Sadang Station izakaya in Seoul: Hanoi hotpot and soju at Cheonjan

Today was a spontaneous meetup with my sister! There are so many izakayas around Sadang Station, but Cheonjan kept catching my eye as I passed by — good bar snacks, easy to talk, easy to get to. I finally made it in today haha.

Cheonjan

What are the seats and atmosphere like at Cheonjan?

Cheonjan has sofa-style seating on the right side and also regular table seating. There were group tables too, but since it was a weekday, it was fairly quiet haha. As soon as we sat down, they brought a snack starter, water, and small plates — the staff were so friendly it put me in a great mood right away.

I really liked the interior too. Personally I love this wood-tone style with yellow lighting. Great for conversation, and not too bright while drinking, which I like. By the way, Cheonjan also sells a wide variety of sake, so if you order sashimi-type dishes, I'd recommend pairing with sake. Personally, when I'm at an izakaya, sashimi makes me crave sake (honestly I drink way more sake than soju).

Cheonjan's menu: set course or à la carte?

True to an izakaya, Cheonjan's seafood dishes looked really solid too. There's a Cheonjan hansang set with salmon, yukhoe (beef tartare), and sweet shrimp. We ordered the Hanoi jeongol on its own first, but there's also a Cheonjan hansang B set that includes the Hanoi jeongol. We'd already eaten dinner so we kept it simple, but if you come without eating first, I think getting the set is the way to go!

We cracked open the soju before the food even arrived. How is anyone supposed to hold off on that? Came in today ready for at least three bottles.

Hanoi hotpot at Cheonjan: why is it called Hanoi?

Here's the Hanoi jeongol (hotpot) we ordered! Lots of meat, and underneath it was piled high with bean sprouts. I wondered why it's called 'Hanoi' hotpot — turns out the broth base is rice noodle soup! It looks clear so I worried it might be bland, but once you taste it, the pepper makes it nicely spicy — perfect with soju. My sister loved it too.

Oh, it's not cheongyang chili but the actual Vietnamese chili we all know, the red pepper kind — which probably suited it even better haha. Not the sharp heat of cheongyang pepper. I felt like I could go through N more bottles of soju with this — my sister kept fishing out more to eat since she liked it so much.

Once it boiled, the visual was top-tier! Loaded with napa cabbage, bean sprouts, and meat. There was more to pick through than I expected. I personally prefer soft-cooked cabbage, so I ate that last and focused on the bean sprouts and meat. I'm already a lover of clear shabu-shabu-style meat plus bean sprouts, but this was my first rice-noodle nabe, so it tasted even better. The visuals were amazing too, ugh.

Loading up meat and shabu together in one bite is the best. One bite, a shot of soju, one bite, a shot of soju...

Tako wasabi, the side dish ordered with the soju

Just eating broth made me want something to pick at, so I checked the menu for a simple side and found tako wasabi, an izakaya favorite!! Honestly it's a bit disappointing when a place doesn't have tako wasabi. It's an oddly addictive snack. Cheonjan serves it laid over onions like this.

It comes with radish sprouts too, so I picked at it little by little. Tako wasabi tends to be a bit salty by nature, which makes it a perfect drinking snack. Honestly, if we hadn't already eaten, we would've ordered more seafood, but we'd eaten right before coming here so I was already too full.

Who is Cheonjan, an izakaya near Sadang Station, best for?

Personally, I think Sadang Station has great transit access, making it a good spot for meeting up between Seoul and Gyeonggi. Cheonjan is right by the station and has a good variety of snacks, so it's a solid choice for anyone looking for an izakaya near Sadang Station. Especially the Hanoi nabe! The rice noodle broth was deep and genuinely delicious. I've had a lot of nabe hotpots, so I don't know why I never tried this one before now (probably because I love rice noodle broth but don't usually like rice noodles themselves haha). Anyway, I'd definitely come back.