Guro bar for army stew and corn fritters with soju: Monthly Beer

Monthly Beer, a bar on Kkalkkal Street in Guro Digital Complex

I had dinner plans today near Guro Digital Complex's Kkalkkal Street, and it turned into one of those nights where you just want good food and a drink. So I stopped by Monthly Beer, a great Guro bar for group visits that I used to go to often back in Gwangju too. It's a trusty go-to for good bar snacks.

• Address: 서울 구로구 디지털로32나길 7 1층 101호
• Hours: Fri–Sat 14:00 – 4:00 the next day
• Weekdays & Sunday: 14:00 – 2:00 the next day

Full right after work, quiet at Monthly Beer past midnight

Meeting my friend right after she got off work, the place was nearly full — this Guro favorite really gets busy. On weekdays and Sundays it opens at 2pm and closes at 2am, so apparently you can even day-drink at Monthly Beer in Seoul. Who knew!

Around midnight everyone started clearing out, probably because of work the next day. So I ended up accidentally getting a shot of the empty place, hehe. Every time I come to this Guro area, they never check IDs, which makes me wonder if it's really just office workers around here. Is there even a university nearby? Now I'm curious about this neighborhood.

What to order at Monthly Beer: budae-jjigae and corn fritters

Let me show off the menu at Monthly Beer, a well-known bar in Guro. What's everyone's favorite dish here? For me, soju goes down best with hot soup, so I always get the budae-jjigae (army stew) when I come. I used to need something cold like bingsu (shaved ice) to pair with soju, but these days it's gotten chilly, so warm soup is the way to go now.

And today, instead of the persimmon rolls, I went light and ordered fried corn fritters to nibble on. Corn fritters are really more of a beer snack, but since we were only having budae-jjigae, our mouths felt a bit bored, so I added corn too. The persimmon-and-cheese combo is also great, and it's such a hassle to make at home, so I often order it when a bar has it — but that day it looked especially good for some reason and I still don't remember why I skipped it. Anyway, the corn fritters won out.

Honestly, Monthly Beer is the kind of bar where anything you order turns out delicious, even if you just pick randomly. Also, since it's gotten chilly enough to wear long sleeves now, let me catch up on that while showing off the budae-jjigae at this Guro bar favorite.

Monthly Beer's budae-jjigae, good for two bowls of rice

Yes, two bowls of rice — totally doable. Gorgeous-looking broth, and the moment you taste it, you just know that flavor. Ramyeon noodles and ham slices make for a perfect budae-jjigae. It seems like it should be easy to make, but it looks tricky, so I've never actually tried it at home. Meanwhile, I'm totally the person who makes steamed cabbage with pork belly at home all the time lol.

With budae-jjigae, I feel like the seasoning paste and broth base really matter, so I haven't dared attempt it. Having eaten so many good bar snacks over time, I've become kind of an objective critic even about my own home cooking lol — like, out of five stars, how many would I give myself? If I made budae-jjigae, I'd probably give it two stars.

Anyway, two bowls of rice, let's go for it!

Corn fritters at Monthly Beer: a plate that never seems to shrink

And here's another shoutout to the corn fritters. These are genuinely amazing. No matter how much you eat, the portion never seems to shrink — total value snack.

A wide hall at Monthly Beer, good for groups

Probably because the place itself is so spacious, it seemed like a great spot for group visits too. Monthly Beer really is a great Guro bar for going with a group.

Let me also show off the Kuromi mirror my friend gave me — honestly, Monthly Beer is just such a good Guro bar for a drink with a friend, so I'm jotting this down on the blog for the first time in a while.

Let's go eat budae-jjigae together again~

So we finished two bottles of soju, and — now that I think about it, that day was actually my friend's birthday, so while she stepped away to the bathroom, I ran to the Twosome Place right nearby to grab a cake. Just a random detail to share along with today's story about visiting Monthly Beer, a favorite bar in Guro. I've been wandering all over the place lately, so I'll keep recording where I've been.