Yeonnam-dong restaurant with teppan mala xiangguo: Gusa Yeonnam

Met up with friends for a good meal after way too long 🍽️💗 Everyone's been so busy that it's hard to get together, but seeing everyone's face again felt so good haha 😆 Time to tell you about Gusa Yeonnam, a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant in Hongdae where we properly healed over hot griddle food!

Where is Gusa Yeonnam and what are its hours?

Gusa Yeonnam is on the basement 1st floor of Yeontral Tower, a 5-minute walk from Hongik University Station, so it's super accessible. Hours run from 12:00 to 24:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00 (no break on weekends), and last order is at 23:00. There are chairs outside too, so if there's a wait you can just sit and wait!

What is the inside of Gusa Yeonnam like?

Gusa Yeonnam has a dark wood-toned interior overall, giving off a calm yet sophisticated mood. Soft, warm lighting wraps around the space, making it perfect for a date or just chatting away with friends 🤍 I came here for Japanese food in Hongdae with my friends. Everything felt neatly arranged, so I was already in a good mood the moment I walked in.

By the windows and walls, there are cute character figures everywhere, clearly showing off the owner's personal taste! There are lots of eye-catching cute items like One Piece and Totoro, so it's fun to look around while waiting for the food. Cute little points amid the dreamy mood.

How do you order? It starts with the cabbage salad

At Gusa Yeonnam, you sit down and order via QR code. Once you're seated, a tasty cabbage salad comes out first~~

These are the three dishes we ordered that day!

• Okonomiyaki
• Teppan mala xiangguo
• Karai yakisoba

Karai yakisoba: spicy noodles with a sweet edge

Karai yakisoba is exactly what it sounds like: spicy yakisoba. The heat and the sweet yakisoba noodles combined really well, super tasty. There was mayonnaise on the side that helped tame the spiciness nicely! A yakisoba spot worth knowing in Yeonnam-dong 👍👍 If you want to feel that Japanese food vibe in Yeonnam, this is the place 〰️

Teppan mala xiangguo: smoky griddle heat and numbing spice

I usually love that distinctive numbing, spicy mala flavor, so I dug in with high expectations. Since it's stir-fried hot right on the griddle, the savory and spicy aroma hit me the moment it arrived. I bet it would go really well with rice too 😆 There's a slight numbing sensation left in your mouth that's oddly addictive — once you take one bite, you just want another! The smoky char of teppanyaki blended so well with the spiciness of mala that it turned out more delicious than I expected. If you like spicy food, you'll probably be quite satisfied.

Okonomiyaki: the sweet, savory finish to the meal

And of course okonomiyaki can't be left out! After spicing up our palates with the mala xiangguo, eating okonomiyaki turned out to be a really great combo. The okonomiyaki had a nicely balanced sweet and savory flavor overall. There was plenty of sauce on top, so the first bite tasted sweet, and as you kept eating, the savory aroma and flavor from being grilled on the griddle came through gently. Since it was cooked fresh right on the hot griddle, it felt like it had more of that distinct teppanyaki flavor and aroma than the usual okonomiyaki. The outside was slightly golden and crisp while the inside was soft, so the texture was great too.

Is Gusa Yeonnam a good spot for a night out with friends?

Gusa Yeonnam was satisfying not just for the food but the atmosphere too. It's a place where you can properly enjoy Japanese-style teppanyaki, so it was fun watching the food get cooked, and since everything is prepared fresh on the hot griddle, we could eat it warm all the way through.

From the spicy mala xiangguo to the sweet, savory okonomiyaki, each dish had its own charm, so it was fun picking and choosing between them. Most of all, I visited with friends and everyone said the food was delicious, which made me weirdly proud! Chatting away over good food in a relaxed atmosphere was a great way to spend some leisurely time with friends after so long.

Not just the taste but the overall vibe of the place left a good impression, so I think I'll remember this spot next time I want to grab good food with friends again. This time we ordered mostly the dishes we wanted to try, but next time I'd like to try other teppanyaki dishes one by one. A Japanese restaurant in Hongdae that nails both mood and flavor — that was Gusa Yeonnam.