Sadang izakaya bar for crab tomalley cream pasta: Gyeongseong Sanghoe

An izakaya bar I’ve kept returning to in Sadang

After work on Tuesday evening, my partner and I went to Gyeongseong Sanghoe (경성상회) in Sadang ◡̈ Actually, this is a place Gyeoul has been visiting often for quite a long time! I kept coming from 2024 through 2025, and even now, it is one of my favorite izakayas that comes to mind whenever I’m looking for somewhere to drink in Sadang ♥ So this time, I came back with my partner after a while.

Close to Sadang Station Exit 13

Gyeongseong Sanghoe is a two-minute walk from Sadang Station Exit 13.

• Address: B1, 12-3 Bangbaechon-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 서초구 방배천로 12-3 지하)
• Hours: Daily, 4:30 p.m.–4:00 a.m. the following day
• Last order: 3:20 a.m.
• Regular closing day: None
• Parking: Unavailable (nearby parking: Bangbae Covered Road No. 1 Public Parking Lot)

As an izakaya famous as a great Sadang restaurant, I remember Gyeongseong Sanghoe having a wait on Fridays and weekends. There is a separate waiting board, and they call you directly, which was nice because you do not have to keep waiting in front of the restaurant.

A Japanese izakaya atmosphere with rooms and counter seats

Once you step inside, it really feels like a proper Japanese izakaya! The space is filled with Japanese liquor and drink-themed décor, so it was fun to look around, and the restaurant was more spacious than I expected.

Along with table seating, there were private rooms further inside too! It felt like a good setting both for drinks with a group of friends and for a drink on a date with your partner.

This time we were shown to the counter seats. Since it is an open kitchen, we could watch the food being prepared right in front of us, so personally, I found the counter seats more fun ◡̈

Ordering everything from skewers to pasta

The menu at Gyeongseong Sanghoe in Sadang. And the reason Gyeoul keeps returning here! It is the variety of dishes! I used to always have only assorted skewers and sashimi here, but I had been eating sashimi rather often lately, so this time I ordered assorted skewers, futomaki, crab tomalley cream pasta, and mochi ridohu too.

Gyeongseong Sanghoe also has a very wide selection of drinks, and you can choose between an original highball and a tonic-flavored highball according to your preference.

You cannot talk about Gyeongseong Sanghoe without mentioning its highballs! I used to drink Suntory highballs often whenever I visited, and Gyeongseong Sanghoe was selected for Suntory Highball Mecca 100 too. So of course I was going to have a Suntory highball again, but I was curious about the new menu that day and ordered a Maker’s highball instead.

These complimentary side dishes are the first thing they bring after you order! Pickled peppers, braised quail eggs and konjac, and cabbage ribbon salad.

They were great with the highballs before the main dishes arrived. The drinks Gyeoul ordered that day were a Maker’s tonic highball and a lemon sour! I usually prefer original highballs too, but my partner wanted to try one, so I picked the tonic flavor ✔️

Random assorted skewers with a strong charcoal aroma

First up, the assorted skewers! You get five at random. They grilled the skewers right in front of us, which made this dish fun to watch. We got tebasaki chicken wings, asparagus pork belly, pork jowl, tomato pork belly, eggplant skewers, and shiitake mushroom meat stuffing.

As I tried each skewer, the charcoal aroma was quite pronounced, and they were salty overall, making them great drinking snacks. They went especially well with the highballs. Personally, the asparagus pork belly was my favorite skewer that day!

And I had been seeing tebasaki a lot lately, so I was curious. They are chicken wings, so they have a pleasantly chewy texture, and with the charcoal aroma too, they made a good drinking snack. I liked getting a random assortment rather than my usual skewers, because I could try so many kinds.

The number-one dish of the day: crab tomalley cream pasta

The next dish was crab tomalley cream pasta 🦀 Since it said crab tomalley, I wondered if it might be fishy? But it was not fishy at all; it was intensely nutty, with rich crab tomalley flavor and cream creating a thick, savory taste!

Personally, it was my number-one dish of the day. It was so delicious that my partner and I kept saying, “This is so good,” wondering if this could really be the quality of pasta served at a bar.

It came with baguette slices on the side, and I only thought of dipping them in the sauce, but my partner put pasta right on top of them. . ? What a pro .. when did they get so clever . .

A generous half roll of futomaki and mochi ridohu

Next was the futomaki (thick sushi roll)! We ordered a half roll, and it came in five pieces. They were seriously huge, so a bit hard to eat in one bite—but honestly, even better ~

Inside were cucumber, fried shrimp, salmon, burdock root, egg, and tuna. Gyeoul is still a cucumber-hater✖️, so my partner picked out every bit of cucumber from the futomaki for me 😋 The fried shrimp added a crisp texture, and with salmon and tuna too, the colors were so pretty. Even as a half roll, it was large enough to share between two people.

Finally, the indispensable mochi ridohu! It was chewy, nutty, and soft, making it just right for finishing the meal. It was topped with soy sauce and wasabi, and eaten together, it was a perfect match as a drinking snack too ♥

A Sadang bar I have returned to for years

Gyeongseong Sanghoe was satisfying overall, as expected! Since I have kept visiting for years, this visit felt comfortable too, and both the food and atmosphere were great.

I noticed signatures on one side of the restaurant and looked closely—they were signatures from Seventeen members? Maybe Gyeoul should have left a signature too ~ 🤣

Gyeoul tends to revisit places I like again and again, and Gyeongseong Sanghoe is somewhere I have consistently returned to from 2024 until now, so I can confidently recommend it when you are looking for a bar in Sadang ✨

I will probably visit again next year too ◡̈ If you are looking for an izakaya in Sadang, I recommend Gyeongseong Sanghoe ♥