Mapo course sashimi restaurant full by 6pm: Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada

Today I'm bringing you a review of a brand-new restaurant near Daeheung Station: Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada (제철담은 마포바다). It opened in September and the wait was already... genuinely brutal?

This wasn't some Instagram-famous, ad-driven place — it was full of actual local regulars, and I was so surprised. There were tons of customers in their 50s to 70s, and the vibe felt very much like a company dinner or family gathering. Once I visited, I immediately understood why it's this popular...

This spread was so generous it didn't even fit in one shot...! Let's get into my review of Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada, which I'd strongly recommend as a raw fish restaurant near Daeheung Station, haha.

Where is Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada? Hours and parking

Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada is at 1F Bonghwa Building, 104 Baekbeom-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, right in front of Daeheung Station Exit 3 — super accessible! It's even walkable from Gongdeok Station, so it's a perfect pick if you're near Gongdeok or Mapo. I visited on a weekday evening, so here's a detailed review covering hours, parking, the space, restroom, menu, prices, recommended dishes, and all sorts of tips!

• Hours: Mon–Fri 17:00–23:00 (closed every Tuesday, last order 21:30)
• Sat, Sun 12:00–23:00 (break time 15:00–17:00)
• Parking: not available (use nearby public parking lots)

• ✔️ Top-grade seafood prepared fresh daily, with generous, well-plated dishes
• ✔️ A hearty seafood and sashimi course for around ₩30,000+ per person
• ✔️ Recommended for Mapo Chuseok family gatherings
• ✔️ A Mapo spot for gizzard shad and grilled prawns
• ✔️ A Mapo seafood restaurant
• ✔️ Recommended for Mapo group dinners
• ✔️ Private hire available
• ✔️ Corkage allowed

The exterior of Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada, a raw fish restaurant in Mapo.

The tank out front tells you all you need to know about freshness — as befits a sashimi and seafood restaurant, it was packed with big, plump seafood. The tank itself was spotlessly clean too, which only boosted my trust further.

Full by 6pm on a weekday: why a reservation is essential

We visited on a weekday evening after booking ahead, and even though it was only 6pm, the place was already full...! Guests kept streaming in after us, and anyone without a reservation had to wait. A restaurant filling up this early... and it only opened in September, yet it's already become this famous! There were tons of grandmothers and grandfathers too — it already feels like it's settled in as a local favorite 🫪 If you're planning to visit, I really recommend calling ahead to reserve, haha.

The restroom was inside the restaurant so it was comfortable to use, and disposable aprons were provided too!

Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada menu and set prices

The menu was clean and clearly listed the dishes, composition, and prices, which made it easy to read, haha.

The signature dishes at Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada are the Signature Set (4 people) at ₩151,000, the Premium Set (4 people) at ₩129,000, and the Value Set (2 people) at ₩79,000! A course that lets you enjoy seafood, sashimi, and grilled prawns this generously for around ₩30,000+ per person — isn't that precious, haha. As you'll see from the dishes coming up, this place was seriously a bargain... 👍 À la carte ordering is of course available too, not just the set courses — fresh mixed sashimi, seasonal gizzard shad sashimi and grilled gizzard shad, grilled prawns, and live shrimp are all on offer at this Mapo favorite 🤍

2,000 won draft beer and 50% off the second bottle of wine

There was such a wide range of drinks that I'd genuinely recommend this place for group dinners! Slushy-cold draft beer, carefully selected sake and cheongju, domestic soju and beer — there's something for every taste, and they even offer 50% off from the second bottle of wine so you can enjoy it without worry.

Looking at the drinks fridge... they really had such a wide variety stocked, haha. If you order draft beer, the owner pours it for you personally, and even the glass looked ice-cold — a sight no beer lover could resist ordering 🍺 On top of that, the shockingly low price of ₩2,000 meant almost every table had ordered one, haha.

What comes in the 151,000 won signature set for four

What we ordered was the Mapo Bada Signature Set for ₩151,000. Doesn't it look incredibly generous just from the photo...! The surprising part is that this is only the start of the first course...!

The most fascinating part was how the table was set. Instead of placing each dish down one by one, they prep the banchan and seafood in the kitchen on a tray and then slide the whole tray directly onto the table! No wonder the table was so huge... 🫪

Banchan and abalone offal porridge to start

Starting with the lighter side dishes: corn salad, gungchae (a leafy vegetable) namul, fish cake, fried shrimp, fried sweet pumpkin, smoked salmon salad, and seaweed soup were all served!

Even the fried food was this crispy — how could I resist? 🍤 The shrimp was plump and so fresh, and with clean frying oil, the batter looked exactly as good as it tasted 🤍

You need carbs too ⭐️ Abalone offal porridge and live fish sushi were also served, and this abalone offal porridge... it was so rich, so nutty, genuinely delicious. The moment I tasted it I thought, I have to eat this with the spicy fish stew — so I held myself back and saved it until the very end, haha.

18 salt-grilled live shrimp and butter-grilled shrimp heads

Fall isn't fall without shrimp, right? Sorry to the live shrimp, but...

The grilled salted live shrimp came as 18 pieces, so there was plenty to share around without anyone feeling shortchanged. The staff member who peeled every single shrimp and plated them for us 🤍

The shrimp were genuinely huge and plump — I filled up fast. A day of eating my fill of grilled prawns 🤍

You can't eat grilled prawns without the butter-grilled shrimp heads! Once you gather the shrimp heads to one side, the owner takes them away and comes back with them butter-grilled ...⭐️

Mixed seafood plate: abalone, live octopus, sea cucumber, scallop, sea squirt

For seafood, we got abalone, live octopus, sea cucumber, scallop, and sea squirt. Sea squirt at raw fish restaurants usually has a strong fishy taste that I brace myself for, but Mapo Bada's sea squirt had genuinely no fishy taste at all and was so fresh and delicious?! Every single piece of seafood was top-notch in freshness 👍

Four-fish sashimi platter and my first taste of gizzard shad sashimi

And now, the star of the show 🤍 The mixed sashimi included in Mapo Bada's course consists of live shrimp, gizzard shad sashimi, and mixed sashimi. The mixed sashimi is served as the four freshest catches of the day, chosen from flounder, red sea bream (2kg+), rockfish, sea bass, and Japanese Spanish mackerel! And this was actually the first time I properly tried gizzard shad sashimi — I finally got to taste that texture and nutty flavor I'd only seen on Instagram ...🫪

The gizzard shad had a bit of a crunchy bite from the bones — it startled me at first, but the more I ate, the more addictive it got. It paired especially well with vinegar-chili sauce. That nutty gizzard shad flavor with the spicy-tangy sauce combo — amazing 👍

Including the live shrimp sashimi, every piece of raw fish was genuinely fresh and delicious. I personally prefer slightly thicker cuts over thinly sliced sashimi, and Mapo Bada's cuts were exactly the thickness I like, giving a better chewy texture too, haha. My favorite was the red sea bream ... genuinely the best texture, best flavor, so delicious! There's a reason places that older locals seek out become favorites... even though it just opened, it's already this famous, and I think that's all down to the taste, haha.

By this point I was starting to slow down my chopsticks from being full, but I was shocked to realize there was still so much more coming...

But the moment the butter-grilled shrimp heads arrived, filling the air with that nutty butter smell, I was reset.

I actually used to not be able to eat shrimp heads! But one day I tried a fried shrimp head rich with buttery, salty flavor and it was so nutty and delicious -!! That's when I started eating them, haha.

Boiled pork with radish kimchi and grilled gizzard shad

Normally the boiled pork and radish kimchi come in bigger portions, and the grilled gizzard shad comes as one fish per person — four total — but we were already about to burst, so we asked for smaller portions, haha. A generous restaurant where the customer is the one asking to eat less ... how rare is that these days, haha.

I didn't expect the saying that a real restaurant's kimchi is delicious to apply at a raw fish restaurant too ...?! But the kimchi was genuinely so good 🥹 It had a slightly Jeolla-do-style refreshing tang, and it went really well with the boiled pork, and surprisingly well with the sashimi too, haha. The boiled pork was tender and moist without any off smell at all! Whoever's cooking clearly has great hands... The grilled gizzard shad was my first time trying it, and it had noticeably many bones, haha. Personally, I felt eating it as sashimi let you enjoy the gizzard shad's nutty flavor and texture better ✔️

Finishing the course with spicy fish stew

No matter how full I am, I can never resist spicy fish stew! Even the stew was generous, so I ate it to my heart's content with the abalone offal porridge I'd saved until the end, haha. You know how spicy fish stew gets better the longer it simmers, right? Mapo Bada's stew got deeper and more delicious the more it simmered too.

Why Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada suits a Mapo team dinner or family meal

So many raw fish restaurants fall short on both value and satisfaction if you pick the wrong one! Sashimi is never a cheap dish 🥹 It's especially hard to find a genuinely great, affordable sashimi restaurant in Seoul where you can enjoy sashimi, seafood, and grilled prawns this generously — finding one at a brand-new Mapo spot felt like a real find ⭐️ You never know when it'll get so popular that reservations become impossible, so I'd recommend visiting soon!

That was my honest review of Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada, a course-style restaurant in Mapo! Paid for with my own money, and I'm fully planning to go back ✔️ Fall means gizzard shad and live shrimp are a must, so make sure to enjoy them before the season passes, haha 🤍 For anyone looking for a great sashimi spot in Mapo, a course-style restaurant in Mapo, a family gathering spot for the Chuseok holidays, or a group dinner place after work — Mapo Bada is a solid recommendation for all of you 🍀