Mapo Korean BBQ right at the 5pm reopening, clam beef gukbap: Usijang

Hi neighbors!! Your resident food-hunting piggy is back~🐷

Today I visited a place where the meat quality was on a whole different level — I nearly cried the second it hit my mouth. It's the best beef restaurant in Mapo!! Usijang Hoegwan, located in Dohwa-dong near Exit 3 of Mapo Station!!

This place is the ultimate Dohwa-dong beef specialist — they grill, slice, boil and simmer every part of the cow and lay it all out on one table! We did an opening-run style dash right as break time ended. 5pm is when break time ends, so I was already loitering around from 4:40 haha. The second the doors opened we walked in, ordered, and sat down — and right on cue, a wave of customers came pouring in like they'd been waiting too. My eyes went wide seeing that this place already had serious word-of-mouth buzz!! The restaurant has 50 seats so it's nice and spacious, with a retro vibe that makes it perfect for a Mapo Station work dinner or group gathering.

How to get to Usijang Hoegwan from Mapo Station, and where to park

Usijang Hoegwan is a 3-minute walk (260m) from Exit 3 of Mapo Station (Line 5), tucked in the Dohwa-dong alley behind Garden Hotel. From Gongdeok Station (Lines 5/6, Gyeongui-Jungang, Airport Railroad), it's a 10-minute walk from Exit 8, or you can walk from Gongdeok-oger toward Garden Hotel. It's just a 3-minute walk from right behind the Mapo Best Western Premier Garden Hotel.

If you're taking the local shuttle bus (Mapo01), catch it from Gongdeok Station / Mapo Samsung Apartment / Woosung Apartment direction, get off at the 'S Mart' stop, and it's a 2-minute walk.

If you're driving, search '15-10 Samgae-ro, Mapo-gu' or 'Usijang Hoegwan' on your navigation. There's dedicated parking in front of and beside the store. (If full, there's a paid public lot at the Dohwa-dong Community Center.)

Usijang Hoegwan at a glance: hours, address, seating

• Name: Usijang Hoegwan
• Address: 1F, 15-10 Samgae-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• 🚘 Parking: 2 spots in front, 2 beside, plus nearby public lots
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 10:00–22:00
• Break time 15:00–17:00
• Last order 21:30, open year-round

What Usijang Hoegwan looks like inside and out

Usijang Hoegwan menu and the 116,900 won 3-person set

Today's carefully chosen order was the assorted 3-person set (Usijang assorted platter + beef sashimi or yukhoe + 1 rice dish) — ₩116,900. I really wanted to try the raw clam beef soup, so I paid extra to swap the rice course for it.

After we arrived and ordered, the first thing that won me over was the water — hutgae (oriental raisin tree) tea straight up!! (How did they know I was out drinking last night?? Giving me the life-saving water haha.) Then the side dishes came out in a row.

Hanwoo 1++ No.9 kkuritsal beef sashimi: the best bite of the meal

The full set menu started coming out one by one, and the first thing to burst with chewy texture in my mouth was the clean, certified Gangwon-do hanwoo 1++ No.9 beef sashimi (yuksashimi)! Just look at the color and the marbling… that vivid red practically made me gasp out loud. I honestly like beef sashimi more than yukhoe. Tasting great without being covered in sauce is proof of freshness, you know? Foodie piggy here!

Apparently Usijang Hoegwan strictly follows a same-day slaughter, same-day prep principle — they refuse to serve anything unless it's fresh, and their pride in that was no joke! They only use the top-grade kkuritsal cut from certified No.9 hanwoo raised in a clean Gangwon-do region, and apparently this is a super rare specialty cut — only about 2kg comes from a single cow!!

I picked up a piece, added a touch of raw garlic and wasabi, and dipped it in sesame oil sauce — the chewy texture clung to my tongue and then just melted into this insanely nutty flavor in my mouth. ❤️

Every single dish in the set that day was delicious without exception, but honestly this beef sashimi was my top pick. If the raw meat was this good, don't even ask about the grilled stuff!! Ugh, even thinking about this sashimi now makes me want more — the more you chew, the more that clean, savory beef flavor explodes. I was gasping from the very first bite!!

Why to swap the rice course for clam and beef gukbap

Next up was the flavor that clears out all of yesterday's alcohol — the refreshing, deep raw clam beef soup (saengbajirak sogogi gukbap) — à la carte price ₩14,000. The soup I paid extra to swap in!! I'd already seen photos of this dish before coming and was determined to try it… and let me tell you… you guys really, absolutely must swap your rice course for this at Usijang Hoegwan. If you don't order it, you will regret it for life!! A huge bowl packed with tender boiled beef, plump fresh clams (they really dumped in a ton of clams…) piled on top of the meat, even more clams underneath that, and rice at the very bottom! The ingredients aren't just generous — they overflow the bowl.

The rich beef broth, simmered deeply for 12 hours, combined with the cool, sharp umami of the fresh clams made the soup absolutely insane... The second I took a spoonful, an involuntary "kyah-!" escaped me. The clear, spicy-ish broth cleanly wipes away the beef's fattiness, and it's the kind of flavor that both cures a hangover and makes you want another drink!! The clams made it so refreshing, and combined with the beef broth it became this deep-yet-refreshing flavor I loved — and the portion was so generous that two women could easily fill up on it. A guy with a big appetite eating it solo would be more than satisfied.

The Usijang assorted beef platter, grilled over charcoal

That charcoal smell hit different! The Usijang assorted platter (fresh galbisal + jin-galbisal + seasoned LA galbi). Once the sashimi got my appetite fully going, out came the main event — the charcoal-grilled assorted platter!! Top-grade chilled fresh galbisal, jin-galbisal with artistic marbling, and LA galbi coated in a perfectly sweet-and-savory sauce, all piled generously onto one big platter.

Meat is really only meant to be eaten grilled over charcoal, and Usijang Hoegwan uses a real charcoal grill where you can feel the full heat. The moment the meat hit the grill it made that sizzling sound, and the delicious smell filled the air — as the meat cooked, juices bubbled up on the surface, and I couldn't stop taking photos!! Truly delicious food photographs well too! The meat was glistening with juice.

I dipped the fresh galbisal and jin-galbisal in just a bit of salt and sent them straight to my mouth — the charcoal aroma locked in the juices so that the moment I bit down, they burst out (it was like a Yeouido fireworks festival happening in my mouth haha). Zero gamey smell or greasiness, and the depth of the nutty flavor was genuinely next level!

It was so tender it practically slid down my throat after barely a few chews 😭 (My friend who came with me, who normally doesn't eat much, said her stomach opened up today and ate a ton haha. She's clearly a girl but I swear a guy showed up in her place that day haha.) I understood immediately why a crowd came pouring in the second break time ended!! It's not for nothing that it's known as a top Mapo Station beef restaurant!

Seasoned LA galbi: room for it even when you are full

Last up, I grilled the seasoned LA galbi. Honestly, by this point I was so full I thought I couldn't eat any more, but the sweet, perfectly salty seasoned galbi hit different, and I was suddenly like "wait, grill more, now!!" haha. That's when I learned that just like there's always room for dessert, there's a separate stomach for seasoned galbi haha. The seasoning had soaked deep into every fiber of the meat, practically calling for rice! I grabbed the bone and gnawed the meat right off — the savory seasoning was no joke, hehe (suddenly turned into a caveman piggy).

Is Usijang Hoegwan good for a group or family dinner near Mapo Station?

Seeing customers flood in the second break time ended made me think, yep, this is definitely a real hidden gem — and after eating there myself, the meat quality was truly amazing and every single dish was top-tier!! It genuinely made me think of my family that day. Especially my mom!! I definitely want to come back here next time my family gets together.

From the melt-in-your-mouth hanwoo 1++ beef sashimi, to the charcoal-scented, great-value galbisal assortment, to the clean and spicy finish of the raw clam beef soup — this was the ultimate full course. It rivals any omakase or fancy tasting menu, honestly.

If you want to properly enjoy high-quality beef in Mapo's Dohwa-dong, or you're looking for a legit Mapo Station restaurant for a group dinner, run straight to Usijang Hoegwan!! Piggy recommends this with all my heart, boing!! (This is a genuine, genuine, genuine, genuine, genuine restaurant worth traveling to from anywhere, not just Mapo — the beef is incredibly fresh and high quality. It's become my absolute top pick among beef restaurants.)