Kocho, Sadang: a tiny izakaya for the second stop
After the first round near Sadang station, choosing where to go next usually means a neighborhood beer hall or a chain izakaya, and those are either loud or too casual for two people to talk. A small, snug place is harder to find than it should be.
This time it was Kocho, hidden deep in the alleys behind the station.
Before you go
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Booking | Four tables of four, so book on Catchtable or Naver for weekends and peak hours. Early or at an off hour, walk-ins work; we got in without booking around nine on a weekend. Tables can be pushed together for groups |
| Corkage | Yes, for a fee, so you can bring a bottle you like |
| Getting there | Sadang station exit 10, about five minutes into the side streets |
| Korean name | 코쵸 |
An alley in Sadang that feels like Japan
From exit 10 you go into the alleys and there it is, so small that you could walk past it without knowing. It is hard to believe you are in the middle of Sadang; it feels like a back-street izakaya in some Japanese city you wandered into by mistake.
Inside it is dark and snug in the Japanese way. The room is small, and that is the point: it suits two people talking quietly. The props and the lighting get the mood right, a lantern and a menu board barely visible in the dark. Sadang does not come to mind at all.
A small dish of something like dried filefish arrived as a starter. No bones to notice, very savory, and my hand did not stop while I waited for the beer.
Yakisoba
We ordered one dish, a yakisoba, and a draft beer each. It was a second stop, one plate and one drink. The signature is the sashimi of the day, which I will try next time. But the kitchen is better than a second stop needs: the yakisoba was so good that I forgot to take a picture until it was mostly gone.
We stayed long after eating. Around nine there were a couple of free tables; after ten the room filled, with what looked like an after-party from a wedding shower and a few pairs on dates at the next tables. Everyone was dressed up, and it seemed the better-looking bars in Sadang gather on this main lane, with Kocho tucked among them.
I’d recommend it to two people looking for a quiet second stop after dinner near Sadang station. Next time: the sashimi of the day.
My rating: 4.5/5. The yakisoba alone justified the seat.