Sinsa Station bar with garlic prawn gambas and Sero soju: Ppeol

I went looking for a Sinsa Station bar known for seafood dishes and ended up at Ppeol (뻘). I'd been scrolling through lists of Sinsa-dong restaurants and bars for a while when the description of a table set with seasonal seafood caught my eye. I was also curious whether it'd feel like the tteokbokki-and-drinks combo you get at Garosu-gil bars, so I finally hit the reservation button.

How to walk to Ppeol from Sinsa Station Exit 6

Ppeol is about 233m from Sinsa Station Exit 6, so it's an easy walk. Come out of Exit 6, turn right at the alley by Woori Bank, turn left again at Masanok, then head into the alley by Coq de Grill and you'll see it. Since it's on the basement floor, I was a little confused at first, but once I stepped into the alley it was easy to spot. It's not visible from the main street, so it's worth saving the directions ahead of time.

The address is 21 Gangnam-daero 154-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, basement floor. It opens at 4 PM. This area is packed with Sinsa-dong restaurants and bars, so there are plenty of options nearby, but Ppeol felt tucked deep in the alley — the kind of place only regulars seem to know about.

What does Ppeol's garlic-packed Beolgyo prawn gambas taste like?

The main dish I ordered was the Beolgyo prawn gambas with plenty of whole garlic. True to its name, it comes loaded with whole garlic cloves. It arrives with the olive oil still sizzling, and the moment it hit the table, the garlic aroma hit hard.

Since these were Beolgyo prawns, the flesh was firm. You cut them with scissors without peeling off the shell, and soaked in oil, they had real chew. The prawns themselves were large enough that even one was filling. There was zero fishy smell, which told me they'd been cleaned carefully.

The real fun of gambas is the leftover oil. It would've been a waste to leave the whole garlic behind, so I fished each clove out one by one — slow-cooked, so it wasn't spicy, just soft and mealy. If you love garlic, trust the dish's name exactly as it reads.

Sero soju, the bottle we drank with the gambas

For drinks, I went with soju Sero. Clean soju felt right against a dish as oily and fragrant as gambas. Sure enough, after a bite of garlic oil, a sip cleared my palate, and I kept reaching for more.

Seafood dishes at Sinsa Station bars usually let the ingredients' own flavor shine so the soju goes down easy, and Ppeol was the same. The seasoning wasn't too salty, so I never got tired of it. I'd planned to stop at one bottle of soju, but ended up ordering a second.

Ppeol's basement seating: do you need a reservation?

Since Ppeol is on the basement floor, the lighting stays low and it's never noisy. Sound from the next table doesn't carry much, which made conversation easy. It worked well both for sitting quietly across from someone and for a group of four chatting away. It's a good tone for a day when a loud bar feels like too much.

Even with over a thousand reviews stacked up, the seating felt relaxed — probably because I'd made a reservation. I'd recommend booking ahead on weekends or during evening peak hours.

Ppeol's menu lineup and corkage policy

Ppeol centers on seasonal seafood but has a fairly wide range of drinking snacks. Some people out there are searching for tteokbokki at Garosu-gil bars, and I think ordering something filling like gambas alongside a dish like that to share would work well. Next time I'd like to try another seafood item. The ingredients apparently change with the season, so the menu may look different depending on when you visit.

There's also a coupon related to corkage if you order wine, so if you're planning to bring your own bottle, it's worth checking before you reserve.

Is Ppeol worth a trip to Sinsa Station?

If you want to properly enjoy the seafood side of Sinsa Station bars, Ppeol is worth a visit at least once. The garlic-packed Beolgyo prawn gambas was just the right amount for two people, and paired with Sero, the evening flew by.

If you ended up here while searching for Sinsa-dong restaurants and bars or tteokbokki at Garosu-gil bars, I'd recommend heading down into the alley basement to find this place. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions :)