Korean pub by Mangwon Market with ₩5,000 draft makgeolli: Baennori

Baennori in Mangwon is my favorite hideout-style Korean pub in Mangwon-dong.

A humble mood that makes every sip taste better, plus reasonably priced anarchy-free snacks, everything pulled in the same direction. Here's a gourmet's drinking spot to introduce to you 🧡

Where Baennori is in Mangwon and how to get there

Baennori is a Korean pub within walking distance if you go straight from Mangwon Station Exit 1. It's a perfect stop after wandering around Mangwon Market, so that's where I sat down today 🙇🏻‍♀️

A visit to Baennori, a Mangwon pub with lots of tasty Korean snacks (anju)!

What's the atmosphere at Baennori like?

Baennori was already bustling from early on a weekday evening. The food is good enough to run a first round with a meal and drinks and then a second round, and the basement space isn't noisy, with a stylish vibe and really great music.

Window seats in the half-basement

Baennori is a Korean pub made by converting a half-basement-style space, so seeing the street level through the window with its charm is a highlight too :) Sitting in a window seat actually gives a bit of an outdoor-market-stall (yajang) mood, so stylish •••

Baennori's menu and prices

The snack and meal menu is priced so kindly (under ₩10,000–₩20,000) that you'd think it was a menu from ten years ago. It's a place where booking ahead is better, and the ingredients were varied: Korean beef, octopus, seafood, chicken and more.

It's built on traditional liquor, so besides what's on the menu there was also takju (cloudy rice liquor), and this Mangwon pub stocks traditional-liquor highballs and the standard drinks solidly too! With prices this good, I figured one drink wouldn't be the end of it.

What I ordered at Baennori

Seogawon Chakhan Makgeolli, ₩5,000

Seogawon Chakhan Makgeolli is a draft makgeolli (milky rice wine) you can sip lightly for just ₩5,000 🥹 It isn't harsh at the start, and its clean aroma and taste get your appetite going, so it was plenty good as a pre-meal drink!

Free starter: tofu

If I had to name Baennori's signature snack in Mangwon, it'd be the tofu served by default 👍🏻 You put three things on the tofu together: gangdoenjang (thick soybean stew), changran-jeot (salted fish tripe) and stir-fried kimchi. A combo like that as the basic snack is an automatic pass!

Hanu Tuppeul Yukhoe Gimbap (2.2)

I couldn't decide on a main dish, but since I needed a proper meal, I picked the Hanu Tuppeul Yukhoe Gimbap (Korean beef tartare gimbap, a seaweed rice roll) 😁 It includes the yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) that people who've been rave about, and it's super tasty eaten on its own or together with the packed gimbap!

The bright red intensity of the yukhoe was just like on the menu, and whatever it was tossed in, the sauce was so good I kept eating•• The top-grade Korean beef (tuppeul) isn't just talk, so you really must eat the yukhoe at Baennori!

Stir-fried fish roe on a hot plate (2.5)

The second snack, stir-fried fish roe and milt on a hot plate (algon-i bokkeum), was where it really showed that this Mangwon pub does Korean snacks properly 🤤 For the price I didn't expect so much to come out, but the portion is huge••

The roe was as plump as what you'd eat at its place of origin, with a soft bite, and the quivering milt had a great texture. The spicy kick of the hot-plate sauce soaked through, and I thought I'd finish a whole bottle and want more!

Baennori, a Mangwon pub for a first or second round

We'd planned to go on to a second round, but whether first or second, I wanted to enjoy it at Baennori•• The Korean snacks are so good and the music is great too, so it's somewhere I wanted to stay longer. I highly recommend it as a Korean pub with real atmosphere that you must visit in Mangwon!

A pub where flavors you know taste even better.

• Address: 37 Woldeukeop-ro 15-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (basement level), Baennori
• Hours: 5 PM to 1 AM (closes 2 AM Fri and Sat)
• Closed: Every Wednesday