Date-night beef restaurant in Mapo with sesame-oil wraps: Usijang

A Mapo Station beef restaurant review: raw beef and yuksashimi at Usijang Hoegwan

A while back I was trying to figure out where to eat around here, and I ended up at this restaurant near Mapo Station that I was really happy with — so here's a neighborhood-favorite review.

I went with my partner to Usijang Hoegwan, a beef restaurant near Mapo Station. It felt like a solid choice for a filling lunch, and also great for dinner with raw beef (yukhoe), yuksashimi, and cooked meat — basically a butcher-shop-style restaurant! Haha, wanted to record it here 🥩

Usijang Hoegwan near Mapo Station is also famous for its gukbap (soup with rice), and it seemed like a place that could satisfy people who like clear soup and people who like spicy soup alike. The tripe soup looked good too... but since I heard it was spicy, I decided to try the clear soup this time, hahaha. I definitely noticed a lot of people having a glass of soju alongside their yuksashimi 🍶

What is Usijang Hoegwan near Mapo Station like inside?

Usijang Hoegwan is a kkuritsal specialty butcher restaurant on Samgae-ro near Mapo Station. There was one parking spot open right in front, so I didn't have to worry much about driving over 🚗

When we arrived, the owner greeted us so energetically and kindly that it put me in a good mood right from the start.

He told us this place specializes in kkuritsal. I'd never heard of that cut before, but he explained it piece by piece, which made it easy to understand — and thanks to that, we could order without any stress over the menu.

Full-on old-market vibes inside, ha ha. There were young couples on dates like us, and quite a few older folks enjoying a drink with their meal too!

Usijang Hoegwan set menus: raw beef for one or two, soup included

You can even order raw beef solo! Haha. The set menus are good value for 1-person and 2-person portions, and you can customize the soup with all kinds of add-ons. Spicy soup, clear soup, tripe soup... plus the side-dish menu with boiled meat, yuksashimi, hot pot, and various cuts of beef — decision paralysis was real 🔥

We ordered two things: the Tupple no.9 kkuritsal perilla-leaf yuksashimi platter (55,000 won) and the clam beef soup (14,000 won)!

Kkuritsal perilla-leaf yuksashimi platter, 55,000 won

Usijang Hoegwan's Tupple no.9 kkuritsal perilla-leaf yuksashimi platter is 55,000 won. The owner personally explained how to wrap it in perilla leaves step by step, which honestly made it taste even better 😋

When the yuksashimi platter arrived, it was seriously generous just to look at.

Vegetables, herring roe, jeotgal (salted seafood), sesame oil, seasoned greens — all to go with the wrap. Choosing what to put in each wrap was honestly half the fun, ha ha. It's tasty even plain, but the flavor definitely changes depending on which side dish you tuck into the wrap, haha!

Plus, I was especially blown away by the sesame oil, haha. They said it's pressed fresh at a local sesame-oil mill. The nutty flavor was definitely rich and deep. They refilled the side dishes as much as we needed, and the vegetables were fresh too.

Being able to eat raw beef and yuksashimi at this quality for this price felt like really good value. My partner kept saying how satisfied she was even after finishing the whole platter.

Clam beef soup at Usijang Hoegwan, 14,000 won

The clam beef soup (bajirak sogogi gukbap) is 14,000 won, and since it's built on a clam broth base, it had a clean yet deep flavor.

And here it comes, ha ha ha. The visuals were amazing *_* I ordered it with no real expectations, just thinking 'it's a basic gukbap, whatever,' but the broth turned out to be genuinely special. Being clam-broth based, it was clean yet deep, and I kept going back for spoonful after spoonful! It's soup with rice instead of noodles, so it felt even more filling, and it was a flavor I hadn't tasted anywhere else — really refreshing, haha.

🍲 It was loaded with plenty of meat and plenty of clams, so we ate until we were completely full. Even split between the two of us, the portion wasn't lacking at all — if anything, there was enough left over that it felt generous.

Is Usijang Hoegwan worth it for raw beef and soup in Mapo?

Usijang Hoegwan had plenty of people having a glass of soju with their yuksashimi, and just as many people casually stopping in for a comfortable bowl of soup. Watching that, I couldn't help but think, 'why don't I live around here...' — genuinely a little disappointed I don't, ha ha ha ha.

My partner and I left completely full, and it made for a satisfying meal out after a while. If you're looking for a beef restaurant near Mapo Station, I'd definitely recommend this one :)