Gunja Station bar for brisket tteokbokki and injeolmi bingsu

I was looking for a place near Gunja Station where I could enjoy good food with a drink and chat comfortably, so I went to Saechamjip's Gunja branch.

These days when picking a bar, it's not just about tasty side dishes — how comfortably you can sit without too much noise matters a lot too.

Saechamjip is a Korean-style bar near Gunja Station that lets you enjoy both a meal and drinks in a private atmosphere, which I liked. In particular, there are partitions between tables and private room-style spaces, so it seemed good for both hanging out with friends and going on a date.

Where is Saechamjip Gunja Branch, and what are the hours?

Saechamjip's Gunja branch is on the 2nd floor at 16 Neungdong-ro 36-gil, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, and it's open daily from 17:30 to 2am the next day. Group use, takeout, delivery, and reservations are all available, and there's Wi-Fi, a waiting area, and separate restrooms for men and women.

It's located in the Gunja Station food alley, so it's easy to find, and since it's on the 2nd floor, you just check for the sign and head up — not hard to locate at all. It seems like a pretty good spot for anyone looking for a bar or restaurant around Gunja Station.

What we ordered at Saechamjip

• Beef brisket odeng-fried tteokbokki
• Injeolmi silk thread patbingsu (shaved ice)
• Two glasses of draft beer, 500cc each
• One glass of Andong soju highball, green grape flavor

Rather than going heavy on a main dish that day, we decided to pick a bunch of tasty items and enjoy them with drinks.

Brisket and fried fish cake tteokbokki, 18,900 won: how does it taste?

The first thing we ordered was the beef brisket odeng-fried tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes)! Priced at 18,900 won, it's the nostalgic street-food tteokbokki we all know, but with beef brisket added, giving it a different feel from the usual version.

Tteokbokki is always a good pick even at a bar, but with the brisket added, the savory richness from the meat made it even better as a drinking snack.

And true to its name, it also came with crispy fried odeng (fish cakes), which was fun to dip into the tteokbokki sauce. The spicy-sweet tteokbokki sauce paired better with the brisket than I expected, and it was just right as a beer snack.

We also ordered draft beer, 500cc, and after a cool sip of beer followed by a bite of tteokbokki, honestly this combo is hard to beat. Chatting away and eating slowly, we somehow emptied our glasses one by one.

Two 500cc glasses of draft beer

For drinks, we first ordered two glasses of 500cc draft beer. Cold draft beer really does go well with spicy-sweet tteokbokki.

Eating the rich, savory tteokbokki with brisket and washing it down cleanly with beer kept my hand reaching for more. It was also a nice combo for a day when you want a light drink with a good snack rather than getting really drunk.

Green grape Andong soju highball, 6,900 won

While drinking the draft beer, I got curious about other drinks, so we added an Andong soju highball in green grape flavor.

Saechamjip has a lineup of handmade highballs based on Andong soju with fruit added. The Andong soju highball is 6,900 won a glass, and the green grape flavor is, as the name suggests, refreshing and sweet — a good fit for anyone who wants to drink lightly rather than go strong.

The sweet, tangy green grape flavor paired surprisingly well with a saucy dish like tteokbokki. Moving from draft beer to the highball also gave the evening a slightly different mood.

Finishing with injeolmi silk-thread patbingsu

After good snacks and drinks, a sweet dessert to finish was a must. What we ordered for dessert was the injeolmi silk thread patbingsu (shaved ice).

It's shaved ice made into fine threads, combined with the nutty flavor of injeolmi (rice cake coated in roasted bean powder) and the sweetness of red bean, and it tasted even better after drinking. The ice was different from regular patbingsu, melting smoothly in the mouth, and the nutty flavor of the injeolmi kept me coming back for more.

After the spicy tteokbokki, the sweet, cool bingsu felt like it cleaned my palate right up.

It was also a fine portion to share between two people, so I felt like picking it as the final dessert was the right call.

Partitions and private rooms at Saechamjip

One of Saechamjip's biggest strengths is probably the space. When you think of a bar near Gunja Station, you might picture a noisy room packed with tables side by side, but here there are partitions between tables and room-style spaces available, so we could spend the time a bit more comfortably.

It seemed good for couples wanting to talk quietly on a date, and also fine for friends gathering for a drink. Since group use is available, it also seems like a solid choice for a work dinner or a get-together with several friends.

Being a proper Korean-style bar, the menu variety is wide too, which I liked — it's less a place just for drinking and more somewhere you can actually eat a proper meal with your drink. With bone grill, jeon (Korean pancakes), hot pot, stew, stir-fries, and fried dishes all on offer, I'd like to try other menu items I didn't get to on this visit next time.

A proper meal and a proper drink near Gunja Station

True to its name, Saechamjip (which roughly means 'snack house') really felt like a place where you can take care of a proper meal and a drinking session all in one. That day we had a solid snack of beef brisket odeng-fried tteokbokki, two glasses of 500cc draft beer, and then added the green grape Andong soju highball,

and finished up with the injeolmi silk thread patbingsu — the combination was pretty satisfying overall. The spicy-sweet tteokbokki with cold draft beer is a combo almost anyone would love, and adding the green grape highball in the middle made the drinking session feel a bit different and fun.

Ending things sweetly with the injeolmi silk thread patbingsu made it feel like we'd covered a meal, drinks, and dessert all in one sitting.

If you're looking for a place near Gunja Station to enjoy good food and drinks together, Saechamjip is worth a visit. It should suit anyone looking for a Gunja Station room bar, a private Korean-style bar, or a Gunja Station spot for group drinking.

It could be a good pick on a day when you want to chat comfortably with your partner on a date, or on a day when you're meeting friends after a while and want good food with a drink. Next time, instead of the brisket tteokbokki, I'd like to try Saechamjip's signature dishes like the stone plate bone grill or a hot pot.

If you want to take care of a meal and drinks in one place near Gunja Station, Saechamjip's Gunja branch is a spot worth remembering.