Hongdae Red Road gyoza takeout with QR ordering, 2nd-floor pickup: MANDOO BAR

A meal log from a developer who records good food and builds games on the side.

While hunting for good eats on Hongdae's Red Road, I picked up gyoza (dumplings) and steamed dumplings for takeout at MANDOO BAR. The shop itself is on the 2nd floor, but takeout orders can be placed right away using the QR code on the 1st floor banner.

What I picked that day: the Mandoo Bar gyoza, steamed dumplings mixing meat and kimchi, and the okonomi gyoza. I packed it all up and carried it out toward Red Road.

Order by QR on the 1st floor, dine on the 2nd

Walk in under the big MANDOOBAR sign and you'll see a QR order banner on the 1st floor. For takeout, just scan the QR here, pick your menu, and pay.

You don't need to head upstairs right after paying. Once your order is ready, you get a notification, and that's your cue to go up to the 2nd floor to pick it up. If you're searching for Hongdae takeout options, just remember this order and it's easy.

Shop info

• Address: 55-2 Eoulmadang-ro, 2nd floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Tue–Sun 16:00–01:00 (next day)
• Last order: 00:00
• Closed: Every Monday
• Parking: Nearby public/paid lots; first 60 min ₩3,000, then ₩500 per additional 10 min, max ₩6,000

Actual parking rates vary by lot, so it's worth double-checking before you visit.

How the place works

If you're eating on the 2nd floor, just grab any open seat. Food and highball orders go through the QR code, while draft beer, drinks, water and cups are self-serve, according to the signage. When it gets busy, seating time may be capped at 2 hours 30 minutes.

If you need to wait, just ask a staff member. In one corner there's also a guestbook with characters MANDOO BAR drew themselves and notes about the shop's story.

The 2nd floor has plenty of table space

There are 2- and 4-top tables along the window, plus more seating further in. There's still walking room between tables, so it didn't look cramped in photos.

One wall is left bare with plants and lighting, giving it a clean look. I only went up for takeout, but there were more seats than I expected.

From gyoza to hot pot to drinks, quite a lot on the menu

The menu board listed the Mandoo Bar gyoza at ₩9,000, okonomi gyoza at ₩10,000, and steamed dumplings at ₩10,000. Beyond that, there are K-gyoza with different toppings like Mexican taco gyoza, ppuring gyoza and yurinki gyoza, plus a house-made dumpling hot pot and highball and draft beer menus.

Notification pings, time to pick up!

I brought it all home and ate comfortably there.

Mandoo Bar gyoza

First up, the Mandoo Bar gyoza. It comes out as a round shape filling the whole plate, with the bottom fried golden like one solid disc. Inside the takeout container the gyoza had stuck together, so I pried them apart one at a time with chopsticks.

Okonomi gyoza piled high with bonito flakes

The okonomi gyoza comes topped with sauce and bonito flakes. When you open the lid, the topping is so generous the gyoza underneath is barely visible.

Steamed dumplings mixing meat and kimchi

The steamed dumplings combine meat and kimchi. As you can see in the photos, they weren't small, so the takeout container was packed to the brim. The dumplings were bigger than I expected.

Dumpling takeout in Hongdae, yurinki gyoza next time

Places to get dumplings for takeout in Hongdae are rarer than you'd think, but MANDOO BAR has enough gyoza varieties that picking was half the fun.

This time I went with the basic gyoza, okonomi gyoza and steamed dumplings, but next time I think I'll try the yurinki gyoza.

Since you order ahead by QR and just go pick up when you get the notification, it was easy to grab takeout while sightseeing around Hongdae. Next time, instead of takeout, I should sit down on the 2nd floor and have some beer with it too.