Balsan Korean restaurant room time slots and 3 kimchi refills: Mikodam

Why Mikodam near Balsan Station was chosen for a friend's family birthday

We were spending the last day of the holidays together with a close friend's family~ turns out it was their birthday right on the last day of their trip. With kids in tow and barely enough time to unpack, let alone boil seaweed soup, I wanted to meet up and treat them to a meal as a way of saying thanks.

That's when Mikodam, a Magok-Balsan Station Korean restaurant with private rooms, caught my eye. The reason? They serve seaweed soup~ These days people tend to eat out for birthdays — parents' or kids' — rather than cook a birthday table at home, so having seaweed soup on the menu really won me over~

42 Gangseo-ro 54-gil, 1F Unit 2, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea / open 11:00–22:00

How to get the free large beef jeon on a birthday

At Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch, groups of 4 or more ordering the 4-person set get a large beef jeon (pan-fried beef) as a free birthday perk~

Just bring the birthday person along and confirm the birthday with a cake or ID~^^

Parking, the entrance and the dessert corner at Mikodam

We live nearby so we walked, but there's plenty of parking space right beside the building, plus a 24-hour attendant on duty, so it's easy to drive in too.

A big air conditioner greeted us at the entrance, so we walked in comfortably despite the heat~ There are baby chairs too, and warm popped corn, sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch), sikhye (sweet rice drink), and coffee waiting, so you can enjoy dessert properly after the meal.

Inside the restaurant

Being a newly opened Korean restaurant near Balsan Station, it was clean with an upscale interior~ All the staff were kind and told us to sit wherever felt comfortable. The space was spacious enough to seat groups from 4-person tables up to 20 people~

Private-room booking rules and time slots

Having a private room near Balsan Station makes for a nice, private meal~ I'd love to bring my parents here for a family dinner since they enjoy a drink or two. With a big ceiling AC unit, even a large group can eat comfortably in the heat.

Rooms can be booked for groups of 6 or more~ There are time limits for lunch slots 1 (11:00), 2 (12:30), 3 (14:00), and dinner slots 1 (17:00), 2 (19:00) — but if you want a longer meal, note that the 14:00 and 19:00 slots have no time limit.

The restroom

I liked that the restroom was inside the restaurant. Pull back the curtain and there's a separate hand-washing area and stalls, which I appreciated. It was clean enough to pop in and out during the meal.

You can also read up on the seaweed, Yeosu cockles, mackerel, and other ingredients used on the Mikodam menu. Individually wrapped utensils too — I really liked that~

Unlimited side dishes: kimchi refilled three times

Finally! The side dishes that arrived one by one passed the test on looks and smell alone — especially since I'd skipped lunch.

My favorite jeyuk bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork) and japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), plus the salad, were seasoned just right for me~ Since I was pairing the meal with a drink, the japchae made a great side for it!! haha

The last thing I reached for was the namul (seasoned vegetable side dishes) haha and it turned out to be a stroke of genius?? You can't dismiss it as basic — the bracken fern was unbelievably tender, it really surprised me.

Dried seaweed, stir-fried zucchini, pickled garlic, and kimchi were also laid out~ The reason I'd call this a genuine Magok-Balsan Station Korean restaurant is the kimchi — haha I think we refilled it three times?? haha

Beef seaweed soup vs flounder seaweed soup

Beef seaweed soup

Flounder seaweed soup. Personally, I'd push flounder seaweed soup over the beef version I usually eat~ Both are delicious, but this was my first time trying flounder... the umami was seriously impressive.

The birthday table: soy-marinated crab and cockle bibim

A neatly arranged birthday table — the soy-marinated crab was good enough to call it a soy crab specialty, so I'm definitely coming back for it ^^

Wrapping the cockle bibim in dried seaweed to eat is a real treat~ And yes, we refilled the seaweed three times too?~haha

All the side dishes were seasoned just right for me, and above all, seeing the birthday person say it suited their taste and eat happily made me feel proud^^

Mackerel is something we actually already had while camping, so I reached for it the least, but it showed the textbook version of soft, no-fishy-smell mackerel~^^

Since it was a 4-person family group, we ordered the 4-person set, but you could also split it into two 2-person sets~ That let us try cockle bibim two ways — soy-based and gochujang-based~ Personally, the soy version was my pick!! One of the best I've had~^^

Beef jeon is also included in the set, and the portion isn't small at all~ Honestly, with so many side dishes already, having so much variety and good flavor on top made for a really fun meal~^^

Even my husband, who has trouble with his teeth, ate the soy-marinated crab well~haha The crab shell meat was tender with no fishy smell at all. The soy-based sauce wasn't too salty, so we wrapped it in seaweed instead of using the separate soy sauce given.

The flounder seaweed soup especially was my first time trying it, and it was so, so good that I keep thinking about it~ Wow — the whole fish goes in and it's not fishy at all, how can it be this delicious?

Is Mikodam worth booking for a birthday?

Today I wrote an honest review after visiting a Magok-Balsan Station Korean restaurant with private rooms — the flounder seaweed soup moved me, and with unlimited side dish refills, I ate my fill and already want to go back~