Cracked Mug Trip · 7 stories

Cracked Mug, Incheon-Gangwon Restaurants, Bars and Cafes

Writes about restaurants, bars, and cafes across Incheon, Seoul, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, and Busan-Gyeongnam. · Writes about: Restaurants · Bars · Cafés

PlaceGuro, SeoulBars

Guro izakaya for a last-minute meetup: sashimi and roe stew, Sodam

Robatayaki Sodam Guro Digital Complex Branch (로바다야끼소담 구로디지털단지점) is a Japanese-style izakaya in Guro, Seoul, about a 5-minute walk from Exit 2 of Guro Digital Complex Station. Meeting a college friend on short notice, the writer ordered Set 3 with small sashimi and swapped its soup for altang (spicy fish roe stew) for 4,000 won extra; the aged sashimi, boiled octopus and spicy altang went so well with soju that the two drank a bottle and a half each. With a varied menu and good food, Robatayaki Sodam was a satisfying new find among Gudi's bars.

Written Jun 12, 2026Sponsored

PlaceSeocho, SeoulCafés

Naebang pie café: MIX4 set with a matcha pie swap, Hodukkakki Brothers

Hodukkakki Brothers Bangbae branch (호두까끼형제 방배점) is a handmade walnut pie café within a 5-minute walk of Exit 8 of Naebang Station in Seocho, Seoul. The writer ordered the Whole Pie Set MIX4 to go, swapped one cream cheese walnut pie for a matcha cream walnut pie, and tasted the milk cream, sweet pumpkin, macadamia cheese and matcha cream pies at home. Each Hodukkakki Brothers pie has its own flavor, so the set never gets boring, and the rich matcha of the new matcha cream walnut pie was the standout.

Written Jun 16, 2026Sponsored

PlaceYeongdeungpo, SeoulRestaurants

Burger takeout near Yeouido Station for beer at home: Downtowner

Downtowner Yeouido is a handmade burger restaurant on the ground floor of One Sentinel near Yeouido Station in Seoul. On a weekend, the writer took home the signature Downtowner Burger (₩10,300), the Shrimp Deluxe (₩11,800) and Jumbo Mozzarella Sticks (₩3,800) to share with their mother, and even as takeout the burgers weren't soggy, with juicy patties and springy shrimp. For takeout handmade burgers in Yeouido, Downtowner Yeouido is a satisfying choice.

Written Jun 27, 2026Sponsored

PlaceNamdong, IncheonRestaurants

Fish restaurant in Manuigol, Incheon: festival-night dinner with mom

Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui is a Korean restaurant in Manuigol, Jangsu-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, that grills fish in a wood-fired oven (hwadeok). Before an evening show at the Incheon Grand Park Citizens' Festival, the writer and her mom ate the wood-fired mackerel set and wood-fired grilled flatfish there. The meal came with stone-pot rice, one doenjang (soybean paste) stew per person and side dishes from a self-serve bar. Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui serves a generous spread of grilled fish, rice and stew for the price, and the writer would happily go back.

Written Oct 13, 2026Sponsored

PlaceBucheon, GyeonggiCafés

Bucheon bakery, rye barley loaf and peanut butter meal: Chamsae Bori

Chamsae Bori Sikppang, Bucheon main branch, is a barley bread bakery on Gyeongin-ro in Sosa-gu, Bucheon, known for a healthy loaf that won the Grand Prize on the Korean TV show The Master of Living (생활의달인). Arriving after 11am, the writer found the Grand Prize and grain barley loaves sold out and bought 6 of the remaining rye barley loaves (3,700 won each), eating them plain and with peanut butter and milk as a meal. To get the loaf you want at Chamsae Bori Sikppang, arrive and wait before the 10am opening.

Written Jul 18, 2026Sponsored

PlaceGuro, SeoulBars

Guro, Seoul bar for French toast dipped in chicken feet: Eulji Pocha

Eulji Pocha Guro Digital Complex Branch is a retro-themed Korean pub near Exit 2 of Guro Digital Complex Station in Guro, Seoul. It is open from 5pm to 6am the next day, and coins earned with your order unlock a claw machine, dalgona (honeycomb toffee) and cotton candy making. Over original soupy spicy chicken feet (22,000 won) and French toast (6,000 won), dipping the moist toast into the sauce, which tastes like Yeopgi Tteokbokki (a famously fiery rice cake chain), proved addictive. Eulji Pocha is a solid first-round bar in Guro Digital Complex for a loud, high-energy night of drinking.

Written Jul 27, 2026Sponsored

PlaceBucheon, GyeonggiRestaurants

Sinjungdong Station Korean BBQ, scallion-sauce pork wraps: Bangatgan

Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan (고기굽는방앗간) Sinjungdong Station Branch is a Korean BBQ restaurant serving pork belly and specialty cuts near Exit 3 of Sinjungdong Station in Bucheon, Gyeonggi. Craving pork belly on a sweltering day, the writer ordered the Bangatgan Set A (57,000 won) of pork belly, pork neck, pork jowl and smoked makchang (intestine), and drinks were cheap at 1,500 won for soju and beer and 2,500 won for imported beer. An extra order of beondegi (silkworm pupae) came even more generously portioned than the first, and with scallion sauce and well-ripened kimchi, Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan made for a filling, feel-good meal.

Written Jul 29, 2026Sponsored

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