Chinese food near Mapo Station: Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok

A quick visit to a Chinese restaurant near Mapo Station with a friend

Today’s highly recommended spot is a Chinese restaurant serving a wide range of dishes and meal options at reasonable prices! It is incredibly close to Exit 3 of Mapo Station, so I saved it as a place I’ll be visiting often. First of all, the access is excellent.

I usually love Chinese food, and I happened to see that there was a highly reviewed Chinese restaurant near Mapo Station. I had plans to meet a friend at Mapo Station, so we popped over right away, haha.

That place was Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok Mapo Branch (임사부 중화요리 몽콕 마포점), where we really did enjoy delicious dishes just like the reviews said, at prices that felt easy on the wallet.

A wide menu with kind prices

Here is the menu at Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok, a Mapo Station favorite. I was surprised by how many different choices there were. It was genuinely fun just picking what to eat, haha.

And then I looked at the prices—huh? Are these prices right? They were so affordable~ My friend and I said, “Wow, this place is really well priced!” about ten times, then decided to order everything we wanted, haha.

A lively interior with an evening wait

This is the atmosphere inside Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok, a Mapo spot for drinks. We arrived a little before 6 PM, and there were already lots of people inside. I was surprised, haha. We left after 7 PM, and there was even a wait by then. It made me think, wow, this really is such a hot Mapo Station restaurant these days. Once you taste it, you’ll understand why it is so popular, haha. You’ll be thinking, “This flavor at this price? Nice!” >_<

In particular, mala xiang guo (spicy Sichuan-style stir-fry), mapo tofu, and three-delicacy seafood jjamppong (spicy noodle soup) are said to be the popular dishes here. I normally love mala xiang guo, so I was looking forward to it, but it was sold out that day ㅠㅠ Apparently it is their number-one popular dish, haha. I can’t even imagine how good it must be... I’ll have to come back to Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok for the mala xiang guo, haha.

On top of that, there was a wide selection of dishes, including truffle fried meat and fried eggplant in fish-fragrant sauce, which was great.

It seems popular as a Mapo Station restaurant because you can order a variety of dishes to go with drinks and enjoy a glass or two~

The restaurant was spacious and pleasant, and the staff were kind~ It also looked suitable for a family gathering or a group work dinner. I’m definitely going to recommend this as a gathering spot next time, haha.

There was also a broad selection of alcohol, so you could taste and enjoy different drinks. Picking drinks to suit each person’s taste and ordering a variety of dishes to pair with them—it’s two birds with one stone, haha.

Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok was created by Chef Im Jeong-hun, formerly of the Michelin-selected Chinese restaurant at Lotte Hotel, together with his students. That made me even more excited to visit, but goodness, it exceeded my expectations~ My friend and I kept saying we absolutely had to come back. My friend saved it too and said she would return later with her husband, haha.

Mapo tofu so savory we mixed it with a bowl of rice

Mapo tofu

The first dish we ordered was mapo tofu. Everyone, I highly recommend this one!!! You have to try the mapo tofu at Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok near Mapo Station~ The savory depth was unbelievable, haha. It is the kind of flavor that keeps coming back to you. We even ordered a bowl of rice and enthusiastically mixed it in... Ahh, a Mapo Station Chinese restaurant that really knows how to make mapo tofu!

Chinese omelet with shrimp and sriracha mayo

Chinese omelet

My friend was curious about it, so we ordered the Chinese omelet! Plump shrimp sat on top of softly cooked eggs, with sriracha mayo alongside. It was light but also pleasantly sweet and spicy.

The mapo tofu and Chinese omelet made such a good pairing. I was curious about the other dishes too, but saved them for another time. But I could not resist the temptation of dim sum..

Soft and chewy half-and-half dim sum

Half-and-half dim sum

Finally, we added just the half-and-half dim sum, haha. Seriously, why was the dim sum so good? I have had plenty of dim sum at other restaurants too, but the dim sum at Im Sabu Chinese Cuisine Mongkok, this Mapo Chinese restaurant and drinking spot near Mapo Station, is the best.. The wrapper was truly soft and chewy... I left having saved it as a restaurant I absolutely have to visit again next time~