Isu Station bar with 1200cc beer in a boot glass: Rainbow Pocha

It's getting hot out and I am craving draft beer so badly! My friend and I wanted something seriously delicious on a weekend evening, so we headed to Rainbow Pocha near Isu Station. I wanted to try lots of different things, and I'd read that the menu is varied and tasty, so here we are!

Where is Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch?

Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch is a two-floor pub (floors 1 and 2) at 40 Dongjak-daero 27ga-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, a 2-minute walk from Isu Station.

It sits in the area packed with Sadang Station and Isu Station bars, and as a big two-story building it catches your eye as you walk past. With such easy access from the station, it's also a good choice for a company dinner or group get-together near Isu Station!

Seating and atmosphere at Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch

Near the entrance there are roomy platform seats (pyeongsang) where you can really feel the outdoor-street-pub vibe (jangjang). Even the tables are unusual, such a distinctive space 🤣 Once the weather cools down even a little, expect a fierce fight for these seats. Recommended if you're hunting for a hot Isu bar too.

The place only opened recently, so the inside feels clean overall ✨ Best of all, many pocha bars around Isu Station are so loud and rowdy your ears ring, but Rainbow Pocha was not as noisy as I expected. It felt tidy, trendy and easy to enjoy!

It's cute and nicely decorated, and above all there's a clean restroom inside the venue, though it's unisex! As soon as we sat down they brought us ice-filled cold water, so we gulped it right away 💦

How varied is the bar food menu at Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch?

The food menu at Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch is wildly varied: spicy braised chicken (dakbokkeumtang), hotpots, stews, stir-fries, pasta, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), pancakes (jeon), fried dishes and more.

True to its reputation as a top Isu Station spot for drinking food, it's full of dishes that all look amazing! There were so many things I wanted to eat that choosing was hard 😖 For people like me there are great-value set menus, and the side dishes to go with them are just as varied ❕

Drinks menu: beer, soju and more

There's a wide range of soju, beer, makgeolli (rice wine) and more, so you can order to your taste. Perfect for a company dinner or group night near Isu Station!

500cc Cass draft beer and complimentary fried sweet potato

A 500cc Cass draft beer is ₩4,500 a glass. First things first: pour some cold draft down the hatch 🍻 They gave us sweet, nutty fried sweet potato as the complimentary side, and I inhaled it without thinking.

What does the cheese potato nurungji (₩9,900) taste like?

Rainbow Pocha's cheese potato nurungji is ₩9,900. It's not an ordinary potato pancake: thinly sliced potatoes are cooked crisp like scorched rice (nurungji) and topped with cheese. The second I saw it I cried, "Oh my, we have to eat this." And pancakes are the best when it rains, right? 👏

Cheese potato with nurungji stuck on? There's no way this isn't good, I thought as I ordered it. When I cut into the super crunchy crust, stretchy cheese popped out. And it's even better than I expected 😮🥔 Yes, this is a legit Isu Station drinking-food spot!

From the first bite, it's the textbook sweet-and-salty combo that makes you keep drinking. It tastes like fried potato chips, so it's the perfect drinking snack, totally. I get why I'd recommend it as an Isu Station bar. Dip it in the chili sauce served on the side and it's even better 🤤

Chicken-feet soup set (₩29,900): what's included and how it tastes

Rainbow Pocha's chicken-feet soup set (guk-mul dakbal) is ₩29,900 and comes with steamed egg and rice balls. The default is bone-in chicken feet, but I couldn't be bothered with bones, so I paid extra to switch to boneless!

A whole table spread out, then waiting for the bean sprouts to wilt over the bubbling chicken feet 💫 The whole time, a spicy, tingly aroma rose up and my mouth was watering like crazy 💦 Soothe your stomach first with the fluffy steamed egg, then it's time to enjoy the rice cakes and chicken feet, which have simmered in the broth until the sauce soaks in and they turn chewy ✨

The soup has a pleasantly spicy, tingly kick, and the sauce itself is so good that it tastes better the longer it boils 🔥 As you enjoy the numbing, chewy chicken feet, stress just floats away. I officially accept this as a chicken-feet hotspot near Isu Station 🐔

When your mouth is stinging and you're going sss, hoo-hoo, transfuse a rice ball each

Keep eating like that and you can just keep going 😋 There's plenty of broth, and it gets better as it boils, so later we even dipped the potato pancake into it!

1200cc Cass draft beer (₩12,000) served in a boot glass

Rainbow Pocha's 1200cc Cass draft beer is ₩12,000 and comes in a huge boot-shaped glass. Of course the beer ran out as we ate! I thought I should have just ordered the 1200 from the start, but then the boot glass arrived and I was a little thrown. We poured it neatly into small glasses 🤣

Is Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch worth a return visit?

We left stuffed. Rainbow Pocha Isu Branch is clean since it opened not long ago, has a hugely varied menu and, above all, tastes good, so it's a good place when you're looking for a drinking-food spot near Isu Station. It's a two-floor space, so the venue is big too, and I recommend it for a Sadang or Isu group gathering!