Itaewon izakaya with a 5-skewer yakitori set and lemon sour: Kou

📍 45 Itaewon-ro 27ga-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, B1

Out in Itaewon with a friend after a while, we debated what to eat and landed on Yakitori Kou, an Itaewon izakaya that nails both atmosphere and taste.

Where is Yakitori Kou Itaewon and how do you get there?

Yakitori Kou Itaewon Main is in the basement (B1) of a building right in front of Itaewon Station Exit 1. Izakaya Kou also has a Sinsa-dong branch, but I heard the one near Itaewon Station is the original main location. Coming right out of the exit, the accessibility was fantastic!

The Itaewon yakitori bar known for its chicken wing dumplings on TV

It's an Itaewon restaurant that got attention on the TV show Pyeonstaurant for its chicken wing dumplings (tebasaki gyoza), so I was even more excited for this visit.

Itaewon izakaya Kou has been steadily perfecting yakitori since 2005, which makes it a place you can visit with confidence. This time I was too full to try the chicken wing dumplings, but I'm definitely getting them next time I visit Yakitori Kou. Not ordering them has been nagging at me ever since (haha).

Inside Yakitori Kou: atmosphere and seating

The interior was bigger than it looked from outside. Walking into Yakitori Kou felt so much like actually being in Japan that it was almost uncanny!!!!

How to travel to Japan without a flight — go to Yakitori Kou in Itaewon

There were two of us so we sat at the counter, but they had plenty of 4-person tables set up too!

The country-of-origin labeling is also properly posted at the entrance.

Yakitori Kou menu and what we ordered

As a popular Itaewon izakaya, Yakitori Kou serves not just many types of yakitori but a huge range of side dishes too! Everything looked delicious, so after much deliberation, here's what we ordered.

• 5-skewer assortment ₩20,900 (chicken heart, negima, tebasaki, thigh meat, cherry tomato maki)
• Half tomato salad ₩10,800
• Edamame ₩5,500
• Fried ginkgo nuts (ginnan-age) ₩7,800

With yakitori, ordering the assortment turns out cheaper than ordering individual skewers! But the price difference isn't huge, so if you have a specific skewer you're craving, ordering it individually works fine too.

Part of the fun of an izakaya is ordering skewers one at a time and slowly working through them with a drink. So that day we ordered a bit of everything and tried each one bite by bite! You order using the tablet set up at the table!

Highballs and sours at Yakitori Kou: types and prices

True to its reputation as an Itaewon highball spot, Yakitori Kou sells a really wide range of drinks! We picked the lemon sour and oolong sour, both ₩8,800 — great value for an Itaewon izakaya.

I loved that there were so many drink options for lightweights like me. You can also order non-alcoholic drinks, so even non-drinkers can visit Yakitori Kou without any pressure.

Tasting notes, dish by dish

Sitting at the counter, you get to watch the yakitori being grilled to perfection in real time.

The complimentary cabbage salad came out first. This salad pairs especially well with yakitori — the kind of thing you keep picking at without meaning to.

Lemon sour and oolong sour, 8,800 won each

With a greasier dish like yakitori, a bright, clean drink pairs really well! The lemon sour's fresh lemon flavor was great with the skewers, while the oolong sour was cleaner and lighter, easy to drink alongside the food without weighing you down. They're different enough in style that you can pick based on your mood.

Edamame, 5,500 won

We also ordered edamame, a dish that feels slightly missed if it's not on the table at an izakaya. It's seasoned salty on the outside, great for picking at one bean at a time with a drink. Good as a light bite before the skewers arrive, and good as an in-between snack too — simple but you keep reaching for it.

Tomato salad, half size, 10,800 won

We also ordered a tomato salad as a lighter dish to eat alongside the yakitori. Being able to order the half size makes it less of a commitment if you want to try several dishes. The tomato's bright, refreshing taste cleaned the palate nicely against a rich dish like yakitori. Rather than just eating skewer after skewer, adding a light dish like this made the overall combination of dishes better.

There's also onion on top of the tomatoes, and the mild, non-spicy onion went really well with the tomato.

Ginnan-age, 7,800 won: fried ginkgo nuts

This was my first time trying ginnan-age at a yakitori place — fried ginkgo nuts finished with salt, chewy and nutty in a really appealing way. It's seasoned salty, so it pairs well as a drinking snack, and if you like ginkgo nuts, it's worth ordering at least once! Eaten alongside the yakitori, the texture was completely different from the usual skewer dishes, making it fun to pick at one between bites. I enjoyed it so much I'll probably order it again next time I visit Yakitori Kou. The ginnan-age I devoured happily.

The 5-skewer yakitori assortment, 20,900 won

The main event of the day was of course the 5-skewer yakitori set — a great option if it's your first visit, since you get to try several skewers at once. Each skewer uses a different cut, so each had a slightly different texture and flavor, which made trying them one by one fun. That distinctive charcoal-grilled aroma of the skewers, combined with the juiciness and umami of the meat, made for a perfect simple drinking snack. Eating one skewer slowly at a time with a lemon sour or oolong sour on the side made for an even better time.

The yakitori already comes seasoned, but you can also add shichimi to taste. I love a bit of spice, so dipping mine made it even more enjoyable!

Why Yakitori Kou is worth it for drinks near Itaewon Station

When you have plans near Itaewon Station and want somewhere to eat dinner while having a drink, I don't think anything beats an izakaya — and yakitori especially, since sharing different chicken skewers works great with a friend or partner. If you're looking for an izakaya near Itaewon Station, I'd recommend Yakitori Kou.