Jongno bar for a wedding invite party: chicken hot pot at Ari Gyegok

It's a bar near Jongno Station, but this time I went as our wedding invitation party's second-round spot!

As someone who's worked in Jongno for years now, it's honestly faster to count the bars I haven't been to... And in the middle of all that, here's my revisit review of Ari Gyegok, a bar near Jongno Station~!

Ari Gyegok Jonggak, why I came back

I was satisfied last time so I dropped by Ari Gyegok Jonggak again. The space here is really unique, but the food is unique too, so it's also a great date spot 🩷

True to its popularity as a bar near Jongno Station, the first floor of Ari Gyegok was, as expected, completely full, so we came up to the second floor. This filled up fast too. And it was a Thursday!! Next time I should reserve ahead.

We'd already drunk pretty heavily in the first round, so by the second round we were already tipsy haha

Unusual side dishes you won't find at other bars

Even so, you have to order Ari Gyegok's must-try menu items.

✔️Mixed side dishes (muchim anju)

• Black sesame cucumber salad
• Wild greens chicken cold salad
• Nurungji (scorched rice) monkfish liver yukhoe
• Spicy raw beef with chili noodles

✔️Dessert

• Sweet potato yakgwa ice cream
• Kkakdugi (radish kimchi) bingsu (shaved ice)

It has menu items you don't usually see at other bars, so personally I found it super refreshing?! Monkfish liver yukhoe, kkakdugi bingsu — where else in Jongno has these? Or am I just not aware of them? Haha

If you come to Ari Gyegok, the signature dishes you absolutely must order are

• 🫶🏻Original chicken hot pot ₩22,900
• Spicy hangover chicken hot pot ₩23,900
• Perilla seed chicken hot pot ₩23,900

These three. I highly recommend ordering at least one of these three!

What our table ordered

Ordering is done via the QR code attached at each table, and our table ordered

• ✨Original chicken hot pot ₩22,900
• ✨Chicken thigh yurinki ₩13,900
• ✨Bokbunja-watermelon highball ₩6,900
• ✨Omija highball ₩5,900

This is what we ordered.

Before the food, the highballs arrived first...! Just the color alone made my mouth water, appetite fully back.

Looking at it, the highball appeared light in color, but the moment I drank it, a subtle omija (schisandra berry) flavor came through and it was so delicious.

How do you eat the original chicken hot pot?

First came out Ari Gyegok Jonggak's signature dish, the original chicken hot pot! At the bottom, grilled chicken thigh meat sits on top of the hot pot along with glass noodles and mung bean sprouts, and on a stone plate there's chicken tenderloin — apparently once the hot pot boils, you add it in shabu-shabu style. I wondered if it'd get dry if it sat too long haha.

Ooh, this is going to be so good (a familiar taste is scary). First, the eleutherococcus (eomnamu) branch laid diagonally on top is just for decoration, so remove it, and since it takes a while to come to a boil, you'll need some patience.

Always get one side dish

In the meantime, you can eat the yurinki we ordered alongside. Besides the hot pot, you absolutely must order one side dish (important✨✨✨)

Eating it makes the waiting time magically disappear. It's tangy with chili on top for a slight kick 😊 Spicy right when things start feeling greasy!

Once it's bubbling away, the chicken thigh meat is nearly cooked, so cut it up to finish cooking, and drop the chicken tenderloin in too — splash!

The broth is insane;; So this is what they mean by clear but deep...!! 🔥So good!!!🔥 And since it's chicken tenderloin instead of chicken breast, the texture was more tender than expected, which was great!

The original chicken hot pot at Ari Gyegok Jonggak has such a clean flavor, both broth and chicken, that it feels like all the spicy, intense food from the first round just vanishes? I want to eat it again already.

Finishing with Chinese-style noodles

When we were almost done eating, we added Chinese-style noodles! They come pre-blanched once, and once the broth is boiling you add them in and eat right after a short wait — personally I think they're even better once the broth has reduced down a bit!

Personally I felt the noodles would shine even more in a spicier broth! Anyway, one way or another, this place is definitely a spot for great atmosphere plus great food! I'd recommend Ari Gyegok Jonggak as a bar near Jongno Station.