After-work seafood nabe with extra noodles at Sinnonhyeon izakaya

A must-visit for anju near Gangnam Station: Izakaya Goko Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Branch

I had no idea Izakaya Goko Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Branch was this popular before I went 🍶 Even though I came straight after work, the place was almost fully packed haha. The vibe is like a cozy Japanese bar — perfect for having a relaxed drink with friends!

I'm not a fan of bars that are too loud or chaotic, but this place had exactly the kind of atmosphere where office workers stop by for a beer after work haha. The vibe is great, but the anju (drinking snacks) are so tasty and reasonably priced that it made total sense why it was so crowded haha. If you're looking for a great anju bar around Gangnam or Sinnonhyeon, I totally recommend Izakaya Goko! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spicy seafood nabe and flounder sio sanhap — an insane combo 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Izakaya Goko Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Branch: location and hours

Izakaya Goko Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Branch is 176m from Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 6, tucked in the backstreet behind the CGV building haha. It's also less than 5 minutes on foot from Gangnam Station~!

📍 No parking available

• Weekdays 17:00 - 02:00
• Weekends 16:30 - 02:00
• Last order 00:00

The 2nd floor interior: counter seats and booth vibes

Izakaya Goko is on the 2nd floor~! Just take the stairs up.

Luckily there was no wait, so we got seated right away haha. During peak dinner hours it's likely to be fully booked, so I'd recommend reserving through Catch Table beforehand!

The interior really has that Japanese izakaya feel~~! There are counter (dachi) seats too, which looked great for drinking solo,,🤪

There were quite a lot of seats, but since it was packed I couldn't get photos ㅠㅠ There were also partitioned booth seats, which looked great for small groups of 3-4 haha

What we ordered and how much it cost

The signature dishes here are sashimi and yakitori~! Before coming here, I'd watched Kang Minkyung's YouTube video and had been craving that combo of large flounder and salt gimbap (seaweed rice roll) that Namsan Flounder in Hannam-dong serves… and as if fate, the menu here had a large flounder sio sanhap, so I ordered it immediately!!

Sanhap (a three-way combo) of large flounder, wasabi, and aged kimchi on top of gimbap 🍙🐟 And I felt like we needed a warm soup-based anju too, so we also ordered the seafood nabe~~ Plus a cold dokkuri to finish it off 🍶 The prices weren't too heavy for a bar around Gangnam Station, so it was easy to order several anju haha.

• Large flounder sio sanhap (₩35,000)
• Spicy seafood nabe (₩26,000)
• Extra fresh noodles (₩2,000)
• Cold dokkuri (₩11,000)

Cold dokkuri (₩11,000)

I went back and forth between the warm and cold dokkuri, but felt like something refreshing, so I went with the cold one — and it paired perfectly with what we ordered haha.

It comes in a bowl full of ice, so it stays nice and cold while you drink!

It had been a while since I'd had this, and it was so good,,, so smooth going down and refreshing. Paired with the tasty anju, it just kept going down easily.

And the popcorn that came out as a basic side snack! Salty and sweet, so I kept reaching for it haha.

Spicy seafood nabe (₩26,000)

When drinking, you really need at least one soup-based anju haha. We went back and forth but ordered this one, and it had plenty of seafood packed in with a spicy broth — perfect drinking food!!! Style-wise it was like a spicy jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) nabe

The broth itself wasn't overly aggressive-spicy — it has that refreshing taste that comes from the seafood, so I kept scooping up more haha.

There was crab in there too 🦀

Scooping up the vegetables, seafood, and meat, one bottle of dokkuri disappeared in no time;;;

You have to order the fresh noodle sari separately

Just because you order a nabe or soup dish doesn't mean fresh noodles or kalguksu noodles automatically come with it! We wanted to eat noodles in the broth too, so we ordered fresh noodles separately haha. The noodles come pre-boiled, so if you add them from the start they can get mushy — so it's better to eat some of the nabe ingredients first, then ask staff for the noodles, and they'll bring them right over haha.

Once the noodles went in, it turned into a whole new dish,,,!! It shifted to more of a spicy ramen feel

The noodles were nice and chewy, so tasty,,, if we'd added udon noodles instead, it probably would've felt exactly like jjamppong

But the thin fresh noodles were great too haha

Large flounder sio sanhap (₩35,000)

Finally, the large flounder sio sanhap!! Goko's signature dish — a bit of wasabi on gimbap, topped with flounder and aged kimchi. I'd really been craving that flounder, salt gimbap, and aged kimchi combo, so I was excited even before it arrived.

Thinly sliced large flounder and thick-cut salmon sashimi

The gimbap came in mini size, super cute. If you ask for more salt, they'll bring you extra haha.

The sashimi was so fresh that it would've been fine to just order sashimi outright haha

Honestly I sometimes make this combo at home too, and it's tasty at home as well, but this restaurant-bought version can't really be beat

You just top the gimbap with the chewy, soft flounder sashimi, add a bit of wasabi, then eat it along with aged kimchi, dipping it into salt ㅠㅠ

So good;;;;; A perfect match with dokkuri. After finishing all the gimbap, only sashimi was left, and eating that alone was still delicious haha

The salmon sashimi was so rich and fatty ㅠㅠㅠ They really know how to do sashimi here,,, next time I come I'll definitely order sashimi and yakitori ⭐️ If you're looking for a true anju spot near Gangnam Station, I totally recommend Izakaya Goko