Siheung Korean restaurant with new octopus-beef gopchang: Maepsi Nakji

Today I'm writing about a Korean restaurant near Mulwang Lake in Siheung: Maepsi Nakji Mulwang Reservoir Main Branch (맵시낙지 물왕저수지본점) :)

Maepsi Nakji Mulwang Reservoir: location, hours and parking

Maepsi Nakji is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, and there's free parking in front. It's on the right side of the Starbucks Mulwang Lake building, so it's not hard to find.

• 📍 Address: 80 Mulwang-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00 - 21:00
• 🅿️ Parking: Free in front of the restaurant, right side of the Starbucks Mulwang Lake building

This great-value spot by Mulwang Lake was totally packed on the weekend. Maybe because it's a place people bring their parents, there were lots of family tables, and apart from one or two tables it was full!

What's on the Maepsi Nakji menu?

The main new item is the stone-plate octopus and beef intestines (nakji sogopchang). Octopus plus beef intestines, so it feels totally generous!

The signature stone-plate octopus comes in sizes for 2, 3 or 4 people, and there's also octopus with pork neck, which adds pork neck to the stone-plate octopus.

For dishes to share, there's clam soup, a 35cm octopus-shrimp pancake and even a whole pork loin cutlet! Kids who can't eat octopus can have the pork cutlet, so Maepsi Nakji is a good Mulwang-ri pick for a family get-together!

Side dishes include a 35cm acorn pancake, crab stick fritters and chili japchae dumplings. The 35cm acorn pancake is only ₩3,000, so it's a total bargain.

If you save the place on Naver Place and join the receipt review event, you get one puffed rice snack per person, so be sure to take part~!

What can you refill at the Maepsi Nakji self-serve bar?

At the self-serve bar you can help yourself to side dishes, white rice, nurungji (scorched rice tea) and soft tofu as much as you like. The bar is really neat and tidy. Basic side dishes come to the table, and you can refill whatever runs out here~

White rice comes with the stone-plate octopus by default, but it's also at the self-serve bar, so the rice is unlimited too haha

My favorite point was that they have nurungji too! Warm nurungji before or after the meal was so good~!

There's soft tofu as well, which is great to have before the meal. The bar is clean and tidy, so it feels like a place older folks would like.

Here's the basic side dish lineup: cabbage salad, cold seaweed and cucumber soup, white kimchi, bean sprouts and perilla leaves!

Maepsi Nakji's 35cm octopus-shrimp pancake: size and taste

We ordered the 35cm octopus-shrimp pancake to share! I was really surprised when I saw the size.. it was much bigger than I expected..

The onion soy sauce for dipping was tangy and went well with the pancake.

The octopus-shrimp pancake at Maepsi Nakji is packed with scallions, so it was so good. Some places serve a pancake that's mostly flour, but this Mulwang-ri spot is loaded with ingredients, so it felt really generous!

The underside of the pancake is made with egg batter, so it felt more mild and nutty? It was heartier than an ordinary pancake, and tasty. It's full of octopus and shrimp too, so absolutely delicious~

How spicy is the mild stone-plate octopus with beef gopchang?

For the main dish, the stone-plate octopus and beef intestines, you can choose mild or spicy, and I ordered mild. Mild is less spicy than Shin Ramyun.

It comes out sizzling and bubbling on the stone plate, and the look of it is totally great!

It's loaded with a plump whole octopus and beef intestines, so it's a really tasty octopus stir-fry! The octopus isn't tough at all, it's springy and tender, so good.

Since I ordered mild, it wasn't too intense, and I could even eat it as my first meal of the morning without any trouble, which I liked!

Wrapping it in a perilla leaf like this makes it even better! Be sure to add onion and bean sprouts to the wrap~

Even I, who don't usually like gopchang (beef intestines), enjoyed these, with no gamey smell at all! But the octopus is the real star over the gopchang, so next time I visit I'll order octopus only haha

Turning leftover sauce into bibimbap in a brass bowl

Maepsi Nakji also brings white rice in a metal bowl, and mixing it with bean sprouts like this makes it even better! The sauce comes in generous amounts with no shortage, so it was perfect for bibimbap (mixed rice).

Who should you bring to Maepsi Nakji in Siheung?

Maepsi Nakji is a great-value spot by Mulwang Lake in Siheung and a perfect place when you're craving Korean food in Mulwang-ri. I especially recommend it for family get-togethers and for taking your parents👍