Magok pub with big-screen World Cup and rice cake nakgopsae: Gungmin

If you're near Balsan Station and looking for a place that gives you both a hearty meal and good drinking food, let me introduce Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch (국민낙곱새 강서점).

Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch serves spicy nakgopsae (stir-fried octopus, beef intestine and shrimp) plus a variety of hot pots, so it's popular for lunch as well as dinner gatherings and company dinners 👏 And the best part: there's a big screen, so it's perfect for having a drink while watching the pro baseball season or other sports!

Location and hours of Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch

Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch is at 330 Gangseo-ro, Dong-A Building 1F, Units 5 and 6, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and it's open every day from 11:00 to 23:00. On the last Monday of each month it closes at 22:00.

• Parking available
• Delivery available
• Takeout available
• Big screen (sports broadcasts)
• Naver reservations available
• High chairs available

Where is the parking entrance?

The parking entrance is right behind the building, next to Ogong Gimbap. It's an easy walk from Balsan Station and you can park, so access is great, though we got a little lost finding the lot!

Menu and 5th anniversary event at this Magok pub

Besides nakgopsae, the menu has gopchang jeongol (beef intestine hot pot), godoritang (beef intestine and chicken stew) and more, a lineup I like for either a meal or a drink. On top of that, for the 5th anniversary event soju is ₩3,000!

Even Cass draft beer is ₩2,900! Watching a baseball game on the screen with a cold beer sounds just right.

Gungmin Nakgopsae is a long-established brand, literally an original nakgopsae place that many people vouch for, so it's already proven.

They even have charcoal-grilled chicken feet as a side snack, so lots of people come here as a pub.

Interior and the big screen

The inside has stylish lighting and a pub feel, so it seems nice for a date too! There are quite a lot of tables, and I hear Gangseo office workers often come for group gatherings and company dinners 👏

Korea failed to make the World Cup round of 32, but they were showing the World Cup live on the big screen 👍 It probably gets even more crowded in sports season!

Restrooms are inside, separated by gender

The restrooms are inside the restaurant and separated by gender, and they were hygienic and clean, which I was very happy about 🥰

How to order, plus beef gopchang and mala options

You order on the T-order tablet at each table, and there's also a nakgopsae made with beef gopchang (small intestine) instead of daechang (large intestine). Daechang has a distinctly rich taste that people either love or not, but with gopchang available, no worries!

For ₩1,000 extra you can switch to mala flavor, so mala fans can try an unusual mala nakgopsae instead of mala tang ✌️

How to eat nakgopsae and the side dishes

Each table has instructions on how to eat it deliciously, so I recommend giving them a read. Of course, the friendly staff also explain how to cook it!

If you write a Naver receipt review, you get the service shown here, so don't forget to leave one 👍

Water comes neatly in bottles. The steaming seaweed soup served as a side was nice to have alongside the meal.

Mustard-leaf kimchi, watery white kimchi, pickled radish, perilla leaves and mayonnaise: a clean, mild lineup of sides that goes well with nakgopsae, and I was very happy with it 👏

Medium nakgopsae ₩32,900 with extra rice cakes for lunch

Here's what we ordered at Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch for lunch.

• Medium nakgopsae
• Extra rice cakes
• 2 bowls of rice

The medium nakgopsae is ₩32,900. Nakgopsae is of course the signature dish, generously packed with plump octopus, rich Korean beef daechang and fresh shrimp 👏 A special sauce built on beef bone broth gives it a deep, rich savoriness.

The shrimp were so fresh that you could tell just by looking how springy they'd be 😍 The octopus was plump and big too, and the portion was generous.

Daechang can get greasy, but the tasty spiciness of the nakgopsae cuts the richness and it wasn't greasy at all. The ingredients are fresh, so there's no fishy taste, and it made for a really clean meal 🥰

Should you add extra rice cakes?

The nakgopsae already comes with rice cakes, so when we added extra, there were SO many haha. For a second I thought it was tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) 😂

The glass noodles can stick to the pot, so you have to keep stirring, but they cook quickly and it didn't take long!

Wow, the glass noodles soaked up the spicy sauce and were so good, total dopamine hit 👍

The moderate spiciness makes it easy for all ages, and the longer it boils, the more the flavors of the ingredients blend and the better it gets. We came for lunch, but the portion was so generous and so delicious that we overate unexpectedly. Shh, don't tell anyone.

Eat a nakgopsae wrap with perilla leaf and mayonnaise, then take a bite of watery white kimchi, and you instantly crave soju. If we'd come in the evening, I think we'd have had soju and ordered fried rice too 🥰

Is Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch good for a company dinner?

At Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch near Balsan Station, I was happy with everything: the fresh ingredients, the deeply flavored nakgopsae and the clean atmosphere. The menu works as a meal and as drinking food, so I'd recommend it for dates, family meals, company dinners and other gatherings. If you're looking for a Magok pub with a big screen, how about Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch?