Hapjeong skewer bar after Okdongsik: bacon rice cake rolls, Soottori

Soottori Hongdae Hapjeong: location and opening hours

Soottori Hongdae Hapjeong (숯토리 홍대합정점) is a skewer izakaya at 18 Dongmak-ro 9-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's open Sun–Thu 18:00–04:00 (next day) and Fri–Sat 17:00–04:00 (next day), and for parking you can use a nearby public lot.

My boyfriend and I had just eaten at Okdongsik (옥동식), the Black and White Chef restaurant in Hapjeong we'd been dying to try, and then headed to the skewer specialist Soottori for round two. I'd been craving izakaya skewers lately, and it turns out there's a Hapjeong izakaya where you can order skewers one at a time, great value, perfect for a second stop. The food and the mood were both great, so it was ideal for a date.

Is Soottori in Hapjeong a good bar for a date?

Soottori Hongdae Hapjeong has Japanese music playing and a hip vibe, but it's not so loud that you can't talk. It's the kind of place the Korean slang "neujoa" (느좋, short for "good vibes") was made for. Japanese music was playing as the background music throughout, so it felt like being on a trip to Japan.

You order from the kiosk at each table. The skewers come already seasoned, but sansho pepper, shichimi and soy sauce are provided so you can add more flavor to taste.

How to order at Soottori for a first or second round

If you come to Soottori for round one, the set menus with skewers, nabe (hot pot) and other dishes look like good value. For round two, order one drink each and pick skewers one by one on the kiosk, and you get a "Sootmakase" (숯마카세), skewers enjoyed like an omakase (chef's choice course).

Free sides and first order: Sapporo, Kakubin highball, bonjiri and heart

The complimentary sides at Soottori were shrimp roe chips, cabbage salad and soy/spicy sauce. We started with Sapporo draft beer (355cc), a Suntory Kakubin highball, the "signature" twisted bonjiri (chicken tail) skewer and a heart skewer.

Soottori skewers are grilled to order, so expect a wait

Soottori grills the skewers as soon as you order, so they don't come out right away; there's some grilling time. Keeping that in mind, we ordered two kinds at a time, and the timing worked out perfectly.

Icy draft beer and Soottori characters everywhere

The Sapporo draft came as a slushy-iced beer, cold right from the glass, and the glass had a cute Soottori character on it. On the highball, the character was on the stir stick!

The character shows up all over the shop, even on the kiosk screen. There are lots of branches near university areas too, and I think that besides taste and price, these cute little touches are the secret to winning over people in their 20s and 30s. I told myself I'd come back whenever I crave skewers.

How do Soottori's heart and signature tare bonjiri skewers taste?

Soottori's heart skewer isn't the kind you get at a snack bar; each heart is skewered whole, plump and springy. Ages ago I once told my boyfriend I wanted to eat heart skewers, and he remembered and suggested we get them. They were already seasoned, so I popped one in right away. Freshly grilled, warm and bouncy, they made me happy all by themselves.

And the twisted bonjiri grill, I could see why it's the signature. The moment it hit my mouth, fat and juices burst out and it chewed so softly, so good. You know when you pick a piece from a whole fried chicken and, if you choose well, you land the tender part? Exactly that taste!! It was even softer than a drumstick.

Negima and tsukune: extra skewers at Soottori

Soottori's negima is the scallion-and-chicken combo you see all the time in Japanese anime! It was a little less juicy than the bonjiri skewer, but chicken grilled over charcoal with scallions is in a league of its own. I sprinkled a little shichimi on top for extra aroma.

Tsukune was my pick! It came with a raw egg sauce too. Minced chicken is seasoned, shaped and grilled like tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty), and the savory umami was no joke. I'd never had tsukune made with chicken like this, and after the bonjiri skewer it was my favorite.

Bacon rice cake roll, wing and shoulder skewers at Soottori

Soottori's bacon rice cake roll skewer is a big garaetteok (long cylinder rice cake) wrapped in bacon, and it was good as a mid-meal refresher. I said I was curious about the wrapped skewers too, so my boyfriend ordered it: chewy texture with the smoky bacon flavor on top. Around here we added one more draft beer and split it half and half.

The wing skewer has big cuts between the bones so the outside gets nicely crispy. They say people who love chicken wings like them more than drumsticks, and I could taste why. I slid the meat off the skewer and picked it off the bones as I ate.

The last skewer at Soottori was the shoulder. It wasn't quite chicken breast, but its lighter flavor stands out compared with the leg or bonjiri, so I think it's a good order if you don't like greasy bites!

If you're looking for a Hapjeong izakaya that's good for round two, with good value and good food, give Soottori a visit, haha.