Sinnonhyeon smoke-free outdoor bar: crab stew for 3, Yeongdong Pocha

Looking for a smoke-free outdoor bar near Sinnonhyeon Station?

Yeongdong Pocha is a 2nd-floor pocha (Korean casual bar) between Sinnonhyeon Station and Nonhyeon Station, so even if you sit at the outdoor seats, no cigarette smoke drifts up from the street. Outdoor-seating season means thinking about your wallet too, so I did some legwork and got a discount for this visit.

As you probably know, outdoor-seating bars are really rare around Gangnam Station.. and most places with outdoor tables on the bar streets are mainly about hitting on people, or something like that. The Sinnonhyeon food alley has relatively more outdoor seating, but what always bothered me was the smoke from people walking by.. But Yeongdong Pocha is in a spot you could count as a Sinnonhyeon bar area, and its outdoor seats are on the 2nd floor, so you can enjoy them with no cigarette smell!

Yeongdong Pocha location, hours, parking and group seating

Yeongdong Pocha is open Tue–Sat 16:00 to 08:00 the next morning and Sun and Mon 17:00 to 08:00, so it's great for keeping a drinking session going late. If you're hunting for an outdoor bar in Sinnonhyeon, it sits between Sinnonhyeon Station and Nonhyeon Station, so you can walk there!

• Tue–Sat: 16:00 to 08:00 the next morning
• Sun, Mon: 17:00 to 08:00 the next morning
• Groups: minimum 6, up to 20 people
• Parking: paid lot right next door, ₩1,000 per 10 minutes (the first 30 minutes is always ₩3,000)

They take groups of up to 20, so I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a company dinner spot near Nonhyeon Station too!

What are the 2nd-floor outdoor seats and interior like?

Yeongdong Pocha is on the 2nd floor, above a Korean BBQ restaurant. I sat by the window with it open and no meat smell came up, so that was fine. At first I wondered whether the smell would drift up from the BBQ place below.

The outdoor seating is built along the side of the shop, so it feels like being outside while the sun is still blocked.

The interior was fairly spacious! There were plenty of seats, and I could see why they say they take groups of 20! There are also big windows all around, so the seats beside them give you an indoor spot with an outdoor-seating feel.

Definitely roomy, right? And honestly I don't like those round tables (a lot of them are unstable and wobbly), but the tables at Yeongdong Pocha were relatively stable, so they were fine for eating a stew.

What should you order at Yeongdong Pocha?

Yeongdong Pocha's recommended menu has many kinds of hansang (set spreads), and the seasonal raw shrimp set seemed especially popular. Recommended if you're looking for raw shrimp near Sinnonhyeon Station! But the menu was honestly so good that I think it works for both a 1st and a 2nd round.

The menu is varied and distinctive, with basil baeksuk (boiled chicken soup), suyuk (boiled pork slices), pasta, crab stew and more, but Yeongdong Pocha is so famous for its crab stew that we ordered that!

Things like chicken feet, jeon (Korean pan-fried pancakes) and clam soup would be fine for a 2nd round too, right? My friends also agonized over the side dishes really seriously.. ^^ .. so we put a lot of effort into picking two.

Complimentary snack ramyeon-ttang: careful, you might choke

The complimentary snack at Yeongdong Pocha is ramyeon-ttang (crunchy fried ramen snack), and it's spicier and kick-ier than you'd expect. Wow, but hold your breath when you eat it. If you breathe in while eating, you'll choke right away.. Be careful!

Yeongdong Pocha crab stew (₩35,000): how is it for three people?

The crab stew at Yeongdong Pocha is ₩35,000 and comes with three crabs, so it was perfect for three people to get one crab each. The crab stew was what I was most looking forward to! Honestly this was a get-together where this was the main event rather than the alcohol, so I came with big expectations, and it was a choice with no disappointment. The crab meat yield was good and the broth was really delicious.

It had clams and vegetables like radish and kabocha squash inside, so it was quite generous. I wondered about adding noodles here, but I added noodles to another dish, so I skipped it!

There were three crabs in total, and since three of us came, haha, it was just the right amount. There was more meat than I expected, so it beat my expectations. Usually the crabs in places like this.. are just shells, but you can see the cross-section is packed with meat, right??

Whelk salad with flat dumplings (₩25,000): add the somyeon noodles

The whelk salad with flat dumplings at Yeongdong Pocha is ₩25,000 and the somyeon (thin wheat noodles) add-on is ₩3,000. The seasoning clung to the mouth perfectly and the portion was really generous. I debated between kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) and somyeon, and chose somyeon with zero regrets!!! Everyone, if you go to Yeongdong Pocha in Nonhyeon, 1st round or 2nd round, definitely order this. Everyone I went with raved about how delicious the seasoning was!

I could see why they confidently describe it on the menu as 300g of yudong golbaengi (a type of canned whelk). With seasoned dishes like this, if they suddenly pile on a ton of scallion shreds.. I won't even touch it and lose my appetite, but the whelk salad here has a nice chew thanks to the cabbage, and the whelk really isn't skimpy. Recommended!

The flat dumplings were fine, and the noodles didn't get soggy and stayed springy, so if you have room for bar food, definitely add the somyeon!

Are the restrooms at Yeongdong Pocha clean?

The restrooms at Yeongdong Pocha are separate for men and women, and they're clean. The restroom is something I really care about at a bar..~ so you can visit with peace of mind haha

In short

Every time Yeongdong Pocha came up as a recommended place, the food looked so good that I kept saying I'd go~ and I finally did, and the quality of the food was really good, so I was satisfied. If you're sick of the Gangnam bar streets, I'd recommend Yeongdong Pocha, the Nonhyeon Station bar-!