Guro bar for mukdae and charcoal BBQ with a rice bowl: Monthly Beer

I went to Monthly Beer in Guro Digital Complex with my husband after work for dinner and a drink. We had an after-party of our own planned for just the two of us haha.

There are so many bars in every alley around Guro Digital Complex that it's actually hard to decide where to go. This time we could also get a Superchart discount, so we tried Monthly Beer.

I've been around Guro Digital Complex so many times — why didn't I know Monthly Beer was here haha

What Monthly Beer Guro Digital Complex Station Branch feels like inside

From the outside, Monthly Beer Guro Digital Complex Station Branch looked like a typical hof (Korean-style pub), but once inside it was much bigger than I expected. The lighting is on the dim side overall, and there are plenty of tables, so it looks like a good spot for a group of coworkers to gather after work too.

We saw a group having a work dinner after hours, and since it's near Guro Digital Complex, a lot of office workers were around. A drink after work is happiness.

Monthly Beer's anju menu and the free crackers and pickled radish

The variety of side dishes is huge — pizza, chicken, stir-fried dishes, dried snacks, all kinds. It's fun just picking through the options!!

There were also lots of different promotions going on.

For basic side dishes we got jjanggu crackers and pickled radish. After debating what to order, we went with mukdae (dried pollock strips) and charcoal BBQ this time. I picked mukdae to keep things on the lighter side.

How big is the mukdae portion at Monthly Beer?

We ordered mukdae for two and paused for a moment when it arrived. When the mukdae came out, we both stopped for a second — the portion was way bigger than we expected.

Usually when you order mukdae at a bar, you expect a moderate amount torn up and served on a plate, but here it was piled so high the wooden board was barely visible, which I loved — and it wasn't fried, just nicely grilled and crispy. I really like mukdae like this.

Picking up the crispy grilled mukdae piece by piece and dipping it in the cheongyang chili mayo sauce that came with it — nothing beats this as a beer snack.

We snacked on peanuts and gim (dried seaweed) in between, which made it a great side dish for a long drinking session. I recommend the mukdae here. Thumbs up.

We toasted and, since we'd been somewhere special that day, talked about the hard times we'd had, our worries, and all sorts of things — just the two of us having our own little after-party. I really like this kind of after-party time with my husband.

Charcoal BBQ at Monthly Beer: spicy with a touch of sweetness

The charcoal BBQ at Monthly Beer comes in a large pan with sauce pooled at the bottom and plenty of chicken. Even in photos it looks pretty rich.

It has a decent kick of spice with a slight sweetness, just so you know. It went really well as a drinking snack. The chicken was properly coated in sauce, so it was the kind of flavor where you take a bite, take a sip, and go back for another bite.

We clinked our soju glasses a couple of times, and what had looked like a huge amount of food at first was noticeably reduced by then.

Two dishes made for a full spread. Felt pretty proud ^^

Finishing with a bowl of rice mixed into the leftover BBQ sauce

We ordered a bowl of rice, and it came topped with bacon and sauce — a slightly fancier rice bowl haha.

It felt like a waste to leave the charcoal BBQ sauce behind, so we dropped the rice right in.

Mixing the rice into the leftover sauce made for a great finish. Topping the rice with chicken and sauce together, what started as a drinking snack ended up turning into a proper dinner.

How much to order at Monthly Beer if there are two of you

Even so, the mukdae portion was so big we couldn't finish it as a couple. We asked to have the leftovers packed, and they wrapped it up neatly for us to take home. If two of you are visiting, it might be worth checking the portion size before ordering multiple dishes.

At the entrance there was also a notice about a ₩7,000 discount for customers arriving before 7pm (drinks excluded). If you time your visit early, check for perks like this.

Monthly Beer isn't really the kind of bar you head to for a super special occasion — it's more the place you casually walk into when you think, "Should we grab a drink today?" after work. The side dishes came in a wide variety with generous portions, and especially the mukdae and charcoal BBQ we had that day went really well with drinks. We went in for a casual drink as a couple and came out having properly eaten mukdae, BBQ, and finally rice too.

If you're looking for a comfortable spot for an after-work drink around Guro Digital Complex, this place is worth a visit.