Magok Korean restaurant with rice-cooker popped corn: Mikodam

Lately I find myself looking for places where I can grab a proper, clean meal with a friend. This time we went to Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch near Balsan Station.

It's set up like a full Korean table spread, but you actually get to pick each dish to your own taste — my friend and I ate really well there.

How to walk to Mikodam from Balsan Station exit 4, and where to park

Address: 1st floor, 42 Gangseo-ro 54-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch is close to exit 4 of Balsan Station, so it was easy to find.

Parking is available too — right next door there's a 4-story parking building that fits up to 77 cars.

Maybe because it's a newer spot, the interior felt really clean and tidy! The seats were nice and spacious too.

There's also a separate room, which I thought would work well for family meals, important dinners, or a Balsan Station work dinner.

How do you build the Mikodam two-person set?

We ordered the popular 2-person set. "Set" doesn't mean fixed dishes though — you actually choose the seaweed soup, cockle bibim, and side dish to your taste.

• Abalone seaweed soup: choice of beef, flounder, or abalone
• Cockle bibim: choice of soy sauce seasoning or vinegar seasoning
• Side: choice of beef jeon, Jeju soy-marinated crab, or LA galbi

Here's what we picked: abalone seaweed soup + soy-marinated cockle bibim + beef jeon. Being able to customize like this in small ways was more satisfying than I expected.

What arrives on the table: Mikodam's set spread and portion sizes

The food arrived filling the whole table, and it looked so appetizing from the start. Once we tasted it, you could immediately tell the ingredients were fresh and good.

You could tell every ingredient was carefully chosen. They use premium Wando seaweed, top-grade Beolgyo and Yeosu cockles, Sindongjin rice, and Norwegian mackerel. Tasting it, I understood why they emphasize the ingredients so much. The seaweed soup and cockle bibim especially had that quality you could just feel. And on top of that, they didn't skimp — everything was generously portioned.

The abalone seaweed soup had a hearty piece of abalone and loads of clam meat inside, so we enjoyed the broth to the last drop.

Mackerel also came as a basic side dish, and I was genuinely surprised at how big it was,

and the beef jeon felt upscale — glad we picked it as our side.

The japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) was tasty too.

The highlight: soy-marinated cockle bibimbap wrapped in gopchang gim

Personally, the most memorable dish was the cockle bibim. The cockle meat was plump and springy, and the soy sauce seasoning paired with it perfectly.

Then we wrapped the cockle bibimbap in the gonjjari gim (seasoned laver) that came with it, and... that was it, game over. My friend and I kept saying

"This place is so good." "Seriously delicious."

I lost count of how many times we said it, haha. Apparently side dishes (aside from the main menu items) can be refilled, and you can easily request them from the kiosk, which was convenient too.

Warm popped corn from a rice cooker at Mikodam's dessert corner

After the meal, dessert is ready and waiting too. There's plum juice and sikhye, plus you can help yourself to warm popped corn — kept warm in an actual rice cooker! I thought, this owner really knows how to feed people, haha. Being warm made it taste even better. We wrapped things up cleanly with a cup of plum tea at the end.

Who should book Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch near Balsan Station?

Overall the food was generous and the ingredients clearly fresh, and being able to customize the menu made the meal even more satisfying. The place is clean and the seating comfortable, so it's also good for family meals or group gatherings,

and if you're looking for good Korean food near Balsan Station or Magok, or a clean Korean set-menu restaurant near Balsan Station, it's worth a visit. If you're specifically looking for a place with a private room, this one is worth remembering as a Balsan Station Korean set-menu recommendation.