Fried eggplant and shrimp at a Dongnae Station bar: Lounge Mokhwa

A hidden gem in Dongnae, Lounge Mokhwa. Honestly "tasty" doesn't cover it — this place is stupidly good, T_T (I'm thirty and don't love using words like that, but this is exactly the place that makes you). If anyone asks me for a Chinese-food bar recommendation in Dongnae, Lounge Mokhwa is my full recommendation!! Every single menu item here is good, haha.

Where is Lounge Mokhwa Dongnae Branch, and what is the mood like?

Lounge Mokhwa is right in front of Dongnae Station, but it's tucked a bit into a corner. Being in that corner just adds to the atmospheric, hideaway vibe, haha!!

It was a Monday night and there were still a lot of older gentlemen customers. That's basically a sign of a good place! Everyone had ordered 4–5 side dishes each and there were plenty of soju bottles on the tables, haha — that's the sign of a good restaurant, right!?

The atmosphere is really something. It feels like a night in Hong Kong or somewhere in China — a proper travel-trip mood! Being tucked into an alley corner in Dongnae adds to that.

The basic side snacks. I'd just come from working out, but even the crackers were tasty.

Set menus at Lounge Mokhwa Dongnae Branch and how to order

Lounge Mokhwa has a variety of set menus. There's a Chinese liquor set, a highball set, and a beer set. There's also a set pairing yurinki (crispy fried chicken) and chili shrimp with beer.

I've tried three or four things on the menu here and everything was good!! I focused mostly on the fried dishes and all of them were great — super crispy, and the sauces are out of this world 💗💗. The yurinki is great, the chili shrimp is genuinely delicious too. Honestly, the owner is really skilled with fried food! That crispy texture!! The sauce is sweet and bold in a way that's exactly my style 💗

Today I ordered the fried eggplant.

Turns out you can add cilantro too! There was instant rice on the menu and I wondered why — but the moment I tasted the fried eggplant sauce, I got it immediately, haha. The sauce tastes exactly like mapo tofu, the kind of flavor that makes you want to mix it into rice!! (Lounge Mokhwa is also great for a first stop where you eat and drink together.)

For drinks, you just grab whatever you want straight from the fridge. You pay for it when you leave!!

The highball

When you order the highball, the owner makes it for you. It's strong and sweet — recommended if you like a sweeter drink!

Fried eggplant: the mapo tofu-flavored sauce is the point

Lounge Mokhwa's fried eggplant comes freshly fried, and it's different from any fried eggplant I've had before. Rather than just drizzling a bit of sauce on top, they pile the freshly fried eggplant over a generous pool of mapo tofu-style sauce!!

You can taste the juiciness of the eggplant straight through — so good, T_T!! When ordering, you could also add flower bread (kkotppang, +₩5,000), and I think the sauce would pair beautifully with it too!!

If you like fried eggplant, this is a recommendation ⭐⭐ Next time I want to come with a group and order one of every dish, T_T.

Fried shrimp: crisp outside, packed with plump meat

I ordered the fried shrimp at Lounge Mokhwa and wow, it was genuinely so good. As soon as it arrived, I finished it right away, haha.

The outside is completely crispy, and the inside is packed full of shrimp meat!

Crispy on the outside with shrimp meat packed inside — dipped in chili sauce, it's incredible! Gotta hand it to the owner, they really know how to fry~~~!!

Why Lounge Mokhwa is worth it as a Dongnae Station bar

If you're looking for a great bar in Dongnae, Lounge Mokhwa is my recommendation! Everything I've had here so far has been delicious! I think I need to work through the rest of the menu one dish at a time, haha. The chili shrimp I had last time had an amazing sauce alongside the fried pieces, and today's fried eggplant had that mapo tofu-style sauce underneath — it felt like eating two different dishes at once :)

Business hours: 17:00–01:00