Burger joint by Daeheung Station: ask for 1/3 sauce at Bored & Hungry

Where is Bored & Hungry Mapo, and when is it open?

Bored & Hungry Mapo is a handmade burger restaurant at 36 Gwangseong-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (1st floor), next to Gyeongui Line Forest Park near Daeheung Station. It's open daily 11:00-20:50, with a break from 15:50 to 17:00, and last orders at 15:10 and 20:10. You can't park in front of the shop, so use the Sinsu off-street public parking lot about 250 m away.

Walking along Gyeongui Line Forest Park, you'll spot one building completely covered in colorful graffiti. My first impression was a hip-hop label..? Like a music company or practice rooms, I thought, but when I looked it up on the map it was a handmade burger restaurant. I was curious what a burger place that uses a whole building would taste like, so I paid a visit.

Inside Bored & Hungry Mapo

Unlike the name Bored & Hungry, the interior feels fun and poppy. I liked the street-style decor, and the music selection was great too.

Daeheung and Sangsu really do have lots of fun things, I thought- then I checked whether Bored & Hungry has other branches, and there's one in Seongsu too. Looks like they only open in hip neighborhoods.

Bored & Hungry menu and the price for two

Here's what the two of us ordered at Bored & Hungry Mapo. It was a totally stuffing amount for two.

• Shrimp O.G Burger set - corn ribs, choice of drink (₩21,800)
• The Mega Bun - single patty (₩13,400)
• Chilli's Mutant Cheese Sticks (₩4,500)

The sides are big and generous, so if you don't eat much, the burger alone would probably fill you up. Only the cup is handed to you first, and you pour your own drink, choosing the type and amount yourself.

How much sauce is on a Bored & Hungry burger?

The burgers at Bored & Hungry come with so much sauce it overflows, so the nitrile gloves at the self-service corner were a must. In a word, too much love.

The food arrived looking overwhelming. And that cute, annoyingly smug-faced monkey..haha! It's a pick you can stick in the back of the burger case, so you can brand it cutely wherever you stick it, and I loved that detail.

As I said, even the sides are huge. I was amazed by the generosity, enough to make an eldest daughter-in-law's hands weep. The burgers are also bigger and thicker than at most handmade burger places.

I saw nitrile gloves for handmade burgers at the self-service corner and thought 'really..?' but put them on just in case, and then felt 'oh, you really need these here.' No wonder: the burger was drenched in sauce, like love overdone.

So with the resolve of Kim Myung-min in The White Tower, I solemnly pulled nitrile gloves onto both hands and dove into a full-on burger eating show. The mood is great for a date, but eating neatly is quite hard, so I'd suggest coming here only after you've met at least 5 times.

Shrimp O.G Burger taste

The Shrimp Original burger had a patty packed with whole shrimp meat, and it was fried really well. But there was just too much sauce.. Next time I'm definitely asking for only 1/3 of the sauce. That was a bit of a letdown, and the rest was fine.

The Mega Bun single patty taste

The Mega Bun had the same problem. The bun is pressed flat, so I was expecting a chewy texture, but thanks to the overflowing sauce love, the pressed brioche bun didn't seem to show its full ability either.

The cheese and patty are rich and savory, so if it worked as intended, it could have been a really good burger. It would probably have been great with beer too. Now that I know what Bored & Hungry is about, I just need to order the right way. Everyone, please take this tip to heart.

Which beer goes with the sides at Bored & Hungry?

The corn ribs and Chilli's Mutant Cheese Sticks at Bored & Hungry are salty, so beer was a necessity, not an option. A lager probably can't handle this saltiness; a bold beer like an IPA would pair really well.

The corn ribs taste like that addictive corn you have to eat when you go to New York. The cheese sticks are crazy good too. The cheese flows like Niagara Falls.

The seasoning is strong, so they were a perfect beer snack on their own. While eating I thought, I should have come at night~ haha. I recommend making Bored & Hungry Mapo a course: a proper burger and beer, then a walk along Gyeongui Line Forest Park.