Mapo Korean bar terrace date with braised pork: Ijillirya Yeonnam

A terrace Korean bar atmosphere in Yeonnam-dong

It had been a while since our last date in Yeonnam-dong, and we wanted to enjoy good food and drinks somewhere a little different, so we headed here 🥰 There are so many great restaurants and bars in Yeonnam-dong, but that day we were especially looking for somewhere we could have Korean-style drinking dishes with traditional liquor too. And that’s how we found Ijillirya Yeonnam (잊힐리야 연남)!

Unlike a typical Korean bar, this place has lots of familiar Korean dishes reinterpreted in Ijillirya’s own way, which made choosing from the menu fun. Being able to enjoy a range of traditional liquors alongside them was another lovely point. 🍶

The atmospheric exterior suits Yeonnam-dong’s distinctive alleyway vibe perfectly, and inside, the wood tones and soft lighting made it feel much cozier than I expected. Best of all, on a nice day you can enjoy the atmosphere out on the terrace—perfect for a date! It feels a little different from the bars you commonly see around Yeonnam-dong, so I think anyone looking for a great Yeonnam date spot would love this kind of mood. 🥰

Ijillirya Yeonnam menu and prices

• Dongpo braised pork: ₩27,000
• Seafood banga-jeon: ₩20,000
• Aged-kimchi tuna rolls: ₩10,000
• Spicy seafood ramen: ₩9,000

What we tried, from braised pork to seafood ramen

The complimentary snacks were pretzels and, I think, a tangy cabbage salad? It had such a pleasant sourness that really woke up the appetite. Ijillirya also serves a welcome drink as standard. 🍶 As we enjoyed the welcome drink and snacks, our order arrived before we knew it~

We ordered the dongpo braised pork, aged-kimchi tuna rolls, and the spicy Maepssagi seafood ramen. For drinks, we went with Guksundang, which we already love.

Sweet-savory dongpo braised pork

Ijillirya’s dongpo braised pork is a tender boiled-pork dish coated in a sweet dongpo sauce. It’s described as tender pork served with that sweet sauce. The meat was so soft that you could feel its tenderness from the moment you picked it up with chopsticks; once in your mouth, the soft pork and sweet-salty sauce came together beautifully with makgeolli (Korean rice wine). 🤎 I’d never had seasoned bok choy like the side that came with it, but it went surprisingly well with the pork and neatly cut through its richness! If you like meat dishes with drinks, the dongpo braised pork is one I recommend. 👍

Easy-going aged-kimchi tuna rolls

I absolutely love aged-kimchi tuna rolls, so whenever they’re on a menu, I have to order them. These are rolls of tangy, well-fermented aged kimchi filled generously with tuna and scented with perilla leaf. The dish itself isn’t wildly flashy, but once you try it, it tastes even better because it’s that familiar flavor. 😋 The sour kimchi worked so well with the clean flavor of tuna, while the perilla leaf came through now and then, making it lighter than expected to eat. The tuna wasn’t dry at all either—the seasoning made everything go down smoothly! Ordered with a richer dish like the dongpo braised pork, the two complement each other so well.

Maepssagi seafood ramen, perfect for finishing with broth

And we couldn’t skip something brothy, so we ordered the Maepssagi seafood ramen! 🌶️ It’s a refreshing, spicy seafood ramen made with blue crab, shrimp, red scallops, and more to bring out that seafood flavor. After the dongpo braised pork and aged-kimchi tuna rolls, it was just right as a final bowl of broth. The cool, clean flavor from the seafood with the spicy broth made it great for taking spoonfuls of soup between drinks. 🦐🦀🍜 If a full soup dish feels like too much, I recommend the Maepssagi seafood ramen from the side menu~

Naver reservation iced persimmon platter

And then, a menu item we received unexpectedly~! A dessert offered to guests visiting with a Naver reservation! 🎁 It was an iced ripe-persimmon platter, and it was so much tastier than I expected. (Such a great ice cream spot 🧡) After plenty of drinks and food, a sweet, cold dessert was the perfect way to finish! It had the distinctive sweetness of ripe persimmon while being served chilled, so it felt like it freshened up the palate. Put a little ice cream and iced persimmon on the puffed rice snack, and you’ll finish a whole bowl in no time :) They give you this dessert free just for making a Naver reservation?! There’s no reason not to! If you’re planning a visit, I definitely recommend checking Naver reservations too 🍧

Final thoughts on our Yeonnam date

If you’re looking for an unusual Korean bar that isn’t common in Yeonnam-dong, try Ijillirya Yeonnam! On a nice day, you can enjoy Korean food and drinks on the terrace, and there’s a range of traditional liquors ready for you to choose something to suit your taste. They also offer the iced ripe-persimmon platter dessert with a Naver reservation. The atmosphere is especially pretty, too, making it a lovely place to try when you’re looking for a Yeonnam date spot. 💕 If you want distinctive Korean drinking dishes and traditional liquor with a terrace vibe instead of an ordinary izakaya, I recommend Ijillirya Yeonnam, a Hongdae–Yeonnam bar! 🍶