Mangwon wine bar with crab innards pasta and flatfish ceviche: SIPO

Today I'm bringing you a review of SIPO (시포), a Mangwon wine bar with a really pretty dining atmosphere. I'd heard SIPO used to have a course menu, so I went, but now they run an unlimited wine event instead. The courses are gone, and in their place you get higher-quality dining food. It's a lovely Mangwon wine bar.

SIPO opening hours and closing days in Mangwon

SIPO is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and from 12 noon to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Break time is 15:00–17:00, and it is closed every Monday.

• Tue–Fri: 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
• Sat–Sun: 12:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
• Break time: 15:00 – 17:00
• Closed every Monday

Where is SIPO? 5 minutes on foot from Mangwon Station Exit 2

SIPO, a Mangwon dining wine bar with a really lovely atmosphere, is about a 5-minute walk from Mangwon Station Exit 2. It's right next to the famous Sogeumjip Deli (소금집델리), so if you often hang out in Mangwon, it's not hard to find.

Inside SIPO: is it good for an anniversary date?

SIPO, which I recommend as a Mangwon dining spot, has a really pretty interior. It's a great choice for an anniversary date. The space is modest, but that's exactly why you can enjoy it quietly. It's a Mangwon wine bar I'd like to keep all to myself.

SIPO menu and unlimited wine price

You can browse SIPO's whole menu by scanning the QR code on the table. What caught my eye was today's pasta. On the day I visited, there was roe pasta, crab innards pasta and a few more. I was so busy agonizing over which of those two to pick that I don't remember the other dishes.

Here's what I ordered!

• Today's pasta – crab innards pasta
• Flatfish ceviche & anglerfish liver (ankimo)
• Strawberry soup
• Extra bread
• Non-alcoholic wine

Since this is a Mangwon wine bar, drinks are a must, and I loved that adding ₩15,000 on weekdays or ₩20,000 on weekends gets you unlimited wine. But I didn't really feel like drinking much, and luckily there was one non-alcoholic wine, so I added that.

SIPO non-alcoholic wine: a sweet, apple-scented wine

The non-alcoholic wine was served first. My rule is that wine has to be sweet, and luckily this one was a tasty non-alcoholic wine with an apple aroma. It had a decent wine character and went well with the food, so I was really happy with that choice.

Flatfish ceviche & anglerfish liver: the first plate, sauce scraped clean

The first dish out at SIPO was the flatfish ceviche & anglerfish liver. Salt-cured flatfish was arranged around the plate with the anglerfish liver in the middle. They told me to squeeze lemon juice over it. It was good enough without the lemon, but the lemon added a nice freshness. It was so good that I scraped up every bit of the sauce.

Strawberry soup and extra bread: you have to try the bread

Next came the strawberry soup and the extra bread.

SIPO's strawberry soup is topped with ricotta cheese, and they told me to eat the two together. It tastes a little like strawberry purée, and it goes so well with the ricotta that it was one of the dishes I enjoyed most.

The bread came out with the strawberry soup, so I put some on top and it was quite good. Then I thought the bread itself must be the good part, so I tried another piece plain, and I was right. Good bread baked golden and soft just can't taste bad... Seriously, if you go to SIPO, do try the bread. The flavor is no joke.

Beef tartare from the Naver review event

Next up was beef tartare. It's the dish SIPO offers for its Naver review event, and I wrote a review and got two pieces. Since the quality of the other dishes is already guaranteed, the beef tartare was just as good. Highly recommended!

Crab innards pasta that feels like a main: are the portions generous?

The dish that felt a bit like the main was today's pasta, the crab innards pasta. Honestly, I love this kind of pasta, where the ingredients have to be on the luxurious side, far more than ordinary pasta. Isn't that the charm of a Mangwon wine bar? If you want to drink good wine, I think the dining food has to be just as good.

The pasta made with crab innards was topped with grated cheese and even salmon roe. The way it balances the flavors of pasta and seafood was really appealing.

There was even rosemary on top, so it looked really pretty, and above all, the portion was big. At other dining places they often give you only a little, but SIPO gives this much at this price, so the owner seems truly serious about the food. I enjoyed it so much that I'd recommend SIPO, a Mangwon dining spot, as an anniversary date course too.