Seoul izakaya near Sindang Station for cumin lamb stir-fry: Ibangin

Ibangin Sindang Hours: 18:00–01:00 Closed: Wednesdays

Sometimes on a weekend or right after work I get a craving for somewhere hip that serves exotic, delicious drinking snacks. This time the place that caught my eye was Ibangin. I went with a friend who's dead serious about anju (drinking snacks) to Ibangin Sindang, which has apparently become a hot spot in Sindang-dong lately. Even before walking in, I was already excited about the vibe and the menu!!!

Where is Ibangin Sindang, and is there a wait on Mondays?

Ibangin sits deep inside the Sindang Market alley. Even tucked away like that, there were so many people — clearly it's already word-of-mouth famous. And this was a Monday!

The entrance alone is so hip... starting with the name of the izakaya itself — "Ibangin" (이방인, meaning "stranger/outsider") haha.

The fact that they even use Catch Table for reservations shows this is a genuinely popular spot. Luckily, since it was a Monday, we got in with no wait.

Inside Ibangin Sindang: bar seats and the back room

Inside, the lighting is soft and cozy — exactly the kind of atmosphere for chatting away with friends over drinks.

There are bar seats like this both by the window and near the kitchen, and both have real character... this would be a great spot to come drink solo too.

There's also a private room in the back, great for a cozy drink. Feels like the kind of place that could seal the deal if you bring someone you're into, lol.

Ibangin Sindang's menu and what we ordered

Kushikatsu is the main event at Ibangin, but they also sell aged sashimi in small portions, plus a variety of cooked dishes. So many appealing, unique items that it was a happy dilemma — in the end I wanted to try everything, so we just kept adding one more order at a time. Hot streak.

• 5 seafood kushikatsu skewers
• Pork tenderloin kushikatsu
• Aged sashimi platter
• Cumin lamb stir-fry
• Drinks: Kirin draft beer (thin glass), sake by the glass

The Naver-listed menu doesn't show the 5-piece kushikatsu set, but when we visited, it was on the actual menu! Since it was the seafood version, it came with scallop, shrimp, cuttlefish, pollock, and (I think) rockfish.

Kirin draft beer and the five-skewer seafood kushikatsu set

Clean and the water tastes great too!

Ahh. The Kirin draft came out first. They serve beer in a thin glass, so I ordered that version. Looked it up — it's called the Toyo Sasaki Usuhari. My friend said beer just tastes better out of this glass!

And then the 5-piece kushikatsu arrived. Insane... just imagining kushikatsu with beer is thrilling enough ㅠㅠ Even just looking at it, it seemed super crispy and delicious.

The shrimp was plump, and the scallop and cuttlefish were chewy... if this beats the kushikatsu I had in Japan, isn't that basically a steal? ㅠㅠ

Sake by the glass and the aged sashimi platter

My friend finished the beer quickly and ordered sake next. This too was clean and really tasty.

We ordered a second glass of sake with barely a break between orders lolol. It was plated so beautifully, nice to look at too.

To go with the sake, we also ordered the aged sashimi platter.

Kushikatsu + beer, sake + aged sashimi — an undefeated combo!

Getting this quality of aged sashimi at this price is definitely one of Ibangin's strengths. That night we got flounder, flounder fin, hanchi (small squid), sea bream, and more. The hanchi had zero fishy smell and was somehow just so good... each piece had a dense, chewy texture with deep umami.

The kushikatsu was so good we ordered another round — pork tenderloin this time. Not one bad bite.

First place: the cumin lamb stir-fry

Of everything we ate that night at Ibangin, first place — by a narrow margin — went to the cumin lamb stir-fry. Whew, we really ate a lot... haha. The anju were all so good that we ended up ordering yet another dish: cumin-spiced lamb stir-fry. I couldn't forget this flavor the next day, or even the day after that ㅠㅠ

The lamb's distinct savory richness with cumin's aroma woven through was truly a delicacy. Spicy and salty — genuinely the best drinking snack.

It felt so good to finally find a proper must-eat anju spot in Sindang after a long time. The quality of the kushikatsu and aged sashimi was fantastic, and the side stir-fry dishes plus the refreshing drinks were all excellent too, so I'm planning to go back soon. Gotta try the rest of the menu too~♡ If you're looking for a stylish, friendly premium dining bar near Sindang Station, I highly recommend it.