Seoul Botanic Park restaurant with shrimp peeled for you: Jju Baksa

Today I'm sharing my review of Jju Baksa Magok Branch, a hot plate octopus restaurant near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station with outdoor seating, which I stopped by after a walk through Seoul Botanic Park.

Jju Baksa Magok Branch

Where is Jju Baksa Magok Branch, and what about parking and hours?

🏡Location: 23 Magokdong-ro 10-gil, 1st floor unit 130, Daebang DMC 2 Officetel, Gangseo-gu, Seoul

⏰Hours: 11:00–01:00

🚗Parking: free for 2 hours in the building's underground parking lot

Jju Baksa, a hot plate octopus restaurant in Magok with outdoor seating, is a 3-minute walk from Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station Exit 8, so it's close to the subway too, and it's right next to Seoul Botanic Park with parking available — great accessibility.

What are the outdoor evening tables in Magok like?

This is the outside of Jju Baksa Magok Branch near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station. Even from outside you could see a row of outdoor tables set up, giving it that Magok outdoor-dining feel worth waiting for on a nice day.

Jju Baksa Magok Branch is great for having a drink and eating octopus outdoors on a nice day like these lately, and visiting in the evening made the outdoor atmosphere even better. If the weather's nice, I definitely recommend the outdoor seats❣️

This is the inside of Jju Baksa, the octopus restaurant near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station. There are plenty of tables inside too, making it a perfect spot for dinner after a date at Seoul Botanic Park. On the day I visited, the weather was so nice that most guests seemed to be eating at the outdoor tables haha.

Jju Baksa Magok Branch menu and how to pick a spice level

This is the octopus menu at Jju Baksa near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station in Magok.

• ✔️Rose octopus
• ✔️Hot plate jjusamsae (octopus, pork belly, shrimp)
• ✔️Hot plate jjuwoosam
• ✔️Hot plate jjusamgyeop
• ✔️Hot plate octopus

True to its name as a hot plate octopus specialist, Jju Baksa Magok Branch had a variety of octopus dishes ready to go, and

📍Octopus spice level: mild, medium, spicy

there was a spice level option for people who can't handle spicy food — the mild option was about as spicy as Shin Ramyun.

QR code ordering and the self-serve side dish bar

Since we sat outdoors, we could order conveniently via the QR code on the table, and after a short wait, the side dishes came out one by one. There was a nice variety to go with the octopus — pickled radish, perilla leaves, cellophane noodle salad, bean sprouts, mayonnaise, and corn kernels — great for pairing with each bite. If any side dish ran low, you could just grab more from the self-serve bar inside as needed, which was convenient.

Hot plate jjusamsae for two, stir-fried by the staff

🍽️Hot plate jjusamsae

I ordered jjusamsae for two at Jju Baksa Magok Branch. The hot plate came loaded with octopus, pork belly and fresh shrimp — it looked delicious just from the visuals alone.

At this octopus restaurant near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station in Magok, the staff mixed and stir-fried the octopus, pork belly and shrimp together until the jjusamsae was done, so I could just relax and wait to eat. The smell at this point was seriously... 🤤

Once the hot plate jjusamsae was fully cooked, the staff topped it with bean sprouts. The octopus itself was just the right amount of spicy and chewy, and adding the bean sprouts brought a crunchy texture that made it even better. With jjusamsae you get octopus, pork belly and shrimp all at once, and since each has a different texture, it was fun picking through them.

Start with the cheese rice cake while it's hot

The rice cake on top of the octopus at Jju Baksa in Magok is a cheese rice cake, and the cheese inside stretches so satisfyingly that I recommend eating it first while it's still hot!

The staff peel the shrimp for you

The staff peeled the shrimp all the way, making them easy to eat. I usually skip shrimp because peeling it is such a hassle, but having it prepped like this meant I could just pick it up and eat — so convenient haha.

Personally, my favorite combo was piling pickled radish on a perilla leaf with octopus and pork belly inside. Octopus really does taste best wrapped in a leaf haha✨

Cheese egg custard on the side, cheese fried rice to finish

🍽️Cheese egg custard

For a side dish at Jju Baksa, the octopus restaurant in Magok, I ordered cheese egg custard. The fluffy egg custard was piled high with cheese, making it great to eat in between bites of octopus.

Since the octopus is quite spicy, the cheese egg custard softened the heat nicely, so I'd recommend ordering one alongside it if you can't handle too much spice!

🍽️Cheese fried rice

The octopus portion at Jju Baksa near Yangcheon Hyanggyo was so generous that we were already full, but as any Korean would, we couldn't resist finishing with cheese fried rice. Adding cheese to the flavorful octopus sauce made it savory and spicy — the kind of taste you keep eating even when you're full. If you visit Jju Baksa Magok Branch, the cheese fried rice comes highly recommended..✨

Is Jju Baksa Magok Branch worth a visit?

That wraps up my review of the hot plate jjusamsae at Jju Baksa, the hot plate octopus restaurant near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station in Magok. Eating octopus in that great outdoor atmosphere made it taste even better, and having the staff cook it right in front of us meant we could just relax and chat while eating. If you're looking for a good octopus restaurant near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station or Seoul Botanic Park, I recommend a visit to Jju Baksa Magok Branch :)