Sadang bar for a makgeolli date and 15-dish feast: Jindallae Silbi

The day my husband and I decided to go out for dinner after work for the first time in ages! We looked for somewhere around the middle of our commutes where we could meet, eat dinner, and have a drink, and ended up at Jindallae Silbi Sadang Branch. Unlike a typical bar, this place is known for its “Samchuncase,” where 15 dishes arrive one after another. It was my first time trying Samchuncase too, so I was quietly excited to see what on earth would come out, haha.

Seriously, there was such a wide range—from seafood and sashimi to meat, savory pancakes, and soup—and the portions were generous too. It seemed like a solid choice if you are looking for a Sadang restaurant-bar for a work dinner or a pre-wedding gathering with several people.

Jindallae Silbi Sadang Branch: Practical Information

It is on the second floor at 70 Dongjak-daero 7-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, and is open Monday through Saturday from 18:00 to 24:00. Last orders are at 23:00, and it is closed every Sunday. Reservations can be made through Naver Booking or Catch Table.

Close to Sadang Station, and Reservations Are Essential

It is about a five-minute walk from Exit 7 of Sadang Station, so it is easy enough to reach by public transportation. The restaurant is on the second floor of the building and has enough room for both company dinners and gatherings! It was also nice for meeting after work like we did, so location-wise it seemed good for anyone looking for a group bar around Sadang and Isu.

You cannot just walk into Jindallae Silbi—you need to book ahead via Catch Table or Naver Booking. We reserved too, and reservations are available in 30-minute slots, so I recommend locking in your preferred time early. We booked the day before because we heard it was required, and most tables were full when we arrived!

A Retro Silbi Bar in Sadang

When you go up to the second floor and enter, the atmosphere is pretty distinctive from the start. It is the complete opposite of the neat, trendy bars you often see in Seongsu these days—there are posters of singers and celebrities from the past, plus nostalgic props all around, so it feels a little like stepping into a bar from the ’80s and ’90s.

I had not seen an iPod in so long... and this retro Gungsuh-style typeface was completely my taste, haha.

The place was more spacious than I expected, with tables for four to six people, so it looked good for visiting with a crowd. There were quite a few guests who seemed to be there for company dinners or group meetups when we visited too. It was lovely for the two of us, but it also made me think it would be fun to come back with more people next time.

Jindallae Silbi Menu and Prices

Jindallae Silbi’s signature menu is the Jindallae Samchuncase! The 15-dish Jindallae Samchuncase is ₩39,000 per person.

After 8 PM, they also offer a lighter six-dish course for ₩20,000 per person. There is a wide selection of drinks to go with it too, including soju, beer, makgeolli (Korean rice wine), Oshipsaeju, and highballs.

So what we ordered was the 15-dish Samchuncase plus makgeolli! The course we had seen beforehand looked like it would go perfectly with makgeolli, and it is one of our favorite drinks anyway!

Maybe because the course includes everything from Korean dishes to seafood, but for some reason I really craved makgeolli, haha. With makgeolli even served in a kettle, there was no way not to drink in this atmosphere. Also, was it our 1,400th day today? Let’s make this a little celebratory dinner date!

How Does the 15-Dish Samchuncase Arrive?

I had heard the word Samchuncase before, but this was my first time actually eating it. Rather than the quiet, one-course-at-a-time feel of regular omakase, it felt more like an uncle continually bringing out generous plates of delicious drinking food.

Right from the beginning, several dishes are set out at once: abalone porridge, soft tofu, soy-marinated raw crab, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), pink sausage, spicy cartilage, and rice balls. The 15-dish course continues beyond Korean drinking food with boiled pork, steamed seafood, flatfish and salmon sashimi, fish, pork cutlet, savory pancakes, and soup.

Starting Gently with Abalone Porridge!

It was nice to fill my stomach first with warm porridge rather than drinking makgeolli right away on an empty stomach. Soft tofu, japchae, and old-school pink sausage came with it too—easy, approachable dishes that were nice to pick at one by one.

The spicy cartilage had a flavor that made me think of soju more than makgeolli, haha. It paired well with the rice balls, which toned down the heat just enough.

What I especially liked about Jindallae Silbi’s Samchuncase was that the dishes did not lean too heavily in one direction. Meat → seafood → sashimi → fish → fried food → pancake → soup: completely different things keep coming out. The steamed seafood arrived, and it looked impressively generous from the start.

There were several types of seafood at once, from squid and shrimp to scallops. The squid was tender and pleasantly chewy rather than tough, and the shrimp and scallops were perfect little bites to have with makgeolli.

Then sashimi came out too, and the course was more substantial than I expected. Along with flatfish and salmon, there was seaweed, aged kimchi, seaweed salad, and rice, so you could eat the sashimi as is or make sushi-like bites by putting rice and fish on the seaweed!

The flatfish was nicely chewy, while the salmon was soft and rich—totally different from the boiled pork and spicy cartilage we had eaten earlier! Being able to have meat, sashimi, and seafood all in one course feels like Jindallae Silbi’s biggest strength.

By this point, I was starting to get full.... Then grilled flatfish arrived in a sweet sauce a bit like tangsuyuk sauce. The tender grilled flatfish was fun to eat, picking the flesh right off the bones!

Next came hot kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake), which was of course a great match with makgeolli. The kimchi pancake was a special treat too!! Its intense, pizza-like color caught my eye first, you know...? Then freshly fried pork cutlet came out, and this is one of the course dishes you really have to eat. The pork-cutlet sauce was incredible, but it had been a while since I had pork cutlet this tender too,,

The 15 dishes finish with a spicy, warming soup! I was already at my limit, but who can resist this kind of broth...? After all the meat, seafood, and fried dishes, the hot, spicy soup at the end felt like it cleared my whole palate.

They also provide rice and ramen noodles free of charge, so if you have a big appetite, you can really fill up properly here!

Is It Good for a Sadang Work Dinner or Pre-Wedding Gathering?

Since Jindallae Silbi has as many as 15 dishes, even people with different tastes can easily find something they like—and above all, you do not have to order each item separately. You can just sit, chat, and drink while food keeps arriving, which felt like it would actually be convenient for a company dinner or group gathering. The venue itself has lots of tables and is a good size for groups, so it is worth considering for a Sadang work-dinner bar, a pre-wedding gathering with friends, or a group bar around Sadang and Isu!! Just do not forget to reserve in advance through Catch Table or Naver Booking!