Seogyo-dong pork belly restaurant, 200g for ₩9,900: Mapo Gui Madang

A frozen pork belly spot in Seogyo-dong. Words and photos: Rooming

I don't know why I've had such an appetite lately — I turn around and I'm hungry again. Must be autumn, haha. I suddenly had a craving for frozen pork belly (naengsam) and went looking for a place near Hongdae, ending up at Mapo Gui Madang in Seogyo-dong. The scallion kimchi that came out with the meal was especially good — I refilled it twice.

Where is Mapo Gui Madang Seogyo Direct Branch, and is there parking?

Mapo Gui Madang Seogyo Direct Branch is at 49 World Cup Buk-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, in Seogyo-dong near Hongdae. I walked over from the Hongik University Station area, and since it's a bit off the main Hongdae strip, it took about 10 to 12 minutes on foot.

Since it's not in the busy part of Seogyo-dong, the walk was through a fairly quiet area and didn't feel as far as I expected. If you're driving, there's a dedicated parking lot for the restaurant. There's a barrier at the entrance, so you get a remote from the staff to enter — good to know in advance.

Menu and prices: frozen pork belly 200g for ₩9,900

Pork belly is naturally the signature dish at Mapo Gui Madang. They serve flash-frozen pork belly as well as fresh whole pork belly and whole pork neck.

Besides pork belly, they also sell whole beef tripe (makchang) and spicy stir-fried octopus. Personally, I prefer the thin, flash-frozen pork belly over the thick whole cut.

Whenever I get a craving for frozen pork belly, I find there aren't actually that many places that serve it. Luckily my husband and I share the same taste in pork belly, so we often eat frozen pork belly at home too — it cooks quickly, so there's not much waiting, and I love that distinctive nutty flavor of frozen pork belly. At Mapo Gui Madang, frozen pork belly is ₩9,900 for 200g.

It's already hard enough to find a place selling frozen pork belly, and with it priced under ₩10,000, it felt like really good value. For sides, they sell fried rice for ₩5,000, chal-bibimmyeon and jjagyechi for ₩5,000, and naengmyeon and jjolmyeon for ₩9,000.

Free side dishes at Mapo Gui Madang: three kimchi types, scallion kimchi first

The standard side dishes at Mapo Gui Madang include three kinds of well-fermented kimchi — scallion kimchi, napa cabbage kimchi, and white kimchi. Basic vegetables to eat with the meat, like lettuce and garlic, are also provided.

The ssamjang (dipping sauce) was a little unusual too — soybean powder was sprinkled on top of the regular ssamjang, adding a nutty flavor when mixed in. But what really caught my eye was the kimchi. All the kimchi is made with domestic ingredients and made in-house, according to the restaurant.

The restaurant even bills itself as one of the '3 best scallion kimchi restaurants in the country,' and somehow the scallion kimchi looked different from the start. The deep color typical of well-fermented Jeolla-style scallion kimchi already looked delicious, and one bite confirmed it was properly fermented. It was great on its own, but grilled on the pan in the meat's fat, it went even better. I felt like I could finish a whole bowl of white rice with just the scallion kimchi, no meat needed.

Four servings of frozen pork belly for two, grilled fast on a stone plate

We first ordered 3 servings of frozen pork belly and 1 bowl of rice. With frozen pork belly, cooking fast is a good thing.

Since it's a stone plate, the surface heated up quickly, and the meat started sizzling as soon as it went on. Flipping it back and forth, it browned nicely in no time. Sprinkling a little pepper on top brought out the nutty flavor even more, letting us properly enjoy the distinct taste of frozen pork belly.

We wrapped it in lettuce and also tried rolling it up with scallion kimchi. Piling a slice of pork belly and some well-fermented kimchi onto white rice was, as always, a combination that never fails.

We were already pretty full, but it was so good we ended up adding one more serving of frozen pork belly. Between the two of us, we ended up eating 4 servings total — since the meat is thin, it kept going down without feeling heavy.

Finishing the meal with jjolmyeon instead of naengmyeon

I always used to finish a meat meal with naengmyeon (cold noodles), but this time I chose jjolmyeon (chewy cold noodles) instead. Jjolmyeon at Mapo Gui Madang is ₩9,000.

The noodles were nice and chewy, and the sauce wasn't too intense but had a good savory depth, so I enjoyed it a lot. The nutty flavor of the frozen pork belly went surprisingly well with the sweet and tangy jjolmyeon — I think I'll order this combination again next time.

The price for the pork belly was easy on the wallet, and everything from the side dishes to the jjolmyeon left me satisfied overall. The scallion kimchi especially was memorable enough that I'll probably come back here next time I'm craving frozen pork belly :)