Weekday 6pm dinner for two at Padong, a Mangwon Japanese restaurant

Padong

Location: 47 World Cup-ro 17-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, semi-basement floor Hours: 11:30–21:00 (Closed every Monday) Takeout Reservations Group bookings available No parking

How to get to Padong: 3 minutes from Mangwon Station Exit 2

Padong, a Japanese restaurant tucked into the Mangwon Market alley, is a three-minute walk from Mangwon Station Exit 2. Head straight toward the market, and when you spot Jangmonim Myeolchi Guksu (장모님멸치국수), turn left.

It's listed as being on the basement floor, but it's more of a semi-basement — you walk down a short flight of stairs to get in.

At the entrance there's a menu board and a waiting list. Apparently it gets a wait on weekends. You can reserve ahead through the Catch Table app, so I'd recommend booking before you go, haha.

Cold soba and nabe are new on the menu, and the prices look decent! Also, futomaki is available for takeout — perfect for a picnic at Mangwon Hangang Park.

Inside Padong: basement space and seating for two

The interior isn't large, and it's mostly two-person tables. It's woody in tone with cute little props scattered around, giving off that charming, cozy feel that Japanese restaurants often have.

When we arrived around 6pm on a weekday, two other tables were already eating.

There are also counter seats, so it wouldn't be bad for solo dining either.

There are cute little details scattered throughout — fun to spot as you look around.

Padong menu and prices: what two people ordered

Here's the menu board. Mostly one-bowl Japanese dishes like rice bowls and soba, plus futomaki, and sides of karaage and fried shrimp. Drinks range from ades and soda to beer and highballs. There were two of us, and we ordered as follows.

• Futomaki (₩16,000)
• Tuna rice bowl (₩15,000)
• Steak rice bowl (₩13,000)
• Fried shrimp (2pc) (₩4,000)

We each got our own rice bowl and planned to share the futomaki, haha.

Basic table setting — water was brought over right after we ordered.

Next came the clear soup, pickled radish, and pickled chili — the soup was mild and warm, perfect for soothing a hungry stomach.

How the tuna rice bowl, fried shrimp and futomaki tasted

My tuna rice bowl was genuinely generous. They told me to remove the wasabi and mix everything together. Pickled radish, flying fish roe, rolled egg, scallions, egg yolk, and seaweed — such a loaded bowl.

The fried shrimp side came with sauce, shredded cabbage, and two big fried shrimp. The batter was super crispy, and dipping it in the sauce was so good — fried food alone can be a bit heavy, but the cabbage salad on the side balanced it out nicely.

Then the futomaki arrived, and I was genuinely surprised by how big it was. It doesn't look that huge in photos, but it's too big to eat in one bite!

Inside was tuna sashimi, fried shrimp, shiso leaf, fried tofu, burdock root, dried gourd strips, cucumber, and rolled egg. The shiso leaf gave it a flavor that set it apart from other shops' futomaki. And the ingredients were big and gave the roll a really varied texture.

This end piece was the real deal — packed so full of tuna it looked like it was about to burst. Well, it kind of already had.

On a spoon, it looks something like this. Pretty tough to eat in one bite, but futomaki really needs to go in whole for the full flavor, so I pushed it in with a spoon. The combination of fresh tuna sashimi, the savoriness of the fried shrimp, and the crunch of pickled radish, burdock, and cucumber was amazing.

A generous spread — though my boyfriend's steak rice bowl hadn't come out yet.

I started with my tuna rice bowl first. Skip the wasabi, break the yolk, and mix it all together.

Mixing it up, I was surprised at how much sashimi there was — long, thick-cut pieces of tuna, so much of it. The pop of the flying fish roe and the crunch of the pickled radish — such a delicious tuna rice bowl!

And here's the steak rice bowl my boyfriend ordered — nicely grilled flank steak on top. Same deal, skip the wasabi and mix it in. This was also delicious, but since I'm a seafood person, the tuna rice bowl wins for me! Both the futomaki and the tuna rice bowl were so good — I'd recommend Padong.