Family dinner near Mangwon Market: sake-don and futomaki at Padong

I really love the Mangwon neighborhood. Wandering around Mangwon Market is fun in itself, the ingredients and food are so cheap, and there are so many delicious, good-vibe restaurants too~! So on this nice-weather day, I visited Mangwon.

There are so many good restaurants in Mangwon, but the Japanese place Padong seemed to be especially famous. So this time I went with my family! First off, the prices are really affordable. Mangwon's cost of living is so good~ And every single dish was so delicious, it was a great meal time haha. Let me start my honest review of Padong now~!

Where is Padong in Mangwon, and what are the hours?

🩷 Restaurant info

• Restaurant name: Padong
• Hours: 11:30–21:00
• Location: about a 3-minute walk from Mangwon Station Exit 2

This is the exterior of Padong. Padong Mangwon isn't far from Mangwon Station Exit 2. It's right by Mangwon Market.

The exterior is so pretty. The green, cute vibe really catches your eye~!

Inside Padong: bar seats for solo diners

This is the inside of Padong. The restaurant isn't very big.

There's a bar table too, so it looks good for solo dining in Mangwon. It's fun looking around at all the little cute props tucked everywhere.

The figurines are so cute lol.

Padong menu prices and what a family of four ordered

This is Padong's menu. Prices are on the affordable side. You can eat for just over ₩10,000 haha. We visited as a group of four, and here's what we ordered!

• Futomaki ₩16,000
• Kimchi cheese nabe ₩15,000
• Tuna rice bowl ₩15,000
• Salmon rice bowl ₩15,000
• Karaage ₩4,000
• Jim Beam highball ₩7,000
• Asahi ₩6,000

These are the basic side dishes. Simple.

All our ordered dishes arrived. So generous, right, hahaha.

Now let me review each dish one by one haha.

How was the salmon sake-don at Padong?

First up, the salmon rice bowl, sake-don. It's ₩15,000, and the salmon is laid on top very neatly and beautifully.

The salmon's freshness is really excellent.

Scoop up a big spoonful of rice, top it with a large piece of salmon, add wasabi, and eat — pure honey🩷

Even just the salmon alone is delicious!!! Dip it lightly in soy sauce and it melts in your mouth🫠

The salmon is really chewy and springy. So delicious~ I recommend the salmon sake-don!

Padong futomaki: size and what's rolled inside

Next dish, futomaki! It's ₩16,000, but it's really big for what it looks like haha.

It's a massive size you have to split into about three bites. At first I wondered if just these 5 pieces would fill me up, but seeing the size, I was convinced.

The contents are really substantial. There's tuna sashimi, fried shrimp, pickled radish, cucumber, and lots of egg. Colorful and pretty.

It's way too big to fit in one bite. Share it with others haha. The futomaki is delicious.

Tuna rice bowl at 15,000 won — is it good value?

The tuna rice bowl!! It's also so colorful and pretty ❤️🧡💛💚

It's loaded with tuna sashimi, flying fish roe, pickled radish, egg, and green onion.

I'll pop the egg yolk and mix it all up well.

Mixed together, it's pure honey. There's quite a lot of tuna sashimi too — for ₩15,000, this is total value for money!

Try wrapping it in seaweed. The saltiness of the seaweed makes it even more delicious. Highly recommend the tuna rice bowl too!

Kimchi cheese nabe with fried shrimp instead of tonkatsu

Next up, kimchi cheese nabe~ ₩15,000.

Usually kimchi nabe comes with tonkatsu, but here it comes with fried shrimp instead. There are three big pieces of fried shrimp in it.

Inside there's plenty of egg and cheese. There's more cheese than expected, so it's rich and savory!

The shrimp are big and chunky. The broth is delicious too, so we cleared the rice and broth in no time.

4,000-won karaage with a highball and Asahi

Freshly fried karaage is the best. It's ₩4,000.

Fried right when ordered, so it's really warm and so good ㅠㅜ Crispy outside, moist inside, so delicious ㅠㅠ

It's even better eaten together with the salad!

We also had cold beer and a highball. Jim Beam highball ₩7,000, Asahi ₩6,000, and both paired well with the food.

Final verdict on Padong, Mangwon

It was so delicious we cleared every single dish ✨ Ate so well haha. Overall the food was tasty and the prices were low, so Padong Mangwon left us very satisfied.

If you're looking for a good restaurant near Mangwon Market, a good rice bowl spot in Mangwon, a good salmon rice bowl/sake-don spot, or a Japanese restaurant in Mangwon, definitely give Padong Mangwon a visit~!