Daeheung-dong sashimi bar, sea bream for a flounder fan: Mapo Bada

I recently visited Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada (제철담은 마포바다), a sashimi restaurant that just opened in Daeheung-dong, and... everything from the food to the way it's served was out of the ordinary! It's like a full-course spread where the whole table is set all at once, packed and generous haha. If you're looking for a new sashimi place in Mapo, pay attention 🥳

Where is Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada? Hours and parking

Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada is right in front of Exit 3 of Daeheung Station, a 1-minute walk away. The shop is big and spacious, so you'll spot it easily. It's easy to reach not only from around Daeheung Station but, at a stretch, for office workers and residents of Mapo and Gongdeok too!

• Hours: closed every Monday
• Tue–Fri 17:00–22:50 (last order 21:20)
• Sat, Sun 12:00–23:00 (last order 21:30)
• Sat, Sun break time 15:00–17:00
• No parking (alternative lot: Hi Car Plaza Halla Auto Repair, Yeomni branch)

Since it just opened, the inside was super clean and tidy! On top of the menu, it's much bigger and more spacious than I expected, so it would suit company dinners and all kinds of group gatherings too.

Also, even though it had only just opened and it was a Sunday, customers kept streaming in from 5 p.m., and as far as I remember it was full by the time I paid.

What to order for two: the Mapo Bada Value Set and the menu

Two of us went and ordered the Mapo Bada Value Set (for 2, ₩79,000). One thing to note: unlike typical sashimi restaurants that bring out side dishes one after another, Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada lays everything out at once, the whole table, so it takes a little time when it's busy. But when you see how it looks... you'll think it was worth the wait..! haha

I also added the fish-bone stew (seodeori-tang, ₩10,000). The spicy stew isn't part of the set for 2, so I wasn't going to get it, but the main dishes were so fresh and so good that I kept pouring more drinks and ended up ordering it naturally.. 😂 I'll explain below, but no regrets on that order!!

The menu has sets sized to your party, plus single dishes like assorted sashimi, grilled live prawns, assorted seafood and whole rockfish spicy stew.

There's a wide range of drinks too, including traditional Korean liquor, sake and wine, and these three have a 50% discount on the second bottle, so I highly recommend it if you're a "good food deserves good drinks!" person.

What comes in the Mapo Bada Value Set (for 2)?

The menu says it provides the day's 4 freshest kinds among flounder, sea bream, rockfish, sea bass and yellow croaker. I only know how to eat sashimi, not tell the fish apart, so I'm not sure of the types ㅠㅠ but I'm guessing it was flounder, sea bream, sea bass and yellow croaker..

Besides the 4 kinds of sashimi, I think they gave yellowtail?? as a freebie 🥹 and two raw prawns too, so you really get the fun of trying a variety 🎵

The prawns are 13 huge live ones, still jumping around!

Plump grilled gizzard shad, and 4 pieces of sushi.

An abalone innards porridge with a rich, nutty aroma + dried pollock seaweed soup combo, and quite a lot of side dishes too.. lol

The salad and steamed egg aren't even on the menu, so I had no expectations, but they brought them and I happily ate them 🥰

Also, if you cut off the prawn heads, collect them in the empty bowl they give you and hand it to the staff, they'll fry them like this. The prawns were so fresh and tasty that I was busy sucking out the heads (?) too, so I only fried a few as a tasting haha

How is the sashimi at Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada? Live fish and sea bream

The sashimi here was good quality, with that chewy, firm texture live fish is known for coming through really, really well. I've been disappointed so many times even at fairly busy sashimi places.. I like live fish more than aged sashimi, and this was exactly my taste.

The sea bream especially was insane; I'm a flounder lover, so nothing ever beat flounder, you know? The sea bream was seriously amazing.. the skin texture, the nutty richness, wow 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

The grilled live prawns surprised me even more than the sashimi

The grilled live prawns here are really, really plump and meaty and big, so even though you have to peel each one, it wasn't a bother at all lol If you're looking for a place in Mapo to properly enjoy grilled prawns, I highly recommend it!!

Fish-bone stew for ₩10,000: is it pricey?

I was already full enough, but I couldn't not order a spicy stew while drinking ㅠㅠ The fish-bone stew costs ₩10,000, so I thought, a bit pricey for fish-bone stew..? but

There's really a lot of meat,, it's way more than just bits clinging to the bones, and I honestly wondered how they can give this much🤔 There was even some fin meat here and there, so it felt almost like going to a second place for round two.

If you join the review event, you can also get a free fried dish!

Is Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada a good Daeheung-dong drinking spot?

Even though it's newly opened, customers poured in right after the break time ended, and doesn't that prove it's a good spot?! Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada is a Mapo sashimi restaurant where you can enjoy a hearty spread from assorted sashimi to grilled prawns, and I recommend it if you're looking for a drinking spot in Daeheung-dong 🙂