Ansan izakaya for a 6-person group dinner: Gisul's signature platter

Today I visited Gisul, a genuine local favorite in Ansan that a coworker recommended!

Gisul's location and hours

Hours Sun–Thu 17:00 – 01:00 Fri–Sat 17:00 – 02:00

It's an 8-minute walk from Exit 1 of Jungang Station. Most people cross over from the station side, where the shops and restaurants are packed, so it's pretty accessible haha (once you cross over, you pass Burger King and the Hotel Tourism Vocational School to arrive).

Group booking for 6 — reservations are a must

Since we came as a group of six, they pushed two sofa tables together for us. We had a 7pm reservation, but the place already had plenty of regulars and was full — if we hadn't booked, we wouldn't have gotten in. There's a Tabling waitlist kiosk at the door, and seeing several parties already waiting made it clear this place has a steady stream of regulars.

Inside, there's a cherry-blossom tree sculpture lit up with lighting, which gives it a nice atmosphere haha. Anime posters line the walls and there are figurines scattered around, giving us plenty to look at while chatting. The restroom is outside the shop (a shared building restroom), but there's a separate sink inside the shop for quick hand-washing, which was convenient!

Menu review and recommendations at Gisul

With all six of us picking dishes, one friend was already a Gisul regular, so it didn't take long to decide haha. As someone who'd tried everything on the menu, I placed the order to match the other five's tastes.

Potato liquor and non-alcoholic highball

Everyone said they were thirsty, so drinks came first(?). The potato liquor stood out for its mild aroma. You get to pick which pretty glass to drink it from, which everyone found fun. There's also a non-alcoholic highball (even zero-calorie), so the bride- and groom-to-be who are cutting back on drinking have an option too. A small thing, but it makes people happy.

What we ordered

Look at this. Every dish that came out looked like it was straight out of a webtoon, and all six of us kept going "whoa" each time.

• Gisul platter (*signature dish)
• Chicken nanban
• Spicy clam soup
• Chili shrimp
• Special Gisul noodles
• Pollack roe potato gratin
• Potato liquor
• Master Andong soju
• Premium Suntory

There were six of us, so we kept ordering more dishes. It was so good that opinions kept flying — let's try this too, let's try that too haha.

My top pick: the Gisul platter

My top pick out of everything was the Gisul platter. If I'd had this either well before or right after my wedding, I probably would've already polished off the platter and a few bottles of soju with it. That's how well-seasoned and harmonious this dish was!

The Gisul platter includes salmon sashimi, Korean beef sashimi, Korean beef yukhoe (raw beef), crab salad rolls, pollack roe and gim (dried laver) rolls, cheese, water dropwort, and a poached-egg sauce. I figured at least one item would be unremarkable, so I started with the milder sashimi and worked through it like breaking down a checklist — but I just kept going "whoa" the whole way through. This was the moment I finally understood what my friend who'd tried everything meant.

Chili shrimp and special Gisul noodles

We also ordered the chili shrimp and special Gisul noodles as sort of a dessert(?). The dessert-round visuals were satisfying too. The special Gisul noodles reminded me of yakisoba — thin noodles tossed in a sweet-spicy sauce mixed with shrimp and soft-boiled egg mayonnaise. Nice and chewy texture. Chili shrimp is sold at plenty of other places too, so I didn't expect much, but Gisul's version was much plumper and noticeably bigger. Everyone was already full, but we still cleaned the plate!

Who should visit Gisul

If you're looking for an Ansan Jungang-dong bar with great food that can seat a group, or a clean, tasty spot for a pre-wedding gathering, I really recommend Gisul, this izakaya in Ansan!