Seoul date-night izakaya with truffle salt skewers: Yakitori Shomong

What kind of place is Yakitori Shomong?

Yakitori Shomong is a yakitori izakaya on the 1st floor of 291-5 Dongmak-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, right in front of the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail on the Gongdeok side. It's open weekdays 17:00-23:00 and weekends 16:00-23:00, with last order at 21:55. No parking, no pets allowed, but corkage is available for a fee.

Today I'm bringing you a review of an izakaya near Gongdeok Station. It's a yakitori specialist so they had all kinds of skewers — I honestly felt like I'd briefly teleported to Japan haha. Lots of drink options too, so I'd recommend it as a date-night bar! Let me introduce Gongdeok's own 'Yakitori Shomong.'

Where is Yakitori Shomong, and what is the terrace like?

Yakitori Shomong sits between Gongdeok and Daeheung stations, right along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail. Since the trail is literally right outside, it was great to take a walk after eating haha.

They've also got an outdoor terrace like this, which is perfect for these days with nice weather, right? If you're looking for a bar for a date, this place would be great.

Inside Yakitori Shomong: mood and seating

Inside, Yakitori Shomong has wood-toned interiors with a calm feel that really nails the Japanese izakaya vibe. The bar table seating makes it feel even more like Japan! And the big window gives a full view of the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, which is a nice touch.

There's a storage bin next to each seat, and blankets are ready too! Just ask a staff member and they'll bring one over. I took a photo of the blanket and then completely forgot about it and just sat there being cold... ha.

Yakitori Shomong menu and what we ordered

Here's the menu — check the video too if you can, there are so many drink options! Besides yakitori, there are several side dishes as well.

Here's what we ordered!

• Two 6-course sets ₩51,600
• Abalone hot pot rice ₩24,000
• Ebisu draft beer ₩13,000
• Tsuruyume (yuzu) highball ₩12,000

After ordering, they set out a cabbage salad and the tableware — the dishware was so pretty!

Ebisu draft beer and Tsuruyume yuzu highball

Drinks came out first! Nice and cold before the food arrives, hoho. I'm not a fan of the puddle of water that collects under a draft beer glass, so I was glad they gave us a coaster/tray too.

The Tsuruyume yuzu highball didn't taste too alcoholic and was delicious — totally my type.

Abalone hot pot rice, 24,000 won

The abalone hot pot rice came out first, and the quality was even better than I expected. It looked so appetizing too, and the pile of abalone on top was insane (º ﾛ º๑).

You just cut it up a bit with scissors and mix it together like this. Honestly at this level, is this even a yakitori place or a hot-pot-rice place??

The abalone was really fresh and plump so you could really feel the texture, and the rice wasn't too heavily seasoned, which I liked. If you love abalone, you have to order this!

The 6-course yakitori, skewer by skewer

Yakitori Shomong's 6-course set is ₩51,600 for two, and the skewers come out one by one in order. First up was a skewer topped with plum wasabi! It was savory with a slight sriracha-like kick — tasty.

This one's sprinkled with truffle salt — personally my favorite! I'm not usually a big truffle fan, but the truffle aroma here was light and not overwhelming at all, which I loved!!

This is tsukune (chicken meatball skewer)! You dip it in the egg yolk and sauce. Tsukune with all that light, savory fat is always delicious ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜. Dipped in the yolk it was an explosion of savoriness.

And then the heart skewer! Savory and salty, so tasty, and the chewy texture was great too haha.

This one's shoulder meat, and it was soft and just melted in your mouth.

And the last skewer of the 6-course: neck meat! The relatively lean, light flavor of the neck meat was the perfect way to close out the set ᐠ⁽ ᩷ᵒ ᩷⁾ᐟ.

Is Yakitori Shomong a good date-night bar near Gongdeok Station?

Enjoying izakaya food in a place with such a Japanese feel made me feel like I'd briefly visited Japan haha. We went on a beautiful day, so the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail view was amazing too. Getting to try so many different chicken parts was great too! Yakitori is the best.

If you're looking for a bar for a date near Gongdeok Station, I think Yakitori Shomong is worth a visit. Good atmosphere, plenty of drink and menu variety, and everything was delicious — I think you could have a really nice date here. Recommending Gongdeok's own 'Yakitori Shomong' (b ˃ ᴗ ˂ )b.