Outdoor patio izakaya in Yeonnam-dong for day drinking: Gusa Yeonnam

Great vibe, great food — a proper Yeonnam izakaya, a teppan spot made for enjoying the mood at outdoor yajang seating‼️

Hi, this is Raoun's mom 🐶 Today's a day-drinking day in Yeonnam!! I found a teppan izakaya tucked in a Yeonnam-dong alley — and guess what, it even has outdoor yajang seating ㅜㅜ It was a bit hot so we started inside where it was cool, then moved out once the sun went down haha. Fall really is yajang season~~ The drinks just go down so easily 🍻 :)

Where Gusa Yeonnam is and when it opens

• 📍 6 Donggyo-ro 30-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Yeontral Tower B1)
• ⏰ Daily 12:00 - 24:00 / last order 23:00
• Break time 15:00 - 17:00 (except Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Chuseok Sept 24, 25, 26 — normal hours, no break time
• 📆 Reservations via Naver, Catch Table
• 🐶 Dog-friendly

Finding the entrance in a Yeonnam-dong alley

It's tucked deep in a Yeonnam-dong alley, so I'd passed by a few times before. It always caught my eye, and today I finally made it in :) Clean but not overly flashy — it has that comfortable atmosphere unique to Japanese restaurants 🍶

Inside Gusa Yeonnam: seating and atmosphere

Inside, warm lighting and wood tones make it cozy — the kind of place perfect for a quiet drink 💡 With that signature Yeonnam-dong atmosphere on top 🤭👍

Why the sets beat ordering à la carte

The menu ranges from light bites to hearty dishes you could eat as a full meal, so it's less of a second-round bar and more a place for a proper drink-with-good-food session. Ordering a few à la carte dishes works too, but if it's your first visit, I recommend the set menus. There's a 2-person set among other combos, and it was great value haha.

What comes in the 36,000-won two-person set

Daily 2-person set ₩36,000 (mentaiko cheese rolled omelette + yakisoba + okonomiyaki) — with lots and lots of soju

The shot glasses are so cute, right?🐾 They've got dogs and cats on them haha

Mentaiko cheese rolled omelette (gyeranmari)

Soft, fluffy egg layers with salty mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe) and savory cheese tucked inside — that combination of salty and savory is a total soju magnet. The mentaiko already seasons it nicely, so it was great as a drinking snack, and it wasn't too intense, so I kept reaching for more 🐣

How spicy is the karai yakisoba, really?

If you can handle spicy food, I recommend the karai yakisoba. Whew — the spice level is genuinely shocking haha. Beyond buldak (fire chicken) level, maybe even more so?? I loved it 👍👍 (spice-confident here). The noodles hold their bite without going mushy, and the umami-packed sauce is addictive. I want another plate just thinking about it now 🤤

The okonomiyaki (savory griddled pancake)

Golden and crisp outside, moist, fluffy and soft inside. Seasoning was spot-on and it was loaded with cheese in the middle, so good haha. I genuinely love okonomiyaki, and this felt like finding a great spot after a while — pure happiness 🥰

Moving to the patio seats to keep drinking

I wanted to sit outside at the yajang from the start, but it was too hot, so we stayed inside first before moving out haha. The owner was so kind, too ❤️🙇‍♀️

Drinking while soaking up the vibe of the Yeonnam-dong alley, everything goes down so smoothly. Full-on tipsy mode incoming 😵 As I always say, fall is yajang season. Even just a mat on the pavement would feel atmospheric, right? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ And with food this good, nothing more to ask for ~~😘

Service and the open-kitchen fire show

The staff service was great, genuinely kind, and since it's basically a teppan restaurant at its core, watching the fire show while they cooked was fun, too haha. The open kitchen kept everything clean and tidy, so it was easy to just relax and enjoy. Finding a yajang seat in Hapjeong or Sangsu is genuinely hard, and it's pricey and noisy there — but here's a quiet izakaya like this tucked in a Yeonnam alley. I think I'll be back often 🤭

Yeonnam-dong alley vibes plus teppan food to match — a great yajang izakaya for setting the mood🔥