Suyu izakaya for a date with outdoor seats and tebasaki: Orotsi

I went on a date with my partner to Orotsi Suyu Main Branch (오롯이 수유본점), an izakaya with a great atmosphere near Suyu Station.

Where is Orotsi Suyu Main Branch, and what are its hours?

Orotsi Suyu Main Branch is at 42-1 Nohae-ro, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, on the first floor. It is open 18:00–03:00, with last order at 02:30. For parking, use a nearby public parking lot.

The izakaya is a 5-minute walk from Suyu Station Exit 7, so it's easy to reach from the subway, and it was a great Suyu spot for a date.

What is the outdoor seating like at Orotsi?

Orotsi Suyu Main Branch is a Suyu Station pub where you can enjoy the real outdoor street-side drinking vibe (yajang) in the cool evening breeze. It was perfect on an evening with nice weather like this.

This is the window seat at Orotsi Suyu Main Branch. It feels different from the outdoor seats, with a lovely, moody atmosphere :)

Inside Orotsi Suyu Main Branch

The inside of Orotsi Suyu Main Branch is full of Japanese-style decor. As you'd expect from a well-loved Suyu Station izakaya, the mood hits you the moment you walk in. The soft lighting made it easy to chat over a meal, and it felt comfortable for a date or a get-together with friends.

What's on the food and drink menu at Orotsi?

On the wall of Orotsi Suyu Main Branch, the signature dishes were listed: teba saki (fried chicken wings), chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken), myeongran gyeran-mari (pollock roe rolled omelet), hanwoo yukhoe (Korean beef tartare), Nagasaki jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup), clam steamed in sake and oden-tang (fish cake soup). Seeing the snack menu at a glance made it easy to choose, and it felt like a Japanese tavern, which added to the mood.

This is the Orotsi food menu. There's a wide range, from light bites to hearty dishes that work as a meal, so it's easy to pick to your taste.

The Orotsi drink menu has draft beer, bottled beer, highballs, soju, sake and more. As you'd expect from a Suyu izakaya, there was a good variety, so you can pick drinks to match your food.

The menu also separately marks a drink discount event and a daily recommended menu that changes every day, which is handy if you can't decide :) I followed the daily recommendation and ordered the teba saki ✨

Complimentary snacks and draft beer

The complimentary snacks at Orotsi Suyu Main Branch were baby potato chips and jangajji (pickled vegetables). The crispy potato chips were so crunchy I kept reaching for more, and the sweet-and-sour pickles cleansed my palate, a nice light bite before the real snacks.

The ice-cold draft beer came out first. With its soft foam and refreshing finish, draft beer always goes well with hot weather :)

How was the teba saki at Orotsi?

The teba saki, our first dish at Orotsi Suyu Main Branch, looked generous just from the portion. It came out nicely fried to a golden color and looked delicious.

The teba saki was crispy outside and moist inside, with the chicken's juices intact. Each piece was big, so it was good value, and it was just right with beer.

Is the clam steamed in sake at Orotsi filling?

The next dish we ordered at Orotsi Suyu Main Branch, clam steamed in sake (baji-rak sul-jjim), was piled with clams and sujebi (hand-torn dough flakes). It looked so appetizing.

The refreshing broth from the clams made it a really good drinking snack, and eating it with the sujebi made it very filling :)

Is Orotsi a good Suyu outdoor-seating date spot?

After trying the clam steamed in sake and teba saki at Orotsi Suyu Main Branch, I found it a Suyu outdoor-seating pub with satisfying food and atmosphere. If you're looking for a Suyu Station date course, a good izakaya or a great outdoor-seating spot, I recommend visiting Orotsi Suyu Main Branch :)