Daegu highball bar for round two: Earl Grey and Suajin at Naiba Hutto

After a first round in Dongseong-ro, Daegu, it felt like too soon to call it a night, so I went looking for somewhere to have one more light drink and ended up at Naiba Hutto. What caught my eye was that even from outside it gave off a pretty strong sense of a genuine Japanese izakaya. There are plenty of bars these days leaning into that Japanese-style aesthetic, but Naiba Hutto didn't feel forced — the mood came together pretty naturally. Since this was my second round, I already had a decent amount of food in me, so a few yakitori skewers, one soup dish, and some highballs sounded just right. And in practice, that's exactly what it was good for — a solid Dongseong-ro izakaya for that purpose.

Where is Naiba Hutto? A Gyodong alley off Dongseong-ro

Naiba Hutto sits in a spot that's easy to reach as a second stop after drinks in Dongseong-ro. Walking down the alley, the black exterior and the interior visible through the glass windows stand out pretty clearly. What really sets the identity of the place, though, is visible from outside — the Japanese-lettered sign, various posters, and a black awning. The sign itself reads "Naiba Hutto" in Japanese, and with the entrance left open you can see customers inside, giving it a bit of the feel of stumbling on a small bar while traveling in Japan. I actually liked this slightly rough-around-the-edges mood more than an overly polished, franchise-style bar.

Inside Naiba Hutto: noren curtain, bar seats and an exposed ceiling

Stepping inside, the mood was exactly what the exterior promised. A black noren curtain reads "izakaya" in large letters, and in the center, bar seating wraps around the space where staff prepare the food. Small tables line the walls, and the place was fairly full that day, giving it real energy. It's not a spacious bar in terms of seats or tables, but that sense of closeness seems to be part of Naiba Hutto's charm. Japanese-style bottles, posters, and menu boards are scattered around, and the ceiling keeps its exposed concrete and piping, adding to the deliberately rough feel.

What's on the menu at Naiba Hutto

The menu naturally centers on yakitori. You can order 5- or 7-skewer sets, or à la carte options including scallion thigh, thigh, tsukune (chicken meatball), green pepper tsukune, drumstick, neck, tenderloin, skin, wing, and heart. Grilled vegetables can also be added — cherry tomato, asparagus, scallion, shishito pepper. Beyond that, there's a long list of drinking-food classics: clam sake-steam, assorted oden, mentaiko cream pasta, grilled mentaiko, mentaiko omelette, chicken nanban, fried chicken wings, yakisoba.

Earl Grey highball and non-alcoholic yuzu highball

First, to wet my whistle, I ordered an Earl Grey highball and a non-alcoholic yuzu highball. They arrived in Suntory glasses packed with big chunks of ice, cool-looking from the start. The Earl Grey highball leads with a fragrant, sweet aroma before the highball's characteristic carbonation kicks in — easy to drink without any pressure. It wasn't a style that hit heavy with alcohol flavor, so it paired nicely with sipping alongside yakitori. The non-alcoholic yuzu highball was a good choice for anyone not drinking who still wanted to join the mood. Thanks to yuzu's bright, sweet aroma and the carbonation, it never felt like a plain drink, and taking a sip after a greasy skewer cleaned up the palate nicely.

The 5-skewer yakitori set with sake-steamed clams

For food that day, I ordered 5 kinds of yakitori and the clam sake-steam — a pretty solid combination for a second round. A large bowl held plenty of broth with scallops and clams in the clam sake-steam, and beside it sat a plate of golden-grilled yakitori skewers. Wasabi came on the side of the skewers, to add as preferred. Even in photos it clearly reads as a Japanese-style tavern, and lining up the food and highballs on the red table made for a pretty great-looking spread. Coming in already full for a second round, this combination wasn't too heavy while still doing its job as proper drinking food.

How the yakitori tasted, and the one letdown

Nobody explained in detail which skewer was which cut for the 5-kind yakitori, so I couldn't identify the exact parts as I ate. I just picked them up one by one in the order they came, and bottom line — they were excellent as drinking food. The outside had a good char and grilled aroma, and the chicken stayed moist without being overcooked. Each skewer had a slightly different texture — one chewy, one tender — and the skewers with scallion mixed in even carried a hint of the scallion's sweetness. They were well seasoned even plain, but a light dab of the wasabi on the side cut through the richness and brightened the aroma. Honestly, yakitori isn't the kind of food you eat to fill up, but set it next to a highball and somehow your hand keeps reaching for it.

Sake-steamed clams with a vongole-style broth

Personally, the clam sake-steam was the standout for me that day. Having already had drinks in the first round, my stomach wanted something warm and brothy, and this hit the spot exactly. Not just clams but big chunks of scallop were piled in too, so it looked great, and one spoonful of broth genuinely felt like it was settling the alcohol from earlier. Unlike a typical clear clam soup, there was a noticeable garlic and oil flavor, giving the broth a slight vongole-like quality. The clean umami from the clams combined with a salty edge kept me reaching for the spoon again and again. It wasn't a heavy, hangover-soup kind of broth — more the right weight for a spoonful here and there between yakitori bites.

Ending the night with a Suajin highball

With the food this good, stopping at one drink felt like a shame, so at the end I added a Suajin highball. It had a clearly different character from the Earl Grey highball earlier, leaving behind a subtle, cool cucumber aroma. If you're not into cucumber, this one could go either way for you, but for me it worked nicely as a palate reset after the yakitori and clam sake-steam.

A good spot right in the middle of Dongseong-ro to enjoy yakitori and a highball with a Japanese tavern feel

Verdict: is Naiba Hutto a good second stop on Dongseong-ro?

Daegu's Naiba Hutto was, for me, a Dongseong-ro izakaya that worked especially well as a laid-back second-round spot rather than a first stop. The exterior evokes a genuine Japanese tavern from the moment you see it outside, and stepping in, the noren curtain, bar tables, and various Japanese-style touches keep the mood consistent. That said, it's not a place that's all atmosphere and no substance. The yakitori didn't come with clear labeling for each cut, which was a small letdown, but the grilling was solid and the flavor kept my hand reaching for more — and the clam sake-steam in particular, with its refreshing, vongole-like broth, felt genuinely satisfying, like it was settling the drinks from the first round. Choosing between the Earl Grey highball, the non-alcoholic yuzu highball, and the Suajin highball I added later was also part of the fun, depending on mood. It's a good place to chat comfortably with friends or a partner in a lively atmosphere over a drink, and pairing yakitori with a soup dish makes for a well-balanced order. With so many izakayas around Dongseong-ro these days, it can be hard to decide where to go, but if you want to genuinely feel that Japanese-style mood while enjoying yakitori and a highball, this is one worth remembering. Next time I need a second round while drinking in Dongseong-ro, I plan to swing by again and try other skewers and the yakisoba.