Mapo Japanese bar for nonalcoholic wine: Orot Robata

Today I went to Orot Robata, a Japanese bar near Gongdeok Station. It’s near my office, so we popped over right after work •• with Bak of Bakchoechoi ^0^ ((It was my first time here, and it was sooo good 🥺))

Orot Robata location and visitor information

It’s on the first floor of Gongdeok Park Xi Building 202, units 5 and 6, at 152 Baekbeom-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, about a five-minute walk from Exit 3 of Daeheung Station. It is regularly closed on Sundays and open Mon–Fri 11:30–23:00 and Sat 12:00–23:00. Break time is Mon–Fri 14:00–17:30 and Sat 14:30–17:30, and the Building 202 underground parking at Gongdeok Park Xi is free for one hour at lunch and two hours at dinner.

Robatayaki grilled over binchotan and straw fire

Orot Robata is a premium robatayaki restaurant from the Japanese dining brand Orot. True to the name “robata” (hearthside), it centers on fish, seafood, and meat grilled directly over premium binchotan charcoal and straw fire, with seasonal sashimi, nabe, tempura, and other à la carte dishes to enjoy too.

With a range of drinks including highballs, Japanese shochu, sake, and wine, plus snacks centered on binchotan charcoal grilling, it’s a dining bar that works beautifully for both a first meal and a second-round gathering!

There are window seats with folding doors, so on a nice day you can eat with an open terrace view. It also has an open kitchen, which makes watching the dishes cook over charcoal part of the fun 🤤

The menu and what the two of us ordered

Assorted sashimi ₩42,000 Uni samhap ₩45,000 Jamón maguro ₩27,000 Shime saba ₩27,000 Grilled black cod ₩30,000 Today’s grilled fish ₩30,000 Binchotan-grilled Iberico pork collar ₩28,000 Binchotan-grilled chicken neck meat ₩24,000 Binchotan-grilled tonteki pork steak ₩24,000 Binchotan-grilled chicken thigh ₩24,000 Abalone and shrimp agemono ₩28,000 Fried shrimp and eggplant ₩25,000 Chipotle-mayo jamón roasted baby potatoes ₩20,000 Ankimo brûlée ₩18,000 Shio kombu chicken karaage ₩24,000 Uni cream pasta ₩27,000 Seafood yakisoba ₩25,000 Saba bo-zushi ₩28,000 Hosomaki ₩30,000 Ankimo bomb maki ₩25,000 Kamameshi (pot-cooked rice) ₩35,000 Tomato seafood nabe ₩37,000 Motsu nabe ₩37,000 [Lunch] Special chirashi kaisendon ₩35,000 [Lunch] Chirashi kaisendon ₩22,000 [Lunch] Unagi butadon ₩20,000 [Lunch] Salmon steak don ₩20,000

For the two of us, we ordered seafood yakisoba for ₩25,000, tomato seafood nabe for ₩37,000, and two glasses of nonalcoholic wine at ₩12,000 each!

From nonalcoholic wine to seafood yakisoba

The gorgeous wine arrived first ~~ Is this place secretly amazing for nonalcoholic wine? So good ••

Then the seafood yakisoba arrived—ta-da ,, The noodles were so tasty with the sauce soaked right in, and it was loaded with shrimp, cabbage, baby octopus (I think), and more. It was a delicious one. It was a little strongly seasoned, though, so I definitely thought it would pair even better with alcohol ••

The tomato seafood nabe we finished to the last drop

Next up was the tomato seafood nabe. Phew, this thing was insane •• It was just a little spicy, with that sweet tomato flavor coming through. It was like a thick tomato soup (?) and so delicious that we scraped up every last bit ^^

Nom nom

Even lightweight drinkers want to clink glasses too ~~ ⭐️

We basically did the dishes in the end ~~ Anyway, if you’re looking for a great Japanese bar around Gongdeok, definitely stop by Orot Robata : )