Bangi-dong second-round bar with mentaiko mayo fries: Horanggul Bangi

After a dress-shopping trip with a friend and a full-on food binge in Jamsil, I went looking for somewhere nearby for a light second round of drinks, and ended up at Horanggul Bangi Branch. As always, it was delicious — my re-re-re-visit to this bar in the Bangi-dong dining alley. Let's get into the post.

Horanggul Bangi Branch

The vibe at Horanggul Bangi Branch — perfect for a second round in Bangi-dong

I visited in the evening, and the atmosphere really suited having a meal with a drink. These days there are a lot of spots around Bangi-dong where you can enjoy dinner and drinks together.

Before ordering, if you mention the event, they add one extra serving of meat... definitely something you have to do...

I used to just order whatever I wanted, but now I've learned to listen to the boss's recommendations. Turns out there's nothing to lose by listening — it's just plain delicious.

First up: mentaiko mayo potato fries

The first thing we ordered at Horanggul Bangi Branch was the mentaiko mayo potato fries. Fries at a bar are hard to mess up, but adding mentaiko (marinated pollock roe) mayo made it feel completely different from the fries I already knew. Crispy fried potatoes with a salty, savory mentaiko mayo combo went great with the draft beer. Fries themselves aren't an intimidating bar snack, so they were a good first order, and the distinctly salty, savory flavor of the mentaiko mayo kept me reaching for more.

And of course, draft beer — you can't skip that. Draft beer really suits this kind of menu. Grab a fry, take a sip of beer — perfect combo. Salty snacks like fries pair with beer to cut the greasiness and keep you coming back for more. That day too, time flew by as we ate fries, sipped beer, and chatted.

The main event: gopchang hot pot

The main dish of the day was the gopchang (beef tripe) hot pot. Honestly, I'd been looking forward to it from the start. Hot pot dishes are fun to simmer in the middle of the table, and they pair well as a drinking snack too.

As it started bubbling, I tried the broth first, and hot pots really do taste better the longer they simmer. After letting it cook a bit longer, the flavors of the ingredients melded into the broth and deepened. Eating the gopchang, spooning up the broth, and having a drink in between — it definitely had a different charm from the fries. If the mentaiko mayo fries were a good light starter, the gopchang hot pot felt like a proper dinner. And most importantly, this hot pot doesn't stay just a drinking snack.

The true finish to the gopchang hot pot: risotto

The broth itself was so good that I naturally wanted to add rice at the end. And this was actually my favorite part of the day — finishing the gopchang hot pot with risotto. After demolishing the hot pot, it just felt like a shame to stop there. So we finished with risotto. Adding rice to the leftover broth carried through the same flavor as the gopchang hot pot we'd just had.

I thought it would end with just fries and one beer, but at some point it turned into a full meal. It felt like we'd had a solid dinner while drinking. It was the perfect visit to Horanggul Bangi Branch for a day when I wanted to eat something good, chat, have a draft beer, and spend the evening at ease in Bangi-dong.