Gwanghwamun yakiniku with rooftop night seating: Hwarodam, Seoul

Where Hwarodam is and when it opens

Hwarodam is a yakiniku (Japanese-style grilled meat) restaurant on the 2nd floor of 9 Saemunan-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul. It's open 11:00–23:00, closed every Sunday, and also uses space on the 3rd floor and rooftop.

Hwarodam is a yakiniku restaurant that's super close to Gwanghwamun Station Exit 8 and even walkable from City Hall.

So it's located here on the 2nd floor. I heard from the owner later that there's a room on the 3rd floor and a space on the rooftop that's kind of like a camping site — somewhere I'd love to come back to for a group gathering.

What Hwarodam's seats and table setting are like

On the 2nd floor of Hwarodam there's a clean counter with a Japanese vibe and window seats with a great view. Every seat has its own smoke ventilation, so you can eat without worrying about smoke.

They've got rare Japanese whisky like Hibiki stacked up hahahaha — can you feel the owner's power? Whoa.

Just like a fancy tuna restaurant, each table is set with paper, small plates, water cups, chopsticks, and tongs for the grill. Even wet wipes — nice touch.

Hwarodam course prices and what each menu includes

At Hwarodam, the Wagyu Special Course is ₩80,000 per person, the Special Course is ₩60,000, and the Hwarodam Set Menu is ₩45,000. There are course options as well as à la carte items, plus grilled items like chicken thigh, ox tongue, and lamb rib.

You can go for a course or order à la carte depending on your taste (wagyu flower cut, sirloin, short rib, sirloin cap, etc.).

The sake lineup is diverse too. I heard the owner lived in Japan for a long time — which explains the impressive sake selection haha.

They seem to have a lunch menu too, plus plenty of side dishes. We ordered the special set for two.

The special set for two: how the Hwarodam course runs

The Hwarodam Special Set starts with salad and basic banchan (side dishes). First out: salad, pickled ginger, pickled chili, and pickled radish.

Then came the hot coals. Great coals too — yakiniku really tastes best over good fire.

Draft beer that starts with a tap cleaning

We ordered two draft beers, and they cleaned the beer machine before pouring — hygiene first, 100 points. These days most places just pour straight away... the owner is thorough. The Asahi draft was so good I one-shotted it.

They carefully slice the meat by cut like this, and even weigh it on a scale for accuracy — whoa.

A salad with raw squid mixed in. Perfect with a beer.

Maybe because the owner washed the beer machine before pouring, but the Asahi draft was insanely good, so I one-shotted it, ha.

Surprisingly... this isn't Japan, it's Korea...

I'd walked a lot that day so the draft beer tasted even better, ha.

Grilling chuck flap and short rib on your own charcoal grill

The main of the special course is a varied spread of beef, mushrooms, eggplant, plus chicken thigh and scallops. You get to grill it all at your own pace on your personal grill.

First up on the grill: sirloin cap.

Yakiniku sauce, green tea salt, and shio-tare sauce. The yakiniku sauce was my favorite, honestly.

And of course, wasabi, ha. Even piled on high it's not spicy at all. Wasabi really does go with beef...

Asahi... massacre.....

The meat and eggplant were cooking so deliciously. The eggplant was great too... hahahaha

Fish cake soup served mid-course

True to a course meal, fish cake soup came out midway. It tasted about as good as what you'd order at an izakaya (Japanese pub). The fish cake itself felt like a premium version, haha.

So good, right?

It kind of felt like those grilling games I used to play on Junior Naver as a kid — grilling each piece myself with the tongs somehow made it taste even better haha.

The short rib was insanely good too. It made me wonder why short rib is the best cut — it was that good.

This yakiniku sauce was my favorite of all. The kind of flavor you'd want to just scoop up with a spoon.

Hwarodam's 3rd-floor room and rooftop night seating

On the 3rd floor of Hwarodam there's one room where groups of 4 or more can dine privately. The rooftop can be reserved for groups of 6 or more.

Quick space rundown. Go up one more floor and there's a room like this. It's private and available for 4+ people, so it'd be great for a gathering nearby too. The AC was blasting too.

And the best part — the rooftop. It has an outdoor barbecue-camping kind of feel, almost like eating at a campsite. This one can be reserved for 6+ people. Would be great for a year-end gathering.

There aren't many restaurants with a space like this in the Gwanghwamun office district, so it's a perfect rooftop for group get-togethers.

Scallops, fried shrimp and chicken neck

Scallops too... sorry, scallop...

Next up in the course: fried shrimp hahaha. I'm about to burst.

This doesn't seem like store-bought frozen shrimp — looks like they batter and fry the shrimp themselves.

The inside of the shrimp was so satisfying.

Chicken thigh. The thigh meat somehow tastes better than the rest of the chicken, ha.

I ended up drinking way too much soju and beer... thanks to the owner... my one-week dry streak failed.

The coals were so good that the heat never weakened, even toward the end. No need to ask them to turn up the heat or swap the coals — the meat cooked well through the whole long course, and that was great too.

Finishing with maki and buckwheat soba

Finally, the last course — maki (sushi roll) hahaha. Packed with roe and super crispy seaweed. I thought this was the end but... to be continued...

There's so much meat that it never seems to end... I ate a ton, hahahaha. Looking back now, I really did eat a lot, hahahahaha.

Ah, the maki wasn't the end after all... buckwheat soba too, hahahahaha. Mixed in plenty of wasabi and finished off with a refreshing palate cleanser.

It was a delicious meal.