Samgakji izakaya with steamed clams and Seoul-eui-bam: Hatpiendo

This is Hatpiendo, where I went for a spontaneous after-work drink with a colleague! I saw the aged sashimi and all the delicious side dishes and immediately went, let's go here — I love a spontaneous meetup~.~

Where is Hatpiendo, and its hours and parking

Hatpiendo is at 12 Hangangdae-ro 54-gil, 2nd floor, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, about 114m from Samgakji Station Exit 3, roughly a 3-minute walk. Hours are Sun 16:30–23:00, Mon–Thu 17:30–24:00, Fri 17:30–01:00 the next day, and Sat 16:30–00:30 the next day.

Coming out of Exit 3, go straight 50m, turn left, and go another 50m — it's on the 2nd floor of the E-mart24 building on Yongridan-gil! If you're driving, search for Samgakji temporary public parking lot; the store is right in front of the lot, so it's convenient. You can just navigate straight to the store!

Arrived~

What does the name Hatpiendo mean?

It's on Yongridan-gil, on the 2nd floor above the E-mart24! There's a cute poster and a smiley chair on the way up~ I wondered what Hatpiendo meant — turns out it's inspired by Happy Endo, a 1970s Japanese folk rock band, and the name reflects the owner's wish that however long you stay, your day ends on the best possible note!

Window seats and the 3rd-floor group room at Hatpiendo

Walking in, there was a big window letting in a cool breeze, giving the place a casual vibe! If you want the window seats or any specific spot, they said booking ahead on Naver and leaving a note will get you priority for that seating. There's also private group seating on the 3rd floor.

Hatpiendo's menu and what we ordered

The menu ranges from sashimi-style dishes like aged sashimi salt gimbap (seaweed rice roll), mackerel hand roll sushi, and yukhoe (raw beef), to hearty dishes like dongpo pork, crab guts risotto, clam hot pot with alcohol, and jjamppong ramyeon (spicy seafood noodle soup)... For drinks, they have distinctive highballs, distilled spirits, and beer. Just a note — no soju here!

What we ordered

• Aged sashimi salt gimbap (₩33,000)
• Clam hot pot with alcohol (₩24,000)
• Seafood jjamppong ramyeon (₩17,000)
• Seoul-eui-bam + 2 tonic bottles + lemon set (₩27,000)
• Seoul-eui-bam single bottle (₩20,000)

Table setting! It's an izakaya, but it's not too dark, and with the window view it was a great casual spot to visit.

Seoul-eui-bam set with 2 tonics and lemon (27,000 won)

The drinks came out first! We ordered the set with Seoul-eui-bam plus 2 bottles of tonic water and lemon. They gave us plenty of lemon and ice too~

Aged kimchi sashimi with salt gimbap (33,000 won)

This is a salt gimbap topped with in-season aged sashimi with great texture — with jangajji (aged kimchi) mixed in too, which made me really curious. With that much aged sashimi piled on top, it couldn't possibly be bad! The chewy, savory texture of the aged sashimi combined with the mild tanginess of the aged kimchi made for a perfect pairing with drinks, even though it's technically gimbap~ Such a clean, simple side dish.

Steamed clams in liquor (24,000 won)

This is a clam hot pot loaded with clams! I like ordering at least one soup dish when drinking,, the chewy texture of the clams was great~ You can apparently add pasta noodles if you like, but we were drinking so smoothly that we just stuck with the broth and clams as our side dish, haha. The broth would've been amazing with pasta noodles added too~ I'll try it that way next time, haha.

Well poured (?) — by my colleague. We started off light, but as we kept talking, the drinks just kept flowing, and we ended up ordering another bottle of Seoul-eui-bam lol. The aged sashimi salt gimbap and the clam hot pot were a combination that just kept calling for more drinks. An all-time record for how much the two of us drank in one day,,,

Seafood-loaded jjamppong ramyeon (17,000 won)

We also added jjamppong ramyeon to fill up and wrap things up while still snacking. The broth was spicy yet refreshing~ There was a lot of minari (water dropwort) in it too, which gave it a fragrant flavor.

Is Hatpiendo good for a last-minute after-work drink?

This place was great for an impromptu after-work meetup~! It was a spur-of-the-moment gathering with a colleague, but both the food and the drinks were so satisfying that I already want to come back, haha. If you're looking for an izakaya near Yongridan-gil or Samgakji, I recommend Hatpiendo!

• Located on the 2nd floor of the E-mart24 building on Yongridan-gil, near Samgakji Station Exit 3
• Samgakji public parking lot right in front of the store
• A window-lined izakaya