Sindorim izakaya with grill-side bar seats: Sindorim Mungyun

Sindorim Mungyun, an izakaya worth eating at in Sindorim

• Hours: 5 PM–12 AM
• Closed every Sunday
• Naver Reservation available
• No parking in the building — use the Guro Future Library public parking lot

What Sindorim Mungyun looks like inside, and where the bar seats are

Sindorim Mungyun (신도림문균), a place worth eating at near Sindorim Station! It's an izakaya near Sindorim Station, and this time I revisited with my husband! We got in right away, luckily, but apparently after us there was enough of a wait that it's clearly a popular spot. If you leave your number they'll call you back, and you can also book ahead through Naver, so I'd recommend making a Naver reservation before you come ✨

Inside Sindorim Mungyun there's bar seating where you can watch the skewers being grilled right in front of you, plus table seats if you'd rather sit comfortably. Personally, I like watching the grilling while I eat when it comes to izakayas, so I prefer the bar seats — and it seems like every time I come to Sindorim Mungyun, I end up at the bar haha.

Ordering by QR code instead of a paper menu

Last time I came to Sindorim Mungyun I think there was a separate paper menu, but this time we ordered through a QR code at the table. It was convenient since checking the menu and ordering happened in one step. You pay before you leave, once you're done eating.

I thought about ordering the yakitori one by one, but ended up going with the 7-piece yakitori set instead. There's a lot I can't eat, but that's fine since my husband can just eat those. The skewers can obviously be ordered individually too, and there are side dishes and soups on the menu as well!

The free cabbage starter and the Osaka-style chicken nanban

This is the cabbage that comes out as a default side. Izakayas in Japan often serve cabbage like this, and it seems Sindorim Mungyun goes for that same vibe haha.

The chicken nanban we ordered alongside it. Honestly, just from the look of it, I was a little thrown off at first because it wasn't the chicken nanban I knew ㅠㅠ

Sindorim Mungyun's chicken nanban is apparently the Osaka style, topped with a house-made egg tartar sauce. This one had more of a soy-sauce chicken feel with sauce on top, whereas the chicken nanban I used to eat in Japan wasn't soy-sauce chicken — it was just regular fried chicken with sauce on top. So at first I was like, huh? But once I tried it, it was seriously delicious — a bit sweet-and-salty, which goes really well with a highball or beer.

Ordering this ahead of the yakitori is a good move — you can knock it back with a beer while you wait, and it actually comes out pretty quickly, so I'd recommend it :)

What comes in the 24,400-won seven-piece yakitori set

We added one extra order of pa-dak (green onion chicken skewer) on top of the 7-piece yakitori set. Since this kind of dish takes a bit of time to come out, it's better to order everything together at once from the start. Even so, watching them grill each skewer by hand looked so good.

The 7-piece yakitori set is ₩24,400. It comes with tsukune (chicken meatball skewer), pa-dak, pork neck, wing, bacon-tomato, tenderloin, and heart — seven skewers total, plus an egg yolk to dip the tsukune in! We added an extra order of pa-dak, which came out alongside the rest.

Just like the menu description promised, it really was full of charcoal aroma. It seems to be Sindorim Mungyun's signature dish too, because looking around at other tables, most people had ordered this. Personally the pa-dak was my favorite, and next time I think I'll order two more of those on their own haha.

You know tsukune is best dipped in that egg yolk, right? The tsukune was nice and plump, and we happily dipped it in. There's a generous amount of yolk, so it's good for dipping other skewers in too.

My husband isn't a huge fan, but I love the bacon-tomato skewer! Just know it's extremely hot, so let it cool a bit before eating 😂 My husband bit into it without thinking and said the tomato was way too hot. Since this was a repeat visit, of course it was delicious 🙌🏻 My husband said a lot of izakayas tend to make their skewers overly salty, but Sindorim Mungyun had none of that — he said everything was really good.

Is Sindorim Mungyun worth it for an izakaya night in Sindorim?

Looking for a solid izakaya among Sindorim's good restaurants? If you want a good-vibe izakaya in Sindorim, I recommend Sindorim Mungyun 👍🏻 Since the food takes a bit of time to come out, I'd recommend ordering generously the first time around! Naver reservations are available too, so if you're planning to visit, I'd recommend booking ahead through Naver ♥️