Gangseo Korean restaurant with beef jeon: Mikodam Magok-Balsan

A generous Korean set meal near Balsan Station

I was in the Balsan Station area for an appointment, and found this lovely Korean restaurant with a great atmosphere and a generously filled table, so I had to visit.

The restaurant I visited today is Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch (미꼬담 마곡발산점). It is at 1F, Unit 2, 42 Gangseo-ro 54-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and is open daily from 11:00 to 22:00.

If you are driving, you can park in the parking building beside the restaurant for free for three hours. By public transit, it is within a four-minute walk from Exit 4 of Balsan Station.

Private-room reservations and time slots

The clean, sophisticated interior really stood out. The tables were nicely spaced apart, and partitions separated the areas well, which I loved. There are also private rooms, so it seems like a great place for family gatherings or all kinds of events.

There are two private rooms, available after making a Naver reservation. One accommodates 9 to 12 people, and the other 6 to 20. There are time limits for private-room use: lunch has three sittings at 11:00, 12:30, and 14:00, while dinner has sittings at 17:00 and 19:00. If you would like a longer meal, reserve the 14:00 lunch sitting or the 19:00 dinner sitting, which have no time limit.

How to choose a Korean set meal

• 2-person Korean set meal: ₩46,000
• 3-person Korean set meal: ₩62,000
• 4-person Korean set meal: ₩92,000
• With a set meal, choose beef, flounder, or abalone seaweed soup; abalone is an extra ₩4,000
• Choose cockles with savory soy sauce seasoning or vinegar dressing
• Choose beef jeon, Jeju yellow crab soy marinade, or LA galbi as the side; LA galbi is an extra ₩20,000

Just choose according to your preferences.

They also have a review event, so please refer to the photo above.

Beef seaweed soup, cockles, and beef jeon in our 3-person set

We ordered the 3-person Korean set meal today. We chose beef seaweed soup, one serving of cockles with savory soy sauce seasoning and one with vinegar dressing, plus beef jeon as the side.

A bowl finished in no time, just with the banchan

The basic banchan (Korean side dishes) served with the set included a cold dish, pickles, napa cabbage kimchi, gim (roasted seaweed), grilled fish, three kinds of seasoned vegetables, dressed lettuce, japchae, and spicy pork. The whole table was set so generously! Every dish was neatly presented, and the seasoning on the three vegetable dishes, japchae, and pork was just right. Honestly, I felt like I could finish a whole bowl of rice with the side dishes alone.

Best of all, you can get refills of the side dishes without feeling awkward about it.

Rich beef seaweed soup

The dishes we selected kept coming out, too. First was the beef seaweed soup, which had plenty of meat and seaweed, making the broth rich. There was so much that even after three people ate, some was left. My two-year-old nephew must have liked it too—when I mixed rice into the soup for him, he ate it really well.

Mild soy sauce cockles and tangy vinegar-dressed cockles

The second dish, cockles in savory soy sauce, was not salty and had a mild flavor that made it easy to enjoy. Mix it with rice, wrap it in the gim served alongside, and it is the best! 💛

The third dish, cockles with vinegar dressing, was not overly intense and had a nicely tangy, addictive flavor. If you want a clean taste that lets the cockles shine, choose the savory soy sauce seasoning; if you prefer a tangy, refreshing seasoning, choose the vinegar dressing.

The best dish: beef jeon

The final selected dish, beef jeon, had tender meat with a deep meaty aroma, and it became nuttier the more I chewed. It was delicious enough to call this a beef-jeon specialty restaurant, and it was my number-one pick. My boyfriend enjoyed it so much that he ordered an extra bowl of rice and cleared two whole bowls!

After the meal, we thoroughly enjoyed the finishing drink and warm gangnaengi (puffed corn), too. If you are looking for a place near Balsan Station for a family meal, gathering, or date, give Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch a visit. It is a neat Korean restaurant with great food—the kind of place that would earn you compliments for bringing your parents along!