If prohibition was ever introduced to Seoul, Jumbo-sandae would be its first speak-easy. Hidden in dimly lit backstreets off Insadonggil Street, this vast tented eatery, whose name means roughly 'electric pole restaurant', is a hub of alcohol-fuelled bonhomie in the capital's arts precinct.
There is no door sign to look for, no windows to peer through and if it weren't for a flickering street lamp slung over its busy entrance way, or the lively chatter of the university students, housewives, young professionals and artists who crowd in nightly, the place would be invisible.
Jumbo-sandae's menu features only two items: go-kalbi, simmered fish with salt; and makkolli, a heady working-class brew made from fermented rice and served in a plastic tub from which patrons take turns to serve each other.
'More and more young people are getting fed up with western-style fast food and are turning back to traditional street eateries for their low cost and unpretentious atmosphere,' says Ji Hwan-lim, 31, who first discovered Jumbo-sandae as a university student 10 years ago.
'Back then, it was a just a tent hung over a disused power pole where you could get a late night snack. Now, there are walls where customers can write jokes and poems and so many tables that you end up sharing your makkolli with complete strangers.'
Street eateries are enjoying a surge in popularity thanks to their cheap local fare, after-burner-strength sauces, homemade kimchi and copious tubs of makkolli.