Sadang dining bar for Earl Grey highballs and fried rice cakes: Ui

Want a Sadang date without the wait? Ui Sadang Branch takes Naver Reservation

Ui Sadang Branch is a dining bar near Sadang Station, and since you can book through Naver Reservation, we got in without any waiting. After work on Friday I went with my husband (I call him "oppa") to enjoy a Friday night out in Sadang for the first time in a while!

I wanted a date-night feeling and was looking for a pretty place with good food when I found Ui. Sadang has lots of great restaurants, but I hate waiting in line, so being able to book on Naver was so nice haha.

• Hours: Mon–Fri 18:00–02:00 / Sat 17:00–02:00 / Sun 17:00–23:00
• Reservations available

What are the counter seats at Ui Sadang Branch like?

The inside of Ui Sadang Branch is small, cute and pretty. There are table seats too, but it was packed, and with so many people around I felt awkward taking photos haha. When I booked, the tables were all full, so we were guided to the counter seats (dajji-seok), and honestly, even better!

It's fun sitting side by side, the rows of bottles in front give it a great vibe, and you can watch the cooking happening right in front of you, which was a blast haha.

The Ui Sadang Branch menu spans Western, Korean and fusion

The menu at Ui Sadang Branch is wide-ranging, with tomayro, mushroom cream pasta, gambas, clam steamed in doenjang (soybean paste) sake, mozzarella tomato risotto, boiled pork (mul-e ppajin gogi, literally "meat drowned in water"), oden soup, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), cold octopus-jeot capellini and more: Western, Korean and fusion. We ordered the mushroom cream pasta, the boiled pork and gochujang-glazed fried tteok (rice cake)!

They handed us the menu and the cover, what on earth, lol. "Being an adult is not easy~~" My husband, a total "F" (feelings type), related to it and loved it.

There's a mirror behind the seats, so we played around taking selfies, hehe. It's been a while since I enjoyed a proper Friday night, so this ajumma (middle-aged lady) was thrilled haha.

Highballs and corkage at Ui Sadang Branch

Ui Sadang Branch has a wide range of drinks, including soju, beer, highballs, whisky and wine, and corkage is allowed too: ₩30,000 per bottle, regardless of the type of alcohol. I thought about wine, but I remembered enjoying an Earl Grey highball before, so I ordered that hahaha. And wow, Ui does a good highball 👍🏻

While waiting for the food, we watched the cooking up front, which was fun. Both of us had a rough week, so this fun space felt kind of healing haha.

Do mushroom cream pasta and boiled pork go together?

At Ui Sadang Branch, the mushroom cream pasta and the boiled pork (suyuk) went well together. Both were oppa's picks, and I honestly wondered whether the two would match? But delicious + delicious always works, lol.

Boiled pork (mul-e ppajin gogi)

The boiled pork came out tender and well cooked. It came with scallion kimchi (pa-kimchi), which I love, plus an unusual sauce, so it was fun mixing and matching combinations haha. The portion was big too, and we ate until full!

Mushroom cream pasta and garlic bread

The mushroom cream pasta at Ui Sadang Branch is a cream pasta with bacon in it, so how could it not be delicious? The noodles were cooked well and the portion was big lol. It was a late dinner and I was hungry, so this ajumma was sensitive about portions ^_^ and I think the generous serving moved me lol.

Garlic bread came with it too, and dipped in the sauce it was so, so good!! I thought about ordering extra garlic bread, but there are side dishes on the menu, so I held back haha.

Gochujang-glazed fried tteok with an Earl Grey highball

The gochujang-glazed fried tteok at Ui Sadang Branch tasted like the rice cake skewers (tteok-kkochi) of my childhood, and this was oppa's pick too hahaha. The portion was generous as well. Maybe because the rice cake is fried, the texture was unusual lol, crunchy yet soft, I'd say haha.

Eaten with the Earl Grey highball, the taste was great and the mood was great~ Oppa digs atmosphere over taste, while I'm someone who cares about taste, and this Sadang date spot satisfied us both 😊 Next time I'll go with oppa again and try other dishes!