Seongbuk date-night bar with perilla ssam and egg porridge: Yesulgwan

Yesulgwan Sungshin Women's University Branch: a terrace bar by Exit 2

Yesulgwan Sungshin Women's University Branch is a Korean cooking bar on the 1st floor of 29-6 Dongsomun-ro 20-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, open daily from 17:00 to 05:00 the next day. My partner and I were on a date near Sungshin Women's University and craved spicy meat for dinner, so we headed to Yesulgwan! We went on the weekend, and I could feel how popular it was as the place filled up in no time.

📍Location: 29-6 Dongsomun-ro 20-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 1st floor 🕔Hours: Daily 17:00 - 05:00 the next day

It's close to Exit 2 of Sungshin Women's University Station, so it seemed like a lot of students would come here.

It's on the 1st floor and set up big and wide, so it wasn't hard to find!

If you end up waiting, you can check the menu outside, so picking your order ahead of time seems like a good idea for a faster start.

It was the weekend, and even though we went in the early evening, several tables were already seated.

What are the outdoor terrace seats like?

The terrace seats at Yesulgwan Sungshin Women's University Branch are wide open, great for sitting in the cool evening. With the weather turning cooler, I wanted a terrace seat, and it was better than expected!

Being this open made it feel breezy, and as evening set in it got especially cool — a drink out here felt properly romantic.

There were separate men's and women's restrooms inside too, so we didn't have to go far, which made it convenient.

Big screen and group tables: how many people fit?

Yesulgwan Sungshin Women's University Branch can seat up to 150 people, or up to 250 with advance reservation. The first thing that caught my eye walking in was the big screen. Music videos kept playing, and since the screen was pretty large, it kept grabbing my attention. On days with soccer or baseball matches, watching a game here as a group while eating seemed like it would be fun. With high ceilings and a upscale interior on top of that, the place clearly has scale, so it seems popular for group gatherings or work dinners. It looked especially suited to anyone looking for a group bar near Sungshin Women's University~!

What we ordered at Yesulgwan and what it cost

The menu was really varied, with signature dishes like raw pork belly, pork belly kimchi grill, whole chicken, and tendon hot pot. There's also a recommended course to enjoy things even better, worth checking out 😊 So here's what we ordered!

Korean pork belly kimchi grill (200g, min. 2 servings) 14.0 Beef bone tendon hot pot 28.0 Kimchi grill fried rice 3.0 Added kalguksu noodles 2.0 Hot pot egg porridge 3.0

They said they use domestic Korean 1+ grade pork belly trimmed in-house, which felt reassuring and nice. The restaurant brews its own herbal medicinal stock, makes fresh beef bone broth daily, and makes its own dipping sauce from scratch — you could feel the care in every dish.

For side dishes we got perilla leaves, pickled radish, corn kernels, green onion kimchi, garlic and chili peppers, plus sauces — mayonnaise, ssamjang, and a mustard-soy sauce for dipping the tendon, one set per person. Since the dishes come out already grilled from the kitchen, you just wait and get ready to eat hahaha.

Korean pork belly kimchi grill and the ssam wrap combo to try

The pork belly kimchi grill is ₩14,000 for 200g with a minimum of 2 servings, and it comes out grilled golden from the kitchen. Finally, ta-da, the pork belly kimchi grill arrived! >< Grilled to a nice golden brown with a faint charcoal aroma, it smelled so good I started drooling before even tasting it. The meat's juices and tangy kimchi came together with the spicy-sweet sauce, and it was even better with drinks 💛

Maybe because it's Korean pork belly, there was no gamey smell at all, and the chewy texture was so good. The spicy pork belly went so well with the kimchi that I felt bad watching the meat disappear so fast lol.

I love wrapping kimchi pork belly with corn and mayo, so here's the combo I recommend:

• Perilla leaf + meat + kimchi + corn + chili pepper + mayonnaise + ssamjang

I made my wraps like this, and it was such a moving flavor...

Beef bone and tendon hot pot

The beef bone tendon hot pot is ₩28,000, and it arrives already simmering, so you just need to cook the chives and mushrooms a bit more before eating. While I was tearing up eating the meat, the tendon hot pot I'd been waiting for finally arrived!! Deep bone broth loaded with tendon and beef!

With the kimchi grill and the tendon hot pot filling the whole table, it looked so hearty just seeing it that I got excited.

The chewy, springy tendon kept coming no matter how much we ate, and my partner, who loves tendon, was so happy eating it haha. Since the restaurant trims and boils it themselves, it was tender and soft.

What looked like beef brisket was great dipped lightly in the mustard-soy sauce, adding a salty, savory kick. It also went really well with the chive kimchi side dish.

Finishing with fried rice, kalguksu noodles and egg porridge

We finished with kimchi grill fried rice (₩3,000), added kalguksu noodles (₩2,000), and hot pot egg porridge (₩3,000), and the bone broth is refillable. We ordered enough fried rice for two more servings. They stir-fry it with the leftover kimchi and meat fat from the kimchi grill... the flavor of the remaining sauce and kimchi soaked right into the rice, and it was genuinely delicious, an explosion of umami 🤤 Add some cheongyang chili or garlic, top with a bit of ssamjang, and the fried rice gets even better haha.

You can also refill the broth if you're running low! We refilled the bone broth and added kalguksu noodles — the broth was so rich we kept spooning it up while doing shots of soju.

Finally, we ordered egg porridge too. It was the best egg porridge I've ever had... I forgot I was full and just kept eating lol. Perfectly seasoned and smooth, it made a great finish. We really ate well that day~!~!~! We were so, so full that I figured we should go for a walk along nearby Seongbuk Stream haha.

Should you reserve a table in advance?

By weekend evening, Yesulgwan Sungshin Women's University Branch was completely full and there was a constant wait. There was also a group reservation that day, which made the place even busier. Since reservations fill up fast, booking ahead seems like the way to go if you want a comfortable time at your preferred hour. With solid group seating, I'd recommend it as a spot for work dinners or gatherings if you're looking for a group bar near Sungshin Women's University!

It's a great spot for a terrace date near Sungshin Women's University, and since the restaurant prepares everything in-house, it felt like a place where you can really enjoy the care that goes into the food. Eating while looking out from the terrace stuck with me, so I'd recommend Yesulgwan, a place near Sungshin Women's University I want to visit again before it gets too cold 🥰