Gojan-dong pub, Ansan: grilled mackerel & Balvenie highball, Banwolga

What is Banwolga and how do you get there?

Banwolga (반월가) is a cozy handmade-dish bar in the Dorisum shopping district of Gojan-dong, Ansan. Six young Ansan locals who are serious about food and drink develop handmade dishes spanning Chinese, Japanese and Korean cooking. It's exactly a 3-minute walk from NC Department Store Gojan branch. Enter through the main gate of the Dorisum shopping district, walk about 300m down the food street, and the stylish storefront catches your eye across from the 7-Eleven.

Unlike ordinary beef tartare or salmon specialists, I'd heard they make every sauce by hand and put enormous effort into each dish, so I headed over full of expectation. Hours are 17:00–01:00, and until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Banwolga's exterior and interior

Arriving at Banwolga, I was greeted first by neat, homey outdoor terrace tables. It's a perfect setup for a draft beer outside when the weather is cool.

The sign and banner read "The place that slices same-day-slaughtered mungtigi (hanwoo beef sashimi) and properly grills seasonal fish," which boosted my trust a lot haha

There's also a thoughtfully placed clothes hanger before you step inside, which showed deep consideration for guests!

The interior is decorated in warm wood tones, so it felt cozy yet upscale for a drinking night! Bar seats (dacchi) and spacious four-person tables are well balanced, so it looks good for a date and great for group gatherings too 👍

What do you get for booking at Banwolga?

Scan the QR code on the table to join the open chat room and you can get a welcome drink or event perks, so be sure to join ❣️ There's even a cute request slip for your all-time favorite song, so you can drink to the music you want. So romantic.

One thing that really touched me was the welcome kit set on the table. If you reserve and visit, you get a neatly wrapped three-piece set, a hovenia stick, a Chulchul Honey stick and Ilyang Pharmaceutical Premium Vitamin C, one per person!

The owner's detailed thoughtfulness, letting you easily head off a hangover before and after drinking, put me in a great mood before we even started really drinking. 🤣🤣🤣

The cute duck figure on the table piece and the cool marble-look cups add to the charm too 🫶🏻

Banwolga menu and draft beer

Opening the menu, I saw the bold line "First glass: draft beer!" Rather than carrying lots of beer brands, Banwolga picks only Budweiser and serves it at its best, with the perfect temperature, clean beer lines and a golden 7:3 ratio (beer to foam).

The line about recommending it with their own face on the line showed real pride haha The complimentary snacks were salty, nutty assorted crackers and pretzels, nice for cleansing the palate.

How much is the Balvenie highball at Banwolga?

I ordered the highball, Banwolga's pride. Topped prettily with a dried orange chip, it was fizzy and wonderfully refreshing. Right now the Balvenie highball is a bargain ₩12,000 with a limit of one per person, so whisky and highball fans should definitely not miss it!

How does Banwolga's tomato jjamppong pasta (24,000 won) taste?

The first main at Banwolga was the spicy tomato jjamppong pasta (₩24,000)! It comes packed in a pot like an earthenware bowl, and it looks delicious from the first glance!!! It's generously loaded with fresh water dropwort (minari), enoki mushrooms, and seafood like shrimp and squid.

A fresh tomato base meets the spicy, kick-in-the-throat broth Koreans love, and my friend and I both gasped at the first bite haha The noodles were springy and soaked up the broth well, so they didn't go soggy and stayed good to the end.

We paired it with Chamisul soju and an apple cider vinegar drink, which went superbly with the spicy broth of the tomato jjamppong pasta.

How was Banwolga's grilled mackerel (gogalbi gui, 22,000 won)?

Next up, no need to even say it: Banwolga's grilled mackerel (gogalbi gui, ₩22,000). A big mackerel is grilled golden, then topped with a sweet-and-spicy house sauce full of smoky flavor, plus plenty of Cheongyang chili, red chili and green onion ❣️

The mackerel was crisp outside and moist inside, with the spicy sauce soaked right in, and I couldn't stop my chopsticks 🥹🥹 There was no fishy taste at all, and the sharp chilies cut the richness completely. I thought nothing beats this as a snack with soju. The food was so good that the drinks just kept going down.

Truly unlimited, going on and on~~

What does the Banwolga review event give you?

Banwolga also runs a no-blank review event: write a receipt review and you draw for a nostalgic snack bundle, a drinking-night survival kit, traditional liquor or a meal voucher (₩30,000 or ₩50,000)! We joined too and got a bundle of cute nostalgic snacks like Apollo candy and jjondeugi (chewy dried squid-style candy), and finished with a cheerful, happy time as if we'd gone back to being kids.

Who should visit Banwolga in Gojan-dong, Ansan?

Banwolga in Gojan-dong, Ansan was a well-made handmade-dish bar where the owners' sincere cooking philosophy and careful consideration for guests are felt throughout the space. I strongly recommend it for fun get-togethers with friends, a special date, or a day you want to get happily tipsy on delicious food.