Daegu yakitori bar for a kid-free date night: cucumber miso, Toriaejeu

Toriaejeu Sangin Daegu Branch

Address: 32 Wolbae-ro 42-gil, Dalseo-gu, Daegu Hours: 18:00–02:00 Closed: Last Tuesday of every month (4th/5th Tuesday)

Sangin-dong yakitori Toriaejeu, our favorite date spot in Daegu

I went back to Toriaejeu Sangin Daegu Branch, a yakitori spot in Daegu I love. I've honestly lost count of how many times my husband and I have been — it's our absolute favorite date place. Whenever we get a rare day without our kid, this Sangin-dong skewer spot is always the first thing we think of. Let me share our visit to Toriaejeu Sangin Daegu Branch, our go-to, most-revisited Sangin-dong favorite :)

Weeknight waits, managed with a Tabling queue

Toriaejeu Sangin Branch, a Daegu yakitori favorite, is a place where you have to accept a wait. Even on a weeknight visit, there was a small line behind us. It's a proudly local favorite that's truly loved by regulars in the neighborhood. The Totoro figure and bicycle are still standing guard out front.

Being such a popular spot, it's now become a place where you need Tabling to get a table. Go, Sangin-dong wait-worthy favorite Toriaejeu..! Though honestly I feel torn — half of me hopes it doesn't get too much more famous, haha.

Toriaejeu near Sangin Station isn't a place that stays the same — it keeps evolving. They run events often, and they're always developing new menu items. This time they'd just launched a refreshing yuzu sorbet. I also noticed a standee announcing a summer-only set, and the lettering on it was really pretty.

They also run a Naver receipt review event. Toriaejeu really is a hardworking, ever-improving Daegu yakitori favorite.

Seated where you can watch the grilling — but is it cool enough in summer?

Today we got seated in what I'd call the prime spot — right in front of where they grill the skewers in real time. Watching it happen live made me even hungrier, which I guess was also a downside, haha. I wondered if it would be hot sitting so close to the grill in summer, but nope — the AC was blasting and the inside was really comfortable. The ventilation was great too, so even sitting right in front of the grill, the air never felt stuffy.

Order by writing on paper — highball swappable for sparkling water

Ordering here means writing the skewers you want on a blank sheet of paper. The first time, some of the menu items were unfamiliar, so I looked things up on Naver while ordering. Now, though, no need for that — showing off my regular status, I filled the paper edge to edge with orders right from the start, haha. Another feature: you can choose your sauce for each order.

Toriaejeu, a Sangin-dong bar known for great highballs, also sells a wide variety of drinks that pair well with skewers — draft beer, sake, soju, and more. Pro tip: you can order the highball swapped for sparkling water instead. Thanks to that, even lightweights can properly enjoy the vibe at this Sangin-dong favorite.

Miso-sauced cabbage and sugared tomato

Whenever you sit down, this cabbage arrives without fail. I'd never look twice at raw cabbage at home, but the cabbage at Toriaejeu is amazing. The harmony with the miso sauce is so good — I've heard rumors of people coming to Toriaejeu just for this.

Wanting something refreshing today, I ordered the sugared tomato, and it came out first. I learned that anything besides the skewers gets served really fast. We had it as an appetizer, and it was great — the fresh tomato came in a generous portion too.

The regular's standing order: ginkgo, king oyster mushroom, grilled heart, enoki rolls

After a few visits, instead of trying lots of different things, I find myself going back to the flavors I know and love. We order the same things every time — ginkgo, king oyster mushroom, grilled heart. Never fails, always trustworthy. Today the heart was especially tender and savory, just melting in our mouths.

Enoki rolls are my absolute favorite, so I ordered two meaning to eat them both — but my husband stole one. I'm sorry, but can we not just each order as much as we want?... He ate it happily while arguing that we should share everything equally. The enoki mushroom's rich broth gives just as much satisfaction as meat juices — these enoki rolls are so good. I wish everyone knew this flavor!!!

Four servings of grilled mentaiko, never gets old with cucumber miso

My husband's absolute favorite is grilled mentaiko (pollock roe). Say what you will, but mentaiko takes the crown — and the price tag to match, haha. We ordered two servings right from the start, which came out as four chunks.

And we ate more...

And more, haha. We genuinely enjoyed it so much that we finished four servings of mentaiko today. Sorry, but we basically wiped out their mentaiko supply, hahaha. Grilling mentaiko makes the umami explode — you just can't stop.

This time I discovered the cucumber miso. Pairing it with the mentaiko meant it never felt like too much. Cucumber miso is also a great-value item — the cucumber was so crisp and fresh, and the balance with the special miso sauce was fantastic too.

Grilled rice ball skewers and the summer's new yuzu sorbet

Seeing the table next to us eating one, I got a craving for carbs and ordered the grilled rice ball skewer too — it's got charm. They grill it slowly over low heat for a good while, and the outside comes out properly crispy, pairing nicely with the sauce. It's also great for filling you up if you haven't had a proper meal.

I heard the yuzu sorbet is this summer's hot new item, so as a regular, I had to try it. It comes in just the right size for one person. One bite in, it was so refreshingly cold and sweet — totally my style — that my husband only got one bite before I scraped the bowl clean. It had that familiar yuzu flavor that turned fantastic once mixed with the sorbet. Such a great way to finish a skewer meal — clean and sweet before heading out.

A Dalseo-gu skewer favorite worth going back to

When we paid and headed out, they handed us two cute Japanese snacks, which made leaving even nicer. Toriaejeu Sangin Daegu Branch, a Daegu yakitori favorite, is still a place where you can enjoy great-quality skewers. I'd highly, highly recommend it as a date spot or as a Dalseo-gu bar and skewer favorite :)