Incheon Nonhyeon gastropub with 3,000-won happy hour: Simsimsangin

Incheon Nonhyeon Station restaurant | Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant | Sorae Port area — a revisit review of a good-vibe bar in Incheon Nonhyeon. Once you go, you'll want to go back! Recommending this bar for its excellent food.

Where is Simsimsangin Incheon Nonhyeon? Parking and hours

Simsimsangin Incheon Nonhyeon is on the 1st floor of 14-7 Nonhyeonnam-ro, Namdong-gu, Incheon, and is open Sun–Thu 17:00–02:00, Fri–Sat 17:00–03:00. There's no dedicated parking lot.

Simsimsangin sits on the main strip of the Incheon Nonhyeon restaurant alley, the stretch with the most good places to eat, so it's always busy. It's close to Incheon Nonhyeon Station, so public transit is convenient, and even without a dedicated lot, there are plenty of nearby alleys and public parking lots, so driving isn't a hassle either.

I went around 8pm on a weekday and it was still pretty crowded. I first visited Simsimsangin Incheon Nonhyeon last winter — it was a Friday, so I waited about 30 minutes to get in. I kept thinking about the delicious food I had there last time, saying 'I should go back, I should go back,' and finally made it happen now.

The pork kimchi grill and ppal-o-myeon I loved so much last year. We were the only table with two burners going. Haha.

Simsimsangin menu prices and the 5-7pm happy hour

This time we ordered yukhoe-ui-jeongseok (₩23,900), ppal-o-myeon (₩15,900), Goheung Yuja-ju (₩18,000), and a 300cc draft beer (₩3,500). Incheon Nonhyeon's Simsimsangin has a wide variety of food, and everything looks so good you'll just want to hit order. Signature dishes include spicy jjamppong volcano hot pot, dongkkurami, chicken cartilage, and pork kimchi grill with cheese stir-fry — lots of tasty options at this bar. We ordered easily using the tablet at the table.

• Yukhoe-ui-jeongseok (raw beef tartare) ₩23,900
• Ppal-o-myeon ₩15,900
• Goheung Yuja-ju (citron liquor) ₩18,000
• Draft beer 300cc ₩3,500

Simsimsangin Incheon Nonhyeon runs a happy hour from 5pm to 7pm with beer and soju at ₩3,000. These days at bars it's not even the food, it's the drink prices that add up — so timing your visit for happy hour is a real win! They're also running a receipt review event, a new menu event, and a free coupon event on Naver, so be sure to grab those.

Goheung Yuja-ju: a citron liquor to order instead of soju

Today of all days I wanted something other than soju, and it turned out Simsimsangin sells traditional liquors! Wanting something sweet, I debated between maesil-wonju (plum wine), Goheung Yuja-ju, and Hondi-ju, and picked Goheung Yuja-ju since it had the lowest alcohol content.

A basic side dish of stir-fried sausage came out with it.

For round two, my sister, who said she'd just drink beer lightly, tried the Goheung Yuja-ju and was like, 'Wait, why is this so good?!' She was surprised. I expected something like makgeolli since it's a traditional liquor, but it's more like champagne. There was a distinctive note at the finish — turns out that's the taste of nuruk (fermentation starter). Traditional liquor could be this good — that was a nice discovery.

Yukhoe-ui-jeongseok: why to mix the egg yolk in later

Simsimsangin's yukhoe-ui-jeongseok (₩23,900) is a plate piled high with red yukhoe, topped with scallions, seaweed flakes, and an egg yolk. The food at Incheon Nonhyeon's Simsimsangin really looks good. The yukhoe comes out so colorfully arranged that it looks even tastier! Mixing it together gives you a rich, nutty flavor. The yukhoe wasn't tough or dry at all, and as the seasoning settled in over time it got even better, with great texture too.

The sweet traditional liquor we ordered alongside the yukhoe paired really well too. After a bite of yukhoe, a sip of Goheung Yuja-ju left my mouth feeling fresh, with the subtle citron aroma and a tangy-sweet taste — a totally different charm from soju or other drinks.

With yukhoe, it's better to taste it plain first and mix in the egg yolk later, rather than mixing it in right away, to really get that nutty flavor. With the nutty yukhoe, crunchy scallions, salty seaweed flakes, and the egg yolk added in, you get a mouthful of different textures all at once — I loved that.

Ppal-o-myeon: tteokbokki-style broth with fish cake skewers

Ppal-o-myeon (₩15,900) is Simsimsangin Incheon Nonhyeon's best dish, with noodles and skewered fish cake in tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) broth. It felt like a shame to only order yukhoe at Simsimsangin, so I added an order of the ppal-o-myeon I loved so much last time. It looks so good there's no way it could taste bad.

The skewered fish cake, a top drinking snack, soaked in the sweet tteokbokki broth, is a flavor that pretty much everyone likes. Personally I would have liked it a bit spicier, but it's the kind of sweet, keep-reaching-for-it dish that's a Simsimsangin best-seller.

Why Simsimsangin works for a first or second round

It's great for a second round, but the dishes are hearty enough that you can set a full spread even as your first stop. It's a good-vibe bar, great for couples, and just as good for friends coming out for good food. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Incheon Nonhyeon!!