Seoul restaurant with private 2nd-floor room for agu-jjim: Seongsu AGU

Seongsu AGU is where I went on a day I wanted to eat something spicy in Seongsu and blow off some steam.

The vibe at Seongsu AGU — an agu-jjim place with a café-like entrance

The entrance is totally café vibes!

When you hear "agu-jjim," you tend to picture an old-school neighborhood joint or a veteran restaurant kind of vibe, but this place looked pretty clean and polished, which made a great first impression.

It's near Ttukseom Station so it's pretty accessible, and the interior overall is clean and cozy.

So even though it's an agu-jjim place, it didn't feel awkward at all to visit for a date.

When you want to eat something a bit different in Seongsu instead of pasta or meat, a place like this actually works great?! If you're looking for a Seongsu date course, this is it. It's already pretty famous too, known as a Lee Yeong-ja recommended spot and a Park Se-ri recommended spot.

Crispy tripe agu-jjim, regular spiciness — how spicy is it really?

What I ordered that day was Seongsu AGU's signature menu, the crispy tripe agu-jjim (곱창튀김아구찜). I got it at regular spiciness, and for me — someone who can't handle spicy food well — it was still plenty stress-relieving, roughly Shin Ramyun level spicy!!!

On top of the spicy agu-jjim sits crispy fried tripe and fried cheongyang pepper, giving it a look that's definitely different from typical agu-jjim.

The sauce itself is spicy with a deep savory kick, so dipping the monkfish meat generously into it is delicious, and it's a combo that spicy-food lovers would find pretty satisfying as a drinking snack too!

The stew was more generously packed than I expected. It's not just loaded with bean sprouts — minari (water dropwort), sea squirt, and pollack roe are all mixed in evenly, so there's always something new to dig out as you eat.

There was also a good amount of monkfish meat, so eating it with two people, we never felt like there wasn't enough — we got full and satisfied. The spicy sauce soaked well into the bean sprouts and minari too, so it was fun to mix and match instead of just picking out the monkfish.

Bean sprouts, minari, sea squirt, pollack roe — the contents are just soooo generous. At ₩23,000 a serving, the price felt fair!!!

The long fried strips on top

These long fried strips are actually fried tripe!!!! Eating the crispy fried tripe here and there added a nutty flavor that went really well together.

Eating some when it's spicy balances things out, and even though it's nutty on its own, frying it makes it insanely good hahahaha.

1+1 highball deal — two glasses for ₩6,900

And what was especially great this time was Seongsu AGU's 1+1 highball deal. Two glasses for just ₩6,900!!!!!

Eating the spicy agu-jjim with a cold highball paired well with the food, and it was also just right for sipping while chatting with friends.

A dish like this feels a bit lacking without alcohol, so having a highball deal on top made me think it'd also be great as a spot for a girls' gathering.

Finishing with fried rice

Of course we wrapped up with fried rice at the end. It's hard to skip frying rice in that agu-jjim sauce.

Eating rice on top of the spicy sauce made it feel like a proper full meal.

We wiped it clean...........

2nd-floor room seats — why it's good for a date or a friend gathering

Personally, what I liked most about Seongsu AGU was how clean the vibe was. Given the nature of agu-jjim as a menu, I expected it to feel like a family dinner or a drinking-spot kind of place, but the clean space actually made it fit well for a date, and also for a good mood to relieve stress with friends over good food.

There are tables on the 2nd floor too, with a somewhat room-like independent space, so it seems perfect for a friend gathering or a date. On a day when you're craving something spicy in Seongsu and want a slightly different menu than the usual Seongsu spots, I'd recommend Seongsu AGU. It's especially perfect for weather like this, when you want agu-jjim with a highball on the side.