Mangwon Station Japanese restaurant for Jim Beam highballs: Padong

I visited Padong, a currently hot restaurant that nailed both the vibe and the food visuals!! 🍚🌿

From steak rice bowl to basil soba, karaage, and ebi fry!! Every single menu item looked so delicious that I ended up ordering everything I wanted to eat haha

What is Padong? Basics on this Japanese restaurant near Mangwon Station

Padong's main menu items are steak rice bowl, salmon rice bowl, and futomaki (seaweed rice roll). Clean Japanese dishes paired with highballs make it great for a date or just a casual drink with friends!

• Restroom: yes
• Parking: no

What to order at Padong on a first visit

If it's your first visit, I recommend the steak rice bowl!! Add a karaage or ebi fry on the side and a cold highball, and you're all set haha

Padong's menu and the order for this visit

Here's what we ordered today.

• Steak rice bowl
• Basil soba
• 5-piece karaage
• 2-piece ebi fry
• 2 Jim Beam highballs

Inside Padong: a basement dining room with an open kitchen

Padong's interior was clean overall, with an open kitchen! There was also a private restroom, which was convenient!

Padong's side dishes and the Jim Beam highball

The basic side dishes are pickled mountain peppers, pickled beet radish, miso soup, and water! They cook everything to order right away! The steak rice bowl comes out with a smoky char!! The kitchen was super clean too haha

Two Jim Beam highballs. For dishes like this, you can't skip a cold highball haha. One sip of the highball loaded with ice, and the sharp fizz cleaned my palate right up. Cheers~ and now I'm properly ready to eat!! haha It came topped with fresh lemon, which was refreshing~ It especially paired great with the fried dishes that came later, like the karaage and ebi fry!!

How does the steak rice bowl at Padong taste?

Finally, the steak rice bowl!! The moment I saw it, I thought there's no way this could taste bad ㅠㅠ A generous, appetizing pile of steak sitting on top of the rice!! It comes with fresh wasabi, green onion, egg yolk, and pickled ginger (beni shoga)!

The meat wasn't too chewy and was tender, perfect for a big bite with rice. The meaty aroma and the savory sauce soaked naturally into the rice, so my spoon kept going back for more haha. Loading a piece of steak onto a big spoonful of rice gave you full-on savory, salty umami!! A rice bowl really is best eaten with rice and meat together, right? haha. The portion was substantial too, so it was satisfying as a main dish!!

Padong's basil soba: how basil works with soba noodles

And the basil soba I was personally so curious about!! Basil on soba!! At first I couldn't quite imagine what it would taste like, but once I tried it, I was surprised at how well the combo worked!!

The fragrant flavor unique to basil spread through my mouth, and combined with the springy texture of the soba, it was incredibly refreshing 🌿 The basil aroma was intense. It seemed like they blended in fresh basil too. It felt completely different from the soba I usually eat!! If you love basil, you really need to try this one!! It's a flavor that kept coming back to mind haha

Padong's 5-piece karaage and 2-piece ebi fry

The karaage and ebi fry we ordered as sides showed up too!! The cabbage came drizzled with a Japanese-style oriental soy sauce dressing! The fried items came out freshly fried and were really hot!! Biting into it, the outside was crispy and the chicken inside was juicy, such a great texture. Fried food really is best eaten hot and fresh!! Perfect for sharing between two people!!

And the ebi fry that can't be left out!! Big, chunky shrimp fried up crispy, and I was surprised at how huge they were haha. The batter was crispy and the shrimp inside springy!! The crispy plus springy combo in every bite was so good ㅠㅠ Dipping it in the tartar sauce that came alongside made it insanely good haha

It has a different charm from the karaage, so if you like fried food, I'd recommend ordering both haha. Eating karaage, then ebi fry, and sipping on the highball in between — it was a genuinely happy combination!!

What stood out at Padong

• The steak rice bowl, hearty with tender steak and rice
• The basil soba, appealing for its fragrant basil and springy soba texture
• Satisfying side menu too, with crispy karaage and ebi fry
• A cold Jim Beam highball that pairs perfectly with the food
• Good variety since you can order from mains to sides
• Great for a date or a visit with friends!!

The steak rice bowl is hearty, and the basil soba is fragrant and refreshing, so ordering both together really let each one's distinct charm shine haha. Add crispy karaage and ebi fry plus a cold Jim Beam highball, and the combo was a total success!! If you visit Padong, definitely try the steak rice bowl + basil soba combo! 💕