Yeouido izakaya cold capellini octopus pasta and lamb rack: Nani

I went to Nani Yeouido Branch, a bar in Yeouido, on my cousin's recommendation. She'd already been twice herself!

Nani Yeouido Branch hours and menu

Nani Yeouido Branch is open Mon–Sat 17:00–02:00 (last order 01:00) and closed on Sundays. Here's the menu info for this Yeouido bar.

Window views and room seats: what Nani Yeouido feels like

The inside of Nani has floor-to-ceiling windows, so you get a great view of Yeouido. There are also room-style seats that are partitioned off, so it felt private and cozy.

What we ordered at Nani Yeouido, and the free starters

We ordered three pieces of lamb shoulder rack, perilla oil octopus pasta, and Cass bottled beer.

After ordering, fried hardtack and seaweed salad came out. The hardtack especially was dusted with cinnamon sugar, giving it a nicely balanced sweet-and-salty flavor.

Perilla oil octopus pasta with cold capellini

The perilla oil octopus pasta we ordered came out first.

Wow, there was a beautifully colored pile of salted octopus on top, and it looked so appetizing. The sesame powder sprinkled over the perilla leaf made the plating even better. If you watch the video, you can see the perilla oil and salted octopus glistening moistly on the noodles.

The perilla oil octopus pasta is apparently a cold pasta made with thin capellini noodles, flavored with perilla oil, soy sauce, and salted octopus. The nutty aroma was seriously intense.

While we were taking photos, the lamb shoulder rack arrived sizzling on a hot plate. The snacks come out fast here. We took a pretty photo before cutting into it too.

The interior is so pretty that everything looks good in photos no matter how you shoot it.

Hot-plate lamb shoulder rack with cumin and basil oil sauce

The lamb shoulder rack apparently uses chilled, clean Australian lamb under 10 months old. Shoulder rack in particular refers to the shoulder cut of the lamb, which is juicy and delicious to eat.

The sauces that came with it were the familiar cumin and basil oil sauce. The snacks at this Yeouido bar, Nani Yeouido Branch, are really great. Makes you want to drink beer.

This is the soft lamb shoulder rack from Nani Yeouido Branch, a Yeouido izakaya.

The hot plate comes out already heated, so it was easy to turn the lamb and cook it evenly. It didn't cool down until we finished eating, which was very satisfying.

Dipping the well-grilled lamb in cumin gives you that familiar delicious spice flavor. You could say it maximizes the nuttiness of the lamb. The basil oil sauce was also fragrant and lovely. The pickled chili peppers in between were fresh.

How the salted octopus tastes mixed into the pasta

Next, we mixed up the perilla oil octopus pasta too. When I took a bite... oh my, there must have been quite a lot of perilla oil in it, because it had soaked thoroughly into the noodles. The soy sauce was probably tsuyu, right?? The flavor and aroma were so refined, it really got my appetite going. It mixed really well with the salted octopus.

Personally, I love capellini noodles — they're about the same thickness as somen but don't get soggy, staying springy and soft. Especially in summer, nothing perks up your appetite like a cold pasta made with capellini noodles. The chewy texture of the salted octopus and the spicy, salty seasoning really pulled me in. On top of that, the umami of the soy sauce (probably tsuyu) and the fragrant, nutty softness of the perilla oil just explode.

And there's a reason there's so much perilla leaf — it keeps your mouth feeling fresh and clean. It felt like the perfect Korean-style pasta that anyone would like.

And topping the lamb shoulder rack with salted octopus is also a delicious combination.

Apparently, Nani Yeouido Branch, this Yeouido izakaya, also gives out yogurt ice cream for review events. Doesn't seem like there could be a better dessert than that.

Getting there from Yeouido Station, and the verdict on Nani

Nani Yeouido Branch, this Yeouido bar, is right by the exit of Yeouido Station, so the location was really great. Looking out at the Yeouido scenery after work with a cold beer and delicious snacks sounds like happiness itself. The staff were kind too, and the space is decorated with its own character, so I'd recommend it.