Sunday-night suyuk and cream udon at Daegu pub Sangbong Dongseong-ro

I went to Daegu for a trip this past weekend, and while I was there I made sure to revisit Sangbong Dongseong-ro, a bar I'd had a great meal at before!!

Last time it was a freezing winter day and I had such a satisfying bowl of hot sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew) that I went back specifically for it. This time I ordered something different — let me tell you what!!

Sangbong Dongseong-ro: location and opening hours

• Location: 32-17 Dongseongno 3-gil, 1st floor, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea
• Hours: Mon-Thu, Sun 18:00-01:00 (last order 00:00) / Fri-Sat 18:00-02:00 (last order 01:00)
• Closures announced on Instagram and Naver
• Parking: nearby public parking lots
• Reservations: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun 18:00-19:00 / Fri, Sat 18:00 only

Which alley leads into Daegu's Dongseong-ro 2030 street?

Sangbong Dongseong-ro, a bar known for great drinking snacks near Dongseong-ro in Daegu, sits in a hanok (traditional Korean house) building at the very end of an alley across from Gogi Gupneun Namja, once you enter the Dongseong-ro 2030 street.

The first time we visited we kept wondering, is this really the right way in? And yes — it is! Keep walking straight, away from Gogi Gupneun Namja, and a pretty hanok building appears.

The hanok building from outside

Keep going deeper into the alley and a brightly lit sign reading 'S.B'?! — Sangbong — comes into view.

It's such a gorgeous, atmospheric hanok building!! There are also chairs out front for customers waiting in line,

and outdoor tables too, so you can eat outside when the weather's nice. We headed inside!!

Inside Sangbong Dongseong-ro and how long is the wait?

Just like the pretty hanok exterior, the inside is full of charming decor and knickknacks — you can really see the owner's sense of style?! Their taste, right?!

Since they get a lot of waiting customers, there's a waitlist notebook too. When all the tables are full, you write your name down and wait to be called (write neatly so the staff can read it easily haha). Luckily, when we arrived there was exactly one table left, so we got seated right away haha.

Even though it was a Sunday evening right before Monday, the place was packed. It's the kind of spot that works for any group — friends, coworkers, couples.

There's all kinds of funny graffiti scribbled on Sangbong's walls. You guys should come, leave your own doodle, and come back later for a little trip down memory lane~~

Each table also has a basket on the floor where you can stash your coat, bag, and so on.

What to order from the Sangbong Dongseong-ro menu

Let's take a look at the menu at this Dongseong-ro favorite!! If you can't decide, there are sets that bundle the signature dishes: the 'Just Eat This' set (suyuk, sundubu jjigae, burrata cheese potato pancake) and the Sangbong set (suyuk, sundubu jjigae, Sangbong cream udon).

Beyond that, there are mains like samgyeop duruchigi (stir-fried pork belly), garlic soy chicken, boneless dakbal soup, and eomuk jeongol, plus sides like mala cream udon, Sangbong cream udon, Min-gi's kimchi fried rice (I guess the owner's name is Min-gi haha), Shin Ramyun risotto, and ugly egg roll, and extras like ganjang egg rice and plain ramyun — seriously such a wide variety!!

I have great memories of the sundubu jjigae from before and thought about ordering it again, but I wanted to try something new, so today I picked the signature suyuk and Sangbong cream udon, plus a Terra beer.

First, ppeong-twigi (puffed rice crackers) came out as the house snack. I never liked these much as a kid, but my tastes must have changed with age, because now they're delicious — I kept picking at them hahaha.

The Terra came out too.

The main dishes, suyuk and Sangbong cream udon, arrived quickly.

The suyuk looked moist and tender, served alongside gutjeori (freshly seasoned kimchi), dried radish, ssamjang, wasabi, and sauce for dipping.

For the Sangbong cream udon, you break the egg yolk on top and mix it all in.

Cheers with the beer, and dinner begins!!

How the suyuk and Sangbong cream udon tasted

The suyuk was so moist and tender, and honestly the gutjeori served with it was the real kicker. I usually lean toward well-fermented mukeunji, but this gutjeori's seasoning was so tasty that after finishing the kimchi, I kept scraping up the sauce lol.

The Sangbong cream udon was creamy with a spicy kick, and there was some crunchy vegetable inside — asparagus, maybe? — that made it even better. The sauce was so much our style that we kept eating it spoonful after spoonful, until we spotted the receipt review event.

The giant rice ball from the receipt review event

You can get one item per person with a receipt review, choosing from fries, dried persimmon, injeolmi rice cake skewer, giant rice ball, or two scoops of corn ice cream. We went with the giant rice ball!!

Wait, is this seriously the receipt review freebie?! It was so good that we both took a bite and went, what IS this rice ball, why is it this good, someone ask the owner for the recipe lolol.

It had gim jaban (seasoned dried seaweed flakes) and what tasted like vinegared rice, and I couldn't stop reaching for it. Originally I planned to mix the giant rice ball into the leftover Sangbong cream udon sauce, but the rice ball itself was so good on its own that we just kept eating it as is haha.

Another completely satisfying meal today. So once the weather cools down a bit, we're going back for the sundubu jjigae.

If you're looking for a bar with great drinking snacks near Dongseong-ro in Daegu, I recommend Sangbong Dongseong-ro!!