Soy sauce shrimp rice at Tomo, a Sharosu-gil izakaya in Seoul

Today I visited Tomo, an izakaya near Seoul National University Station. Every single seat is a private room, so it was such a comfortable, cozy place to drink. I got to eat sashimi, which I absolutely love, plus some delicious side dishes they gave as a service — I was so satisfied with this Sharosu-gil restaurant, Tomo. Let's go.ᐟ.ᐟ

Where Tomo is, opening hours and corkage policy

Izakaya near Seoul National Univ. Station / Sharosu-gil izakaya / Sharosu-gil bar: Tomo

• Address: 24 Gwanak-ro 15-gil, 2nd & 3rd floor, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Sun–Thu 17:00–02:00 / Fri–Sat 17:00–03:00
• Open until 03:00 the night before public holidays too
• Free corkage (no limit on number of bottles)
• Group reservations possible (check Naver Map reservations)
• Phone reservations available
• All seats are private rooms
• Free basic side dish with Naver reservation (clam butter steam or tako wasabi)

Every seat is a private room, so book ahead

Tomo is located on the 2nd floor, and as soon as we went up, they showed us straight to a room. There's a hall with sofas for waiting downstairs. We booked for around 5:30pm on a weekday. When we arrived, they guided us right into the room!! You can visit without a reservation, but since it's all private rooms and there aren't that many of them, I'd recommend booking ahead! For late time slots not listed on Naver Reservation, we called and asked them to book us in, and they did!!

The very back room we were shown to had plenty of space for about 4 people! You can book it whether there are 2 of you or 4, so keep that in mind.ᐟ.ᐟ

How many people fit in Tomo's group rooms?

Looking at other rooms with their doors open, there were a lot of bigger ones too!! The rooms on this side comfortably fit 6–8 people. Looking at Naver Reservation, it seems there's a room that can hold up to around 15 people. If you're having a wedding invitation party on Sharosu-gil, this place would be great for that too!!

On top of that, corkage is free and there's no limit on the number of bottles, so if you're looking for an izakaya where you can bring your own drinks, you have to go here..🥺 The inside of the rooms is really pleasant too✨ It feels perfect for group drinking sessions and birthday parties.

The 10,000 won mega highball and the free drink for a review

Tomo says they'll give you a free highball or takoyaki if you write a review. And the mega highball, which is 3 times the volume of a regular highball, is only ₩10,000... I'm losing it. It's normally priced for a size that would cost ₩24,000, so they're selling it super cheap! We only had soju-beer mix and soju that day, so we sadly had to pass on it.

What we ordered at Tomo: premium sashimi for two and soy sauce shrimp rice

The menu is really diverse, and there are sashimi set courses too, so if you go with a group of people, ordering a set could work well! Besides sashimi dishes, there's also pasta, fried dishes, grilled items, and soups, so people who can't eat raw fish have plenty of options too.

• ✔️ Premium sashimi for two
• ✔️ Soy sauce shrimp rice
• ✔️ Soju
• ✔️ Beer

Basic side dishes of beans and cabbage pickles. Why are the beans at izakayas always so good.. Tomo's cabbage pickles were crunchy and really tasty too.

Premium sashimi for two: 12 kinds of fish

The premium sashimi for two comes beautifully arranged on a plate, with about 12 kinds including egg, shrimp, octopus, abalone, scallop, tuna, salmon, and more. There wasn't a hint of fishy taste, and all 12 kinds were soft and really delicious!! They shape the shrimp into a heart, and it was almost too pretty to eat..

They also give you gamtae (sea lettuce), seaweed, pickled radish, ginger, and pickled onion to eat alongside. I usually like eating sashimi with wasabi, but this time I tried wrapping it in gamtae and seaweed for the first time in a while, and it had great umami flavor and tasted even better.

Soy sauce shrimp rice (ganjang saeu bap)

We were hungry that day and in the mood for a rice dish, so we ordered the soy sauce shrimp rice — the portion was generous and the seasoning was spot on! The shrimp had a nice springy texture too, and it was delicious.

Clam butter steam, the free starter with a Naver reservation

With a Naver reservation, you get either tako wasabi or clam butter steam as a free side dish — and the clam butter steam.. is a real winner.. It's genuinely well-seasoned, perfect as a drinking snack, and the butter flavor is amazing too. And this is a free side dish!!! You can actually order it as a regular menu item too, but we were so satisfied getting it free that we said we'd order it next time. That's how good it was..!!!! I haven't tried the tako wasabi, but I highly recommend the clam wine steam.

When a private-room bar on Sharosu-gil is worth booking

If you're looking for an izakaya on Sharosu-gil, this is it — Tomo, a bar near Seoul National University Station. It's a place where you can enjoy delicious side dishes and a wide variety of drinks in a private room. If you're looking for a room bar for a wedding invitation party, birthday party, or group gathering on Sharosu-gil, I highly, highly recommend this place!!!!