Sindang Station bar for mapo tofu and motsunabe: Lucky Dragon JCB

I visited Lucky Dragon JCB Sindang, a Chinese-style izakaya with a great atmosphere near Sindang Station. It is a compact bar that reminded me of machi chuka, the old, cozy neighborhood Chinese restaurants beloved by ordinary people in Japan, so I recommend it to anyone who likes a good little chat over drinks, hehe. Locals around Sindang Station may already know it ><

Lucky Dragon JCB Sindang visitor information

• No parking ❌
• Seongdong High School Public Parking Lot recommended: ₩2,000 for 60 minutes / ₩3,800 for 120 minutes / ₩200 per additional 5 minutes
• Mon–Sat 17:00–02:00, last order 01:00
• Sun 17:00–24:00, last order 23:00

A quiet neighborhood bar opposite Dasan Children’s Park

I arrived at Lucky Dragon JCB Sindang, right across from Dasan Children’s Park near Sindang Station, and loved how calm and quiet the area was! I usually go drinking only in busy Rodeo-style nightlife areas, so finding a place that felt like a neighborhood bar was a new experience, haha.

The interior was not that large 🙌 Still, it is an izakaya with the warm, homey feeling of wood decor, haha. There was also seating for up to about six people. It kind of felt like a Chinese izakaya you might find in a small Japanese town!

It was actually my first time at a Chinese-style izakaya. It was pretty similar to the usual izakayas we know, but because you can try Chinese dishes, there were quite a few people dining and drinking alone too 🫶

They served cold jasmine tea instead of water. Expensive Chinese restaurants always gave us jasmine tea when I was little, so it brought back old memories and I loved it 🙌

Sichuan mapo tofu with a real mala kick

🍽️ Mapo tofu

I think it was my first time ordering mapo tofu as a drinking dish. (We do not like mapo tofu that much.. 🥹) It was the owner’s recommendation, so we ordered it, and the presentation passed right away 🙌

This was Sichuan-style mapo tofu rather than the usual kind, with plenty of the Sichuan peppercorns and chili oil I love, so it really delivered that mala flavor >< If you like malatang, give this one a try 🔥

Honestly, there was a lot more sauce than tofu, which felt a bit of a shame. With plain white rice, I think it could make a spicy mapo tofu rice bowl too 🫶

Korean beef motsunabe and the spicy-rich pairing

🍽️ Korean beef motsunabe

The perfect Korean beef motsunabe (offal hot pot) for the cooler weather now ✨ With Korean beef daechang (large intestine) and vegetables, it had a sukiyaki-like feel. The bowl may have been small, but it was packed with ingredients 💕 Plump daechang is delicious grilled, and it is delicious in a hot pot too ㅠㅠ

While waiting for the hot pot to cook, we had a glass of somaek, a soju-and-beer mix. The mapo tofu and motsunabe combination was really good. ❤️Rich + spicy❤️

It tasted so similar to the sukiyaki broth we always enjoy. Since the hot pot keeps cooking, you can keep eating it nice and hot, which is such a good thing, haha.

We picked out the cooked daechang one by one, and when the mapo tofu was spicy, we had some hot-pot broth; when the daechang felt rich, we had mapo tofu. You could keep eating forever 😂

I recommend Lucky Dragon JCB Sindang, a Chinese-style izakaya near Sindang Station where you can enjoy Chinese dishes along with a Japanese-style meal 💕