Guro bar for charcoal-grilled chicken with ramyeon noodles: Monthly

If you're looking for a bar near Guro Digital Complex Station with tasty, varied side dishes, it's Monthly Beer Guro Digital Complex Station Branch ➰

Monthly Beer Guro Digital Complex Station Branch sits right at the entrance of Kalkal-geori near Guro Digital Complex Station. I've been back recently — it's one of the Guro bars I visit a lot for beer or a light drink because the side dishes are pretty solid.

Location and hours of Monthly Beer Guro Digital Complex Station Branch

• 7 Digital-ro 32na-gil, 1st floor, Unit 101, Guro-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Monday-Thursday / Sunday 14:00-02:00
• Friday / Saturday 14:00-04:00

It's the opposite direction from the station, but only about a 5-minute walk. Since it's near my office, I revisited this Monthly Beer branch at the entrance of Kalkal-geori because I remembered the side dishes being delicious. Last time it was pretty loud with lots of groups, but visiting on a Tuesday evening it was just the right level of noise — and even on a Tuesday there were group reservations, so if you're coming with a group, I'd recommend booking ahead!!

Monthly Beer seems to be a chain — I haven't tried other branches — but the side dishes at this Guro Digital Complex Station location are definitely all good, so if you like a good side dish, eat here.

I thought the low prices were just a promotion, but they've stayed consistently low, so it's great value too.

Inside — seating that works for groups and for two

There are 4-person tables good for groups that can be combined for up to 8 people, and plenty of 2-person tables too, so it was also comfortable for just the two of us.

It wasn't as dark as I expected — the lighting was just right for good conversation (though this time we did end up talking about pretty light stuff, I'll admit haha).

Proof that it was busy even on a Tuesday — people kept coming in steadily even at a late hour.

The basic side snack was an assortment of crackers (chicken-leg shaped, Jjanggu) — a nice variety for a complimentary snack.

Menu — not just a bar that only serves fried chicken

Overall, the main menu runs around ₩20,000, and the side menu is varied enough that there's probably something for every taste — nice that a beer bar isn't just about fried chicken. I had great charcoal chicken last time, so this time I picked the boneless version tossed in sweet sauce for easy eating, and my friend, who loves fried food, went for the cheese sticks.

Since I was just having a light drink, I got one beer, while my friend had two bottles instead of a fresh one.

Even though I don't drink beer often, I ended up wanting a sip of that creamy beer instead of a soft drink — and a beer after work just can't taste bad, can it..!

Cheers

Menu review — potato cheese sticks

The potato cheese sticks come as 4 big pieces, and they're quite good value. It's a bit like eating a potato corn dog, but stuffed full of cheese inside. The staff recommended cutting it right before eating each piece rather than slicing it ahead, since it hardens.

The quality is better than the cheese sticks you'd get at a burger place, and it wouldn't feel heavy even as a second-round snack.

Since it's basically a cheese potato corn dog, it'd taste great dipped in ketchup, but it was just as good eaten with the chicken sauce — a perfect side.

Listening well when my friend insisted we absolutely had to gather everything together for a photo.

So that's why they cut it so lovingly for us?!

Charcoal-grilled seasoned chicken

Next came the charcoal-grilled seasoned chicken — chicken thigh meat and rice cakes grilled well in a sweet but not spicy sauce. The meat was tender rather than dry, so it was easy to just dig in generously.

How about adding ramyeon noodles?

The portion itself wasn't small — we wouldn't have needed to add more — but we were told to add noodles on top of it anyway, so we ordered them and waited. The noodle options were udon noodles, ramyeon noodles, and thin wheat noodles, but the thin wheat noodles were sold out, so we went with ramyeon noodles, which you just mix in :) I'm not sure if they add them automatically if you order together from the start..! Udon noodles would probably go well too.

The ramyeon noodles came well-boiled and cooled properly in cold water, so they weren't soggy and were ready to mix in right away. Though noodle portions are supposedly shrinking these days — is it just my imagination that this looked like a lot?!

Put it in, please

They plated it so nicely! The sauce itself wasn't overpowering, so mixing it all together didn't feel heavy at all. This much alone — no side dishes needed — was genuinely filling, so this Guro bar, Monthly Beer, could easily be your only stop of the night, not just a second round. Wouldn't it also be great for a group work dinner without feeling like too much!

A place where mixing it all up properly and sharing is the way to go.

Would I go back?

At a bar, if the side dishes aren't great, you stop going back — but Monthly Beer Guro Digital Complex Station Branch has such varied, delicious side dishes that it's become one of the Guro bars I keep coming back to.