Hongdae is an area of Seoul named after a university, because of its vibrant nightlife. Pocha is a tent-like bar that serves street food. That should pretty much sum up the vibe of Hongdae Pocha in Romilly Street.
From the outside, this restaurant looks like your average, small restaurant in Soho. With its narrow walkway, bar-come-payment zone, and a few tables and booths surrounding it. However, walk through to the back and you will find the “pocha” (I’m not sure I’m using that correctly, but you get my drift). There you will see walls covered in graffiti, most of which is encouragingly in Korean. The tables are sheltered by a corrugated tin roof and fluorescent street signs.
Get to your seat and your sharpie will be attached to your menu. Finding space on the walls is the hard bit.
Food and Drink
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in Korean Street food, so I’ll just explain the menu. It consists of dumplings, noodles, crispy savoury pancakes, and lots of meat. If you like Asian street food, it is pretty exciting stuff. Order the hotpot and you will be presented with your own gas burner to keep the food piping hot.
The authenticity really translates throughout the food choices. All the way down to the chicken feet.
I went for:
- Crispy kimchi pancake
- Stir fried squid
- Korean rice cake with cheese
As a kimchi lover, I was obsessed with the pancake. Even though it didn’t really taste that strongly of kimchi, the crispiness was divine. Also, it was massive.
The squid was tasty, not too chewy, but nothing new. I’m not sure what I was expecting with the rice cake, but what I got was not that. When I think rice cake, I think dry and crunchy. What I got was a sweet and spicy soup. The fact that the two options for toppings were cheese or ramen, should have been a give away. I chose cheese and got a slice of what can only be described as an American single floating in the middle of the bowl. Whilst this dish was tasty, albeit slightly too sweet, I was more confused than anything.
Wet your whistle with a list of soju infused cocktails, a variety of flavoured soju, Korean beer and wine, and the standard soft drinks.
Price
The food menu has no indication of how big the portions are. Even after meerkating around to see everyone else’s dishes, my group over ordered.
My suggestion, start small, then order as you go along. The three dishes I ordered, plus a cocktail and two beers, came up to around £43, but that could have easily fed two people.
The hotpot comes out at £26.50 but would feed a group of four. To play it safe, let’s say you need around £30-£35 to fill yourself up and sink a few soju’s.
Overall
If you don’t mind a lively, Korean-uni style environment, with music that gets progressively louder throughout the evening, head to Hongdae Pocha. It really is a party evening with a twist.
Book a table here.
Like East Asian food? Check out Bisushima.
