After-work date at a Yeongdeungpo izakaya: grit-free clams, Nani

Nani Byeolgwan Yeongdeungpo, an izakaya right in front of Times Square

Since my office is in Munnae, I end up at Yeongdeungpo's Times Square pretty often, and not long ago I found a Yeongdeungpo izakaya with a great atmosphere and food quality that exceeded expectations. It's called Nani Byeolgwan (나니별관), and it's literally right in front of Times Square, so it's super accessible.

From outside I honestly had no idea it was this big, but the inside was laid out surprisingly nicely, all cozy and well organized.

Bar seats, dim corner, or private loft: where to sit at Nani Byeolgwan

Nani Byeolgwan Yeongdeungpo Branch has several seating types: bar seats at the entrance, a dimly lit spot further in, and a loft space up half a flight of stairs. For two people the bar seats looked best; for a group, the second floor seemed better.

I think bar seats like this are a must for any izakaya, and right as we walked in there were quite a lot of them. If you're coming as two, I'd recommend these bar seats — a lot of couples were sitting there.

Then just a little further in, there's this kind of seating too — kind of like the dim, moody vibe of the Harry Potter library set. This is where we sat.

I had no idea from outside, but it's actually two floors! Go up half a flight of stairs and you find this kind of space — it looked great for coming with a bigger group.

And the thing I liked best — upstairs there's a space that's almost like a private room, so I'd recommend it if you want to spend time somewhere quiet.

How was the food at Nani Byeolgwan?

First things first, after work you've got to start with a beer — beer after a hard day's work is pure bliss.

Clams steamed in sake, with no sand in the shells

The first thing to arrive was the steamed clams in sake. My boyfriend wanted it, so we ordered it, and honestly I didn't expect much — but it ended up being the best dish of the night. In my whole life this was the first time I've eaten a whole mound of clams and not found a single grain of sand (genuinely a first) — that alone was a pass mark!!

Nani Byeolgwan is basically the king (?) of properly purging sand from clams — the clams were huge and plump, there were a lot of them, and above all the broth was genuinely delicious. For an extra ₩5,000 you can add more clams, or add udon noodles if you want. At first I had zero intention of adding anything, but the broth was so good I actually agonized over it midway through.

Stir-fried pork with bean sprouts

Honestly this is a dish that never fails anywhere, and since I really love bean sprouts I ordered it — the portion was pretty generous, which I liked! The salty oyster-sauce-like seasoning was tasty too. It's even better if you toss it around a bit to coat everything in sauce. Eating it with the green onion made it better still, and there was plenty of green onion in there too, which was really nice.

True to izakaya form, they served cabbage drizzled with sauce as a kind of house side dish, and lately I don't know why this kind of thing tastes so good to me..!! Am I just getting old..

We should have stopped there, but everything at Nani Byeolgwan was exceeding expectations, so we ended up ordering beef intestine skewers too, haha. Actually, I overheard the table next to us — sounded like regulars who'd been many times — saying "remember how good the chicken skewers and intestine skewers were last time."

How could I not order after hearing that??? Ordered on the spot.

Beef intestine skewers

I hear beef intestine is trickier to cook well than you'd think, but here the fat inside burst softly in your mouth, while the outside was chewy with a nice charred flavor — the skewers were delicious. Total beer food! It could easily get greasy, but the peppers served alongside were really spicy, so eating them together cut the richness and it tasted great.

Looking for a second-round drinking spot near Times Square?

Times Square itself is mostly full of restaurants, so if you've finished a meal and are looking for a Yeongdeungpo izakaya for a quick bite and a drink, I'd recommend Nani Byeolgwan — it's genuinely a 2-minute walk from Times Square! Especially if you're looking for somewhere for a group, the second floor has some nicely set-up, fairly private seating, so it could be a great option, haha.