No-break-time hot pot in Magok, Seoul: menbosha for two at J's Pot

A COEX Magok dining spot at Magongnaru where the hot pot is genuinely delicious: J's Pot Magok Branch

What kind of restaurant is J's Pot Magok Branch?

J's Pot Magok Branch is a Magongnaru favorite where you can enjoy your own personal shabu-shabu hot pot, one pot per person, exactly to your taste.

It's in the basement of COEX Magok Tower A, connected directly to Magongnaru Station.

How to walk to J's Pot Magok from Magongnaru Station

Since this was my first time at COEX Magok, I got a bit lost figuring out how to get there — but the key thing is: don't exit the station.

Do not go outside, haha.

Once you tag out at Magongnaru Station (Airport Railroad or Line 9), there's an escalator right there connected to the exit — take it up just one floor and you'll find the Le West building, with J's Pot inside Magok Le West.

The basement dining hall of Magok Le West is fairly large, so just pass the Daiso and keep going inward.

No break time, so a late brunch works

Since it's in a fairly new building, the ceilings are high and the interior is spotless and comfortable — a great place to eat at Magongnaru. The owner and staff were super kind too, and I loved that this Magok restaurant has no break time. Most places close between 2 and 3 pm, but even though I showed up in the late afternoon, I could still have a leisurely brunch, which was the best part.

There are lots of bar-table seats, so solo shabu-shabu hot pot dining in Magok is totally doable! It also seems like a great spot for nearby office workers to eat solo on weekday lunches.

The menu: 17,500-won lunch hot pot set and eight broths

This place has been Blue Ribbon-selected from 2021 through 2026, so I'd wanted to visit for a long time. From Monday to Sunday, weekday or weekend, the lunch hot pot set runs 11 am to 3 pm at ₩17,500 per person — incredible value.

When ordering the hot pot set at this Magongnaru favorite, you choose your broth from beef, kimchi, mala, tomato, tom yum, katsuo, tonkotsu, or Mongolian, then pick your vegetable assortment, side assortment, meatballs, and noodles. Eight broth options — what kind of class act is this Seoul hot pot restaurant, J's Pot Magok Branch?

True to a proper Chinese restaurant serving hot pot in Magok, the side dishes are varied too — orange chicken, General Tso's chicken, macaron menbosha, vegetable sweet-and-sour pork, soy chao fan, egg fried rice, and more. One hot pot per person plus about two side dishes to share is the perfect combo.

Mixing your own dipping sauce at the sauce bar

Order placed, now let's go make hot pot sauce.

Basic sauce, peanut sauce, spicy chili sauce, and hot pepper sauce all have their recipes written out, so you just follow along and mix. Easy peasy.

So many spices and ingredients here at J's Pot, this Magongnaru favorite where the hot pot really is delicious.

What we ordered at J's Pot and the total bill

• Lunch hot pot per person 17.5 × 2
• Handmade shrimp balls add-on 3.0
• Vegetable sweet-and-sour pork, small 15.0
• Menbosha (2 pieces) 9.5
• Total: ₩62,500

Ordering the one-person hot pot means you get your own personal pot, which is great about this Magongnaru hot pot favorite. We went with tomato and beef broths — now I'm curious about the tom yum and katsuo flavors too!

The meat and mixed vegetables came in generous portions, and on top of the basic meatballs already included, we added shrimp balls and panda-shaped glass noodles.

Peanut sauce and chili sauce ready to go! The rice also came as a heaping bowl, one per person.

With the vegetable sweet-and-sour pork and menbosha added on top, it was seriously filling. I'd skipped breakfast, so I was starving for this late brunch — the two of us ate this together and it was so satisfying and delicious.

The vegetables were incredibly fresh.

The panda-shaped glass noodles were adorably cute!!

Vegetable sweet-and-sour pork comes out first

While the vegetables and meat cooked in the hot pot, I tried the vegetable sweet-and-sour pork first — crispy outside, chewy and moist inside, with thick pieces of meat inside. Really delicious, I recommend the vegetable sweet-and-sour pork!

Why panda glass noodles and handmade shrimp balls are a must

Simmering away, cooking the vegetables and meat.

Just watching the panda-shaped glass noodles bob around is cute and fun — definitely add these on.

I went back and forth on whether to add the plump shrimp balls, but I'm glad I did — don't even hesitate, haha, definitely add them. These handmade, seemingly hand-filleted shrimp balls had an amazing texture.

The basic meatballs were tasty too.

Of the sauces we made, the majang sauce and peanut sauce were the best.

The finale: menbosha (deep-fried shrimp toast)

After clearing the vegetable sweet-and-sour pork and the personal shabu-shabu hot pot completely, the finale was menbosha (deep-fried shrimp sandwich) — crispy outside, packed full of plump shrimp meat inside, with great texture, savory flavor, and juices bursting through. Definitely order the menbosha too — I highly recommend it 😆😆

Why J's Pot Magok is worth going back to

The upscale, comfortable atmosphere, the clean and spotless personal hot pot setup, the wide range of broth choices, side dishes better than most Chinese restaurants, the kind owner and staff, and the no-break-time hours — so many things I loved that make me want to keep coming back to J's Pot Magok Branch, the Magongnaru favorite where the hot pot is truly delicious.