Jonggak cocktail bar with spotlit bar seats and bottle keep: Gak Seoul

Gak Seoul hours, reservations and seating tips

Gak Seoul, a Jonggak bar, is open every day from 7 PM to 2 AM, with last order at 1:30 AM. Enjoy Jongno's never-sleeping nights with Gak Seoul.

You can reserve Gak Seoul on Naver. On special holidays or around the coming Christmas and year-end season there may be a wait, so please be sure to book ahead :) Personally, I recommend the bar seats over the tables.

How to get to Gak Seoul: past the Jonggak Station pojangmacha street, down a side alley

Gak Seoul is within walking distance, about 450 m from Exit 4 of Jonggak Station. Jonggak Station has loads of outdoor-style drinking spots, a whole stretch of pojangmacha (street tent bars), and if you pass that street and slip into the alley, Gak Seoul is right there!

Gak Seoul is in the basement. You open a private door with no signboard and head downstairs, and the owner greets you right away.

The atmosphere is clean and modern: a classic bar with a modern feel and a wide range of cocktails and whiskeys. Sitting between Jongno 3-ga and Jonggak Station, it lets you enjoy whiskey alongside original cocktails built on the classics with a variety of ingredients and techniques.

They have plenty of spirits and liquids on hand, and how capable is the owner? I hear that if you ask, they'll make almost anything that isn't on the menu!

From familiar classic cocktails to original ones with Gak Seoul's own combinations, I hear they focus on making each glass so the character and balance of the ingredients blend naturally.

Why I recommend Gak Seoul's bar seats: zoning out under the pin spotlights

The bar seats at Gak Seoul have pin spotlights, and the cocktails being finished under them look really pretty. The mood was so clean that it was great for a date, and I caught myself zoning out while they were being made! The bartender stirs as if playing a singing bowl, and I could really feel the presence of a true cocktail master.

Gak Seoul menu and bottle keep terms

At Gak Seoul you can keep the bottle you were drinking. Bottle keep costs ₩10,000 per bottle and can be stored for up to 3 months. I hear they'll explain the details if you contact Gak Seoul on Instagram or by phone.

Gak Seoul's 4 signature cocktails and prices

Gak Seoul has 4 signature cocktails in total. The bartender explained each one in detail personally.

• Malty Salty ₩22,000
• Pila Vanilla ₩22,000
• Geuttae-ui Tomato ₩22,000
• Gak Old Fashioned ₩24,000

They also have a range of whiskeys and classic cocktails. I tend to visit clean, modern bars a lot, and even among classics, Gak Seoul is the traditional standard classic. The taste is clean with nothing superfluous.

The cocktails themselves have no tricks, no big performance or decoration, just simple, made super cleanly, with a Rolex-of-cocktails feel. The space was really clean too.

Is outside food allowed at Gak Seoul? What about side dishes?

What's special about Gak Seoul is that outside food is allowed too, as long as it doesn't smell strongly. There are two side dishes: a charcuterie platter for ₩25,000 and Napolitan pasta (ketchup-style spaghetti) for ₩18,000. I personally love Napolitan pasta, and I think it would pair well with a classic cocktail!

They bring cold water and basic snacks, and the snacks are crunchy and not too strong, so I kept reaching for more. Just as you're finishing them, they come back refilled, how thoughtful, hahahahaha

A former bartender's view of Gak Seoul: the Rolex of cocktails

The reason I always sit at the bar is that I can watch cocktails this good being made live. I worked as a bartender in the past, so it brought back extra memories!

I worked only briefly, so I never learned cocktails this good. I made the kind of cocktails everyone has heard of once, like Martini, Margarita, June Bug, Midori Sour, Pink Lady and Sex on the Beach, in a local-bar way, so compared to that, Gak Seoul really is the Rolex of cocktails.

Gak Old Fashioned: smoke and bacon chips

The Gak Old Fashioned is Gak Seoul's signature old-style cocktail: the whiskey aroma is fairly strong, yet the finish is wonderfully smooth, a charming glass. Watching it being made is great fun too.

They smoke it to a certain degree and serve it topped with house-dried bacon chips. You can bite into the chip, or dip it briefly in the cocktail and pull it out to enjoy a softer texture. We tried both, and personally I think the best way is to eat it crisp right away and take a sip of cocktail while the bacon chip is still in your mouth!

The mood is good and the cocktails are delicious. These aren't cocktails you can get anywhere, since Gak Seoul clearly has its own signature aroma, flavor and style, so I wanted to come back :)

Pila Vanilla and Geuttae-ui Tomato

The Pila Vanilla signature cocktail, served with a pretty flower floating on top, has an absolutely artful aroma. It's no exaggeration to say I drank it all with my nose, the scent is that good. The sweetness felt like watching myself eat ice cream in a spring flower field.

Geuttae-ui Tomato ("Tomato of That Time") is a Gak Seoul signature cocktail with a basil-tomato feel.

How about Gak Seoul as a Jonggak date bar?

Gak Seoul has pin spotlights over the bar, so its classic signature cocktails are born looking even better. If you're looking for a Jongno cocktail bar or a Jonggak date bar, how about a date at Gak Seoul?

Gak Seoul gets full marks from me for taste, service, atmosphere and even price, and I recommend it with confidence.