Monkfish liver gimbap for two at Bada Yakbang, a Yeonnam-dong seafood
In short
Bada Yakbang Yeonnam is a seafood restaurant and bar on Dongyo-ro in Yeonnam-dong, Seoul, pairing aged sashimi and seafood dishes with traditional Korean liquor. Two of us ordered the monkfish liver salt gimbap (seaweed rice roll) at 25,000 won, mackerel sashimi with sesame sauce at 28,000 won and abalone intestine cream pasta at 21,000 won, and the portions were far too much for two, with the mackerel plump and free of any fishy smell. Of the three, the salty, rich monkfish liver salt gimbap was the dish worth coming back for.
Good to know
- Location
- 1F, 266-11 Dongyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
- Hours
- 11:30-23:00 (break 15:00-17:00)
- Weekend hours
- 11:30-23:00 (break 14:00-16:00)
- Monkfish liver salt gimbap
- 25,000 won
- Mackerel sashimi with sesame sauce
- 28,000 won
- Abalone intestine cream pasta
- 21,000 won
- Price reference
- ₩25,000 ≈ $18.5 · ₩28,000 ≈ $20.5 · ₩21,000 ≈ $15.5 (2026-09-25)
as written by the visitor on Aug 21, 2026
What kind of place is Bada Yakbang Yeonnam?
Bada Yakbang Yeonnam is a seafood restaurant and bar on the 1st floor of 266-11 Dongyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's open 11:30-23:00, with a break time of 15:00-17:00 on weekdays and 14:00-16:00 on weekends.
I was looking for something a bit different to eat in Yeonnam-dong and that's how I ended up at Bada Yakbang Yeonnam.
The name itself means "sea pharmacy," so I was curious whether they'd really treat seafood properly — and once I got there, the menu really did have a wide range, from aged sashimi to all sorts of seafood dishes.
It's tucked in an alley in Yeonnam-dong so it wasn't hard to find, and the inside was cozier than I expected. It seemed like a good spot to enjoy seafood dishes with traditional liquor over drinks in the evening too.
Three dishes for two at Bada Yakbang, and what they cost
At Bada Yakbang we ordered three things: monkfish liver salt gimbap (seaweed rice roll) for ₩25,000, mackerel sashimi with sesame sauce for ₩28,000, and abalone intestine cream pasta for ₩21,000. Just look how pretty they are!
The portions were all way too much — seriously too much for two people to finish.
Mackerel sashimi with sesame sauce: how fishy is it?
What I was most looking forward to was Bada Yakbang's mackerel sashimi and sesame sauce. I usually love mackerel sashimi, but it's a dish that can sometimes go fishy and split opinions. This one had almost no fishy taste, so I ate it happily.
The mackerel's signature oily savoriness was still there, but there was a tangy note too that kept my mouth feeling clean, and once the sesame sauce joined in, the savoriness went up another level.
I especially liked that the mackerel wasn't mushy or soft at all — it had just the right plump, springy texture. If you usually like mackerel you'll be pretty satisfied with this, and even if, like me, you don't eat mackerel dishes often, it's easy to enjoy.
The sesame sauce was salty and nutty and went really well with it.
How rich is the abalone intestine cream pasta?
Then there was the abalone intestine cream pasta we ordered together. I was curious what a cream pasta with abalone intestine would taste like, and it turned out much richer and more intense than I expected.
Instead of just the soft milk-and-cream flavor of a typical cream pasta, you get a strong, savory, salty sea aroma that's distinctly abalone intestine.
The sauce was pretty thick, so it tasted better the more you coated the noodles in it — anyone who loves abalone intestine would really love this.
Personally, this dish got better the more I ate, more than that first bite.
Honestly, partway through the noodles soaked up most of the sauce and it ran a bit short, so we asked for a little more to mix in.
The signature monkfish liver salt gimbap at Bada Yakbang
Last up, the monkfish liver salt gimbap that's supposedly famous here. Honestly, just from the name, I couldn't quite imagine what monkfish liver in gimbap (seaweed rice roll) would taste like, but it worked way better than expected.
The gimbap itself is on the plain side, but once the monkfish liver comes in, a savory, soft flavor really pops. Monkfish liver has its own rich, dense taste, so it felt completely different from eating regular gimbap.
On the first bite you get the seaweed aroma first, then the savory, deep flavor of the monkfish liver rises up after — I kept reaching for more! It had a salty edge that would go great as a drinking snack, and personally, of the three dishes, this was the one that stuck with me the most.
The salty gimbap and the savory monkfish liver really suited each other — I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes creamy textures!
Is Bada Yakbang Yeonnam worth it? Honest verdict
Overall, Bada Yakbang was a fun place because it takes seafood dishes you'd normally eat in a familiar way and gives them a twist! The abalone intestine cream pasta, the sesame sauce with the mackerel sashimi, the monkfish liver in gimbap — every single dish felt anything but ordinary, and I liked that haha.
If you love seafood, just picking what to order would be fun in itself. Next time I'd like to try other aged sashimi dishes, and I think I'd order the abalone intestine cream pasta again.
If you want something a bit different from the usual pasta or meat spots in Yeonnam-dong, I'd recommend Bada Yakbang 🐟🤍
Where it is
1F, 266-11 Dongyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 마포구 동교로 266-11 1층 바다약방
