Sadang date bar: aged flounder sushi with hijiki, Jindallae Silbi

My boyfriend and I were on a date in Sadang when we stopped by Jindallae Silbi (진달래실비), a pub known for great value! 😊 I'd heard that if you order just one "samchon-kase" (an "uncle's omakase" course), the dishes keep coming: sashimi, boiled pork, seafood pancake, spicy fish stew and more. I went in with high hopes. The food came out fast and the atmosphere was great, so we lost track of time. Let me walk you through it! 🍻✨

Where is Jindallae Silbi Sadang Branch, and where can you park?

Jindallae Silbi Sadang Branch is about a 3-minute walk from Sadang Station Exit 7. Just head a little way into the Sadang food alley and you'll find it easily, so access is really good. If you're driving, you get 1 hour of free parking at Sadang-dong Public Parking Lots 1 and 2, so keep that in mind! 🚗

• Address: 70 Dongjak-daero 7-gil, 2nd floor, Dongjak-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Mon–Sat 18:00–24:00 (last order listed as 11:00)
• Parking: nearby public parking lots available
• Reservations: available via Naver Reservation

What is the atmosphere like at Jindallae Silbi Sadang Branch?

Jindallae Silbi Sadang Branch is a retro "silbi-jip" (old-style Korean pub) where time seems to have stopped. The moment I opened the door I felt that homey vibe typical of old pubs, and even though it was a weekday evening, it was full of customers, so you can tell how popular it is.

Another thing I liked: they show baseball games on a big screen! As someone who watches baseball now and then, I loved being able to watch the game while enjoying tasty snacks and drinks, haha

The interior is decorated with a thick retro feel. The TV was playing footage of old stage performances, and the walls were covered with Red Devils (Korea's football supporters) T-shirts, old posters and calendars, so there was plenty to look at. By one window, bottles of liquor were stacked up to the brim, and it was truly overwhelming..! Total old-school pub vibes.

How much is the Jindallae Course and what comes in it?

The signature menu at Jindallae Silbi is the Jindallae Course: 15 dishes for ₩39,000 per person. After 8 p.m. you can also get a 6-dish course for ₩20,000 per person. Steamed rice and ramen noodles are free, which makes it even better value! 🍻🍚 We arrived at 7 p.m., so we ordered the 15-dish Jindallae Course.

There's even a clever way to get the most out of Jindallae Silbi, haha. If you're an extrovert (an "E"), you might enjoy having your birthday celebrated here! (I'm an introvert, so I think I'd have to keep my birthday a secret... heh)

If you write a review, you can join a nostalgic no-lose prize draw! First prize is a 100% free meal, so doesn't it seem worth a try?

They even serve water in those glass water bottles you used to see at grandma's house! I was impressed that even the small props keep the retro feel, haha. You can really tell this place is serious about its concept. 😊

What comes out on the first table of the Jindallae Course?

The first table of the Jindallae Course comes with pink sausage, bossam (boiled pork), japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), crispy pork cartilage with rice balls, ganjang gejang (soy-marinated crab), soft tofu and abalone porridge, all at once. The table was already piled with food, and I was happy right away...🤤 If it's this generous already... I have no idea how many bottles we'll drink~~🤣

• Pink sausage
• Bossam (boiled pork)
• Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry)
• Pork cartilage and rice balls
• Ganjang gejang (soy-marinated crab)
• Soft tofu
• Abalone porridge

Quite a lot, right? And this is only the start, haha. They poured us a glass of soju right away, haha.

Taste of the bossam, pork cartilage rice balls and soy-marinated crab

For the first bite I went for protein: the bossam. It was moist and tender with no gamey smell at all, and the lean meat had a subtle savory depth. Wrapped up with kimchi, garlic and a chili pepper, it made the soju go down easily right from the start. 🍻

The pork cartilage was spicy and tasted exactly the way you'd expect! I put it on top of the rice ball, haha. Since the soy-marinated crab is served as a drinking snack, I expected it to be bland, but it was saltier than I thought and perfect with drinks. I bet it'd be great with the free steamed rice too! Now that I think about it... I'm a little sad I didn't mix rice into the soy sauce broth🤣

How good is the aged sashimi platter at Jindallae Silbi?

The main dish of the Jindallae Course, the aged sashimi platter, came with flounder, mullet and salmon. Maybe because they use flounder in the 4 kg range, the slices were really thick and chewy. The more I chewed, the more the sweet, clean flavor came out, and I really felt the charm of aged sashimi.

Next to the sashimi came white kimchi and tot (hijiki seaweed). Putting the hijiki on top adds a crunchy texture, so it's great to include when you turn the fish into sushi! 😊 Here's how I made it into sushi! The slice was so big it folded over once, haha!

With an old-school pub vibe, I didn't expect much from the sashimi, but every piece was big and good quality, and it was one of the dishes I liked most! 🐟

What's in the seafood steam?

The Jindallae Course seafood steam had a whole squid, shrimp, monkfish meat and scallops. Squid prices are pretty high these days, so I was surprised to see a whole squid in there. There were no innards, but I love squid so much that I was happy to see it, haha. With the seafood steam coming right after the aged sashimi, the lineup felt really generous.

I cut the squid neatly and dipped it in chojang (sweet chili vinegar sauce) for a bite! It was tender and moist, not chewy at all, and got sweeter the more I chewed. 😊 The seafood steam also had shrimp and monkfish meat! Isn't that a seriously great deal?

I picked the monkfish meat off the bone, dipped it in wasabi soy sauce, and had a shot of soju.. Same with the scallops, wasabi soy sauce and a shot of soju... This is heaven!! haha

Pork cutlet, grilled flounder and minari pancake

After the seafood steam came a gyeongyangsik donkatsu (Japanese-style pork cutlet with brown sauce), grilled flounder with lemon sauce and a minari jeon (water dropwort pancake). Around then I started craving something fried, and the cutlet came out right on time! 😆 It was crispy and tasted like the nostalgic old-school donkatsu. With dishes like this mixed in, we never got tired and enjoyed it to the end.

And the snacks keep coming! Next was grilled flounder, topped with lemon sauce that neatly cuts any fishy smell.

The hot fish meat was nutty and the sauce was sweet and tangy, perfect with drinks!

Then the minari pancake came out too! By this point I felt like I was about to burst, haha. It was my first time trying minari pancake, and the fragrant minari aroma came through subtly, so it was much better than I expected. With the crispy texture, it was perfect with drinks. 🌿

How was the closing maeuntang (spicy fish stew)?

The course ends with maeuntang (spicy fish stew). It had plenty of ingredients, but I prefer a cleaner, spicier, more refreshing broth, so I was a little disappointed. Still, the next table added ramen noodles and seemed to enjoy it a lot. We were too full to dare try the ramen..haha

Final verdict on the 15-dish Jindallae Course for two?

The 15-dish Jindallae Course is an enormous amount of food for two people, but we finished almost all of it. I gathered everything that came out into one photo, and it's still a huge amount, right? 😆 It's still amazing to me that the two of us nearly finished it, haha. The aged sashimi platter and the boiled pork were what I remembered most. With the old-school vibe I didn't expect much from the sashimi, so the better-than-expected quality made me even happier. If you want to enjoy lots of different snacks and drinks in a retro atmosphere, I recommend this great-value Sadang pub, Jindallae Silbi! 🍻

• ✔️ A great-value samchon-kase with 15 dishes for ₩39,000
• ✔️ A lineup where the aged sashimi platter and boiled pork were especially satisfying
• ✔️ A pub with a retro, old-school atmosphere
• ✔️ A Sadang pub recommended for dates, get-togethers and company dinners 🍻