Same-day CatchTable booking at a Mapo beef restaurant: Moyeon Mapo

Hey everyone! I went to Deoksugung Palace over the weekend and found an amazing restaurant hiding nearby in Mapo? *_* I was craving good beef and rice, so I went straight there.

'Moyeon Mapo' | Address | 1F Yeongwoo Building, 318 Tojeong-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul | Hours | Tue–Sat 11:30–21:50 / 15:00–17:00 break time / closed every Sunday and Monday | Parking | Valet, 3,000 won

How do you book a table at Moyeon Mapo?

I booked Moyeon Mapo through CatchTable. It seems like you really need to either reserve ahead or line up right at opening.

Booking confirmed through CatchTable! By the time we finished eating around 12:30, there was already a waitlist... we'd scrambled to book just two hours before opening lol, so keep that in mind!

Is there valet parking at Moyeon Mapo on Tojeong-ro?

Parking at Moyeon Mapo is valet only, right in front of the restaurant, and it costs 3,000 won.

You can get valet parking right in front of the restaurant. Just put your hazards on out front and a valet staff member comes over. Hmm... I'm not sure if public parking lot reimbursement is offered — probably not? (Irresponsible of me, I know lol)

Inside Moyeon Mapo: private rooms at every table

Every seat at Moyeon Mapo is a private room, and there's group seating too. Even though it's charcoal grilling, there was no smoke, so the interior stayed nice and comfortable.

A photo of the room taken after we finished eating... every seat at Moyeon is a private room. There's group seating too, of course! I loved being able to eat privately with people 🤍 The interior was clean and I'd worried about the charcoal smoke, but there wasn't any smell or smoke at all, so it was great.

The bathroom is inside the restaurant too, and it's clean!

Moyeon Mapo menu and lunch sets

At Moyeon Mapo I ordered the hanwoo charcoal-grilled marinated set with pot rice, and the lunch sirloin set with pot rice. Since they use good quality meat, prices run a bit high, but the lunch specials were a great value.

Here's the menu board. Since they use good meat, prices are a bit high, but the lunch specials are insanely good value! We ordered the hanwoo charcoal-grilled marinated set with pot rice and the lunch sirloin set with pot rice.

Side dishes and soy-braised abalone at Moyeon Mapo

If you book ahead at Moyeon Mapo, they seat you at a table already set. Three kinds of side dishes, wrap vegetables, soy-braised abalone (jeonbokjang), and buckwheat tea all came out generously.

If you book, they seat you at a table already set up. Various side dishes, wrap vegetables and more... so generous!!

I think the water was buckwheat tea... it was a flavor I'd never had before.

We were so hungry we inhaled it before the food even came out... but you all should eat it alongside the rice when it arrives. The soy-braised abalone wasn't fishy at all and was chewy, and all three side dishes were delicious too. The staff member who came to grill our meat noticed our side dishes were empty and brought us fresh ones — a bit embarrassing haha. The service was great too.

How to eat the marinated hanwoo, lunch sirloin and abalone butter rice

At Moyeon Mapo, a staff member comes into the room and grills the meat for you directly. They explained how to make the pot rice: scoop out some rice, pour in hot water to make sungnyung (scorched rice tea), then mix the reserved rice with butter, abalone, and soy sauce.

The meat's color is insane, right. A staff member comes in and grills it for you, and the smell is amazing... 🫠

Pot rice! There's mushroom, ginkgo nuts, sweet potato and more in there. Maybe that's why the rice tasted a little sweet haha.

While grilling the meat, they told us to scoop out rice and add hot water. Then make butter rice, add the abalone and soy sauce, and eat it together — this is genuinely... insanely good. How can the umami of butter rice pair this well with the abalone...?

It's even better wrapped with the seaweed on the side. The abalone... you have to eat it with the butter rice.

Ah, this looks so good. I'm writing this blog post looking at it now and I want to eat it again.

The fully grilled meat! They grilled it perfectly to the level, just right... full of charcoal aroma... 🤤

The charcoal-grilled marinated meat goes well with the seasoned vegetable side dish! They told us to eat the meat with salt or perilla-leaf pesto. It genuinely just melts in your mouth.

To finish, sungnyung (scorched rice tea). Maybe because the pot is so good, the scorched rice came off softly lol. Still tasted amazing.

Onnuri gift certificates are accepted too, just so you know.

Who is Moyeon Mapo best for?

Since every seat at Moyeon Mapo is a private room, it's great for a work lunch or for treating family. There are plenty of beef restaurants in Mapo, but restaurants this competitive don't come along often.

First of all, having every seat be a private room was so nice. The staff service was totally top-notch too!! It would be a great lunch spot for people working nearby. And it'd be perfect for treating family too haha. Everyone, come to Moyeon for some beef... 🫶🏻