.

There are tables for 4 like this, as well as 6-seaters and 8-seaters. They could probably fit even more people if they added a few more chairs.

Going further in, you can see a coat rack, the register, and more tables in front of it.

Further in still is the kitchen, and past the kitchen are separate men's and women's restrooms. This is the view looking back toward the entrance from near the restrooms.

Next to the kitchen is a space for eating outdoors.

In weather like this, a terrace like this is perfect for a drink. You can see Ayang Art Center from here.

Some people who'd already grabbed seats were having a drink. We had originally planned to drink on the terrace too, but it was a bit hot that day, and having walked over, we were already feeling warm. A bit of a shame, but in the end we decided to drink our beer in front of the air conditioner instead, haha.

Heading back inside. Looking at it again, these tables really are great for company dinners or group get-togethers.

Following the owner's guidance, we sat right in front of the air conditioner near the entrance, haha.

What's on the menu at Eomuk Pocha Tong

The menu at Eomuk Pocha Tong was full of dishes made for having a drink.

As the name suggests, besides various fish cakes there was also whelk, chicken, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), heart skewers, and more, quite a variety.

We got the draft beer we wanted, and after some deliberation, we set off with this order.

Photos from earlier guests were already stuck up at our table. I liked that the utensils came individually wrapped.

On the wall, a beam projector played music videos and songs, and it was fun to catch bits of it between bites.

The draft beer and Saero we ordered arrived.

Basic snacks and cabbage came out too. There was also kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake), which was warm and delicious.

Half-and-half Busan fish cake stew with unlimited broth refills

Eomuk Pocha Tong's Busan fish cake stew comes half-and-half: the side with bean sprouts is a spicy red broth, and the side with rice cake is gashiobushi (dried bonito)-flavored, with free refills on the broth. As you'd expect from a fish cake specialist, it came out in a nostalgic old-school fish cake cup.

And here it is — the Busan fish cake stew! It's more generous than I expected. The bean sprout side is spicy red broth, and the rice cake side is gashiobushi flavor.

The rice cake was so chewy that even my wife, who's not usually a fan of tteok, ate it happily. There was also a generous amount of crab and mussels.

The bean sprouts and dried anchovies (dipori) seemed to make the broth even tastier. The crab was full of meat and delicious too.

Oh — there were even two boiled eggs in there. Since we'd just come from exercising, we made sure to get our protein in.

There was a good amount of konjac too — chewy and tasty.

Since I love bean sprouts, I moved some from one side to the other — not recommended. At first I was enjoying the two different flavors, but once I mixed the bean sprouts in, both sides ended up tasting similar, haha. Don't mix them!

The owner is generous — the soup broth is refillable for free. I asked the owner and learned they ran a place near Buk-gu District Office for over 10 years before moving here. I hope this place becomes a signature spot for Dongchon Recreation Area.

There was plenty of crab, no shortage at all.

Maybe because it's Busan-style fish cake, it stayed springy even soaked in the broth. Chewy and delicious.

The mussels were just a supporting act.

The fish cake was really good.

As we kept eating away—

The pork cutlet and tteokbokki that came with the set

The pork cutlet-tteokbokki we ordered as a set arrived. Eomuk Pocha Tong's version comes with pork cutlet, tteokbokki, and mini dumplings all on one plate.

Probably a store-bought cutlet, but it tasted great to me. My wife agreed it was delicious. Seemed well-fried.

There were mini dumplings too. No need to say how well they pair with spicy tteokbokki!

Dipping the pork cutlet in the tteokbokki sauce was also a great way to enjoy it as anju.

A really solid drinking snack set.

The tteokbokki had a faint curry aroma along with a sweet-spicy flavor — it reminded me a bit of Gungjeon tteokbokki (royal court-style). Delicious.

The dumplings and cutlet were also great dipped in the sauce. Having the cutlet and tteokbokki together as a set made for a really good pairing.

Who is Eomuk Pocha Tong best for as a Dongchon terrace bar?

We didn't quite demolish everything — the portions were so generous we left a little of the tteokbokki rice cake, haha. But we ate really well.

If you're looking for a bar with an outdoor drinking (yajang) atmosphere in Daegu, or a good spot for a group gathering, I'd recommend Eomuk Pocha Tong. It has a terrace for outdoor drinking, plenty of private, partitioned tables, and generous, tasty anju along with draft beer — it has a lot going for it. I'm planning to come back with friends next time the weather's nice.