Gyodae Station izakaya in Seoul with hanwoo brisket sashimi: Siseon

If you're looking for a great-value izakaya near Gyodae Station, I recommend Siseon Gyodae Branch — the snacks are delicious too! It has group seating, so it's great for company dinners or group gatherings, and also works well for a date with friends or a partner. This is my go-to Gyodae Station izakaya, Siseon!

Siseon Gyodae Branch hours and lunch

Open daily 11:00–02:00, with break time 15:00–17:00. It runs from morning until dawn, and Siseon Gyodae Branch also sells a weekday lunch menu, so it's a good spot for lunch near Gyodae too.

Getting there from Gyodae Station, reservations and parking

I made a reservation in advance. A lot of people come here for a second round, so I booked ahead in case there were no seats. It's a two-minute walk from Gyodae Station — the access is amazing. Since it's a bar with a wide variety of drinks, corkage isn't allowed! There's no dedicated parking lot, so you'll need to find nearby parking.

Private room for 24, hall group seating for 50

There's a private room that seats up to 24 people. Hall group seating can hold up to 50. I'd recommend calling the store ahead for group reservation inquiries! There's no separate room charge when renting the room, and there's a 120-minute time limit if you have a reservation, with no time limit if you don't.

What's on the anju (drinking food) menu at Siseon Gyodae Branch

The anju (food to eat with drinks) menu is really varied — this Gyodae Station izakaya even sells sashimi. Beyond that there's nabe (hot pot), skewers, grilled fish, sweet cool desserts, and even the trendy buldak (spicy fire chicken) naengmyeon and salmon kkakdugi (radish kimchi). It was such a hassle to make these at home, so it's very convenient to eat them at Siseon. There's also makgeolli with the trendy ube in it, and American cheese sticks with cheese that stretches forever! Whenever you want to eat what's trending, you can try it all at Siseon.

1st-grade hanwoo tteokdol sashimi, wrapped in seaweed like sushi

We ordered the 1st-grade hanwoo tteokdol sashimi (beef brisket sashimi). I'd been so curious to try it, and it happened to be on the menu, so I ordered it right away! 1st-grade hanwoo, no less. It comes with rice and seaweed so you can eat it like tteokdol sushi. You can wrap in cheese too!

There's sesame oil dipping sauce and black sesame sauce to dip it in, plus wasabi. The black sesame sauce pairs well with yukhoe (beef tartare), but the tteokdol sashimi tasted best dipped in just the sesame oil sauce! The sashimi at Siseon is really delicious too. Regular bar sashimi often has a strong fishy smell, but this place manages it so well and so professionally that I'd recommend trying any of their sashimi without hesitation!

Each slice of the beef sashimi was quite large, and there was a surprising amount of it. The rich, savory oil flavor really comes through, and I wondered if eating it with cheese would make it too heavy, but the richness and the cheese matched together even better than I expected.

Working hard on making a one-bite tteokdol beef sashimi snack

Since we came here as a second round after already eating our fill at the first place, this was a great light snack. Next time, I think it'd be great to come here first and make a whole meal out of the various anju while drinking.

Draft beer from ₩2,900 — great for company dinners

Draft beer ordered by a friend who joined us late. Draft beer starts at just ₩2,900, and there are many kinds. You can get the best value draft beer here, and since there's such a variety of drinks, this place is perfect for company dinners where everyone drinks something different!

Tebasaki and perilla-oil fried egg

While looking for a good beer snack, I spotted tebasaki (crispy chicken wings) on the menu and got curious, so I ordered it. Would it actually taste Japanese? It didn't quite have that Japanese feel, but it was super crispy chicken, more like bone-in karaage, and really tasty — it paired perfectly with beer.

A perilla-oil fried egg loaded with eggs. They say eating fried eggs after drinking helps with hangover recovery and sobering up. They really give you a lot of egg haha. It even came out perfectly soft-boiled, just how I like it. We ordered it last and nibbled on it slowly. There are so many delicious, affordable anju options here that I completely recommend this Gyodae Station izakaya! It had been a while since I'd been, and I was so satisfied. My intent to revisit Siseon is 1000%.