Gongdeok Korean BBQ in Seoul: self-bar pickles, beef platter, Usijang

I went to a Mapo Station favorite loved by the office workers of Mapo and Gongdeok. At lunch it's a go-to meal spot for workers, and in the evening it's a popular place for company dinners. Packed with regulars and full of retro charm, this Mapo Station Korean BBQ is 'Usijang Hoegwan' (우시장회관).

Usijang Hoegwan basics and prices

The signature items are the assorted beef set (소 모듬 한판) at ₩79,800, 1++ yukhoe (beef tartare) at ₩22,000, and momboshin galbitang (beef rib soup) at ₩16,000. It's open daily 10:00–21:50, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00.

• Address: 1st floor, 15-10 Samgae-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: daily 10:00–21:50 / break time 15:00–17:00
• Parking: Dohwa Public Parking Lot recommended
• Corkage available (paid: ₩20,000 per bottle)
• Waiting area available
• Takeout and delivery available
• Naver reservations available

How to get to Usijang Hoegwan from Mapo Station

It's about a 3-minute walk from Mapo Station Exit 3. Head into the alley between a hardware store and a motel and you'll see it right away.

Come out of Exit 3 and there's a diagonal shortcut just one block inside the main road. Let's slip in there~ When a crosswalk appears straight ahead, cross the street. I'm already 70% there!

Follow the road to the right and on your left you'll see a bright red key-and-hardware-and-electric shop. Slip into the alley between that hardware store and the motel, and Usijang Hoegwan is right in front of you.

Exterior: a retro old-school joint

See the "Usijang Gukbap" sign straight ahead? Yep, this is the place. The exterior makes it obvious it's been loved in the same spot for a very long time. If you like retro, old-school vibes, come here.

They say it's a steady favorite for Mapo Station company dinners, and the mood is perfect for drinking soju. On the day I visited, plenty of office workers were having after-work drinks. They all seemed to be regulars, too, because the owner started preparing their table the moment a silhouette crossed the door, haha.

Is the atmosphere right for a company dinner?

Usijang Hoegwan has a cozy, sarangbang (old-style living room) feel, so it suits a casual dinner and drinks with no formalities. If you want a place where you can just relax and clink glasses, Usijang Hoegwan is the answer. In an atmosphere like this, I feel like you could open up and say what's really on your mind.

At lunch it's loved as a lunch spot by workers around Mapo and Gongdeok, and the rich, deep gukbap broth is fantastic. But at dinner?! The star is b-e-e-f.

Self-bar pickles and the red Usijang sauce

Near the entrance there's a neatly kept meat self-bar. Every side dish looked so appetizing that I kept piling it on, and I loved that you can help yourself without worrying about it.

Especially these shredded chili pickles and perilla leaf pickles! They go perfectly with beef, okay? Even with no sauce, just those two together, you could eat endless beef. Grab a whole bunch ♡

There's also plenty of vegetables, kimchi, onions and ssamjang (dipping paste), and the veggies are very fresh.

There's a soy-based sauce you can sprinkle over the onions, salt, and the house kick: a gochujang-based sauce. This red sauce isn't too spicy and has a nutty, savory flavor, so I kept going back to it. I'm dying to know the recipe.

The wall even has instructions on how to eat well. For gukbap, you have to add the dogani-seuji (beef knee cartilage and tendon)...! Noting that down. The red one must be the Usijang sauce.

Takeout gets you 1.5x the broth?

They say takeout gets 1.5 times the soup and broth at Usijang Hoegwan. The regular portion is already generous, and takeout is even more?! Is the owner really okay running a business like this, giving everything away?

There seem to be lots of regulars who take out, because a few takeout customers came and went while I was eating. It also seems you can adjust the amount of rice and kimchi. The owner asked, so naturally, "How would you like your rice and kimchi?" and the customer said, "Medium~!" Hahaha. The owner is friendly and generous.

What to order at Usijang Hoegwan

If you go for meat in the evening, I recommend an assorted set sized to your group. The assorted platter lets you enjoy jin-galbi-sal, raw galbi-sal and seasoned LA galbi, plus yuksashimi (raw beef slices) or yukhoe, and a meal item, all in one?!

The menu is really varied: grilled meat, yuksashimi and yukhoe, gukbap and anju (drinking snacks). The prices are reasonable and you'll come out stuffed. The yukhoe and yuksashimi use pristine Gangwon-do Hanwoo (Korean beef) 'Two-Plus No.9' grade, they say, and I liked that the gukbap comes in three types to choose from: galbitang, clam, and basic.

And the review event at Usijang Hoegwan is huge. At the very start of the menu you can see the various review event perks, and you can pick a service from drinks and liquor to anju to meat. You'd be silly not to do it!!!

Sauce setup and my favorite side dishes

Once you finish ordering, they set out ssamjang, Usijang sauce, salt and pickled onions. As I mentioned, this red Usijang sauce is one you keep reaching for. You can only eat it here.

My favorite sides were the pickled perilla leaves and the chili pickles. The sweetness and saltiness of the soy sauce are just right, so wrapped up like a ssam (wrap) the seasoning is perfect, and the chili makes the finish clean and refreshing.

How was the 1++ yukhoe?

The assorted set at Usijang Hoegwan started with yukhoe, and both the freshness and the chew were great. The quality of the meat is especially good, and no wonder! It's pristine Gangwon-do Hanwoo Two-Plus No.9. The owner is serious about meat and ingredients, uses only really good meat, and takes pride in it.

I mixed it into the egg yolk that comes with it and took a big bite! Freshness is everything with yukhoe, and this was fresh with a great chew. The more you chew, the nuttier it gets, the textbook definition of tasty, quality yukhoe!

Clear gukbap, where the broth is the kick

The gukbap that came next was the most basic one at Usijang Hoegwan, the clear gukbap. They also have naejang-tang (offal soup), spicy gukbap, galbitang and clam gukbap. You can upgrade to the style you like!

Under ₩10,000 and it's this generous? There's a reason it has so many regulars and so many customers. The meat is tender and clean with no gamey smell, but the kick is the broth. It's rich and deep, so good I couldn't believe the price. Soju drinkers will think of soju the moment they take a sip.

The assorted platter: raw galbi-sal, jin-galbi-sal and seasoned LA galbi

On the Usijang Hoegwan assorted platter, the jin-galbi-sal was at the top, the seasoned LA galbi in its own bowl on the left, and the raw galbi-sal at the bottom. The color is gorgeous, right?

Raw galbi-sal, great with just salt

I put the raw galbi-sal on the grill first. The charcoal was well heated, so it cooked very fast. I turned it evenly and popped it in my mouth at medium-rare to medium! Maybe because it's raw galbi-sal, the nutty flavor comes rushing up, and it's so good on its own with just a dab of salt.

But it's even better wrapped in your own combo, of course. Put a big piece of raw galbi-sal on lettuce, add pickled onions and chili pickles, and take it in one big bite! The meat juices burst out and mix with the fresh veg and the savory depth of the pickles, a can't-go-wrong combo ♡

Jin-galbi-sal, my favorite

Next is the jin-galbi-sal with its wonderful marbling! It comes thinly sliced, so it cooks fast. Flip it all at once at the right moment and send it straight to your mouth when the juices rise. I could tell the marbling was good even before grilling, and the juiciness is no joke. Personally, I enjoyed the jin-galbi-sal the most of the three cuts.

Finishing with seasoned LA galbi

Seasoned meat is the perfect finish. The seasoned LA galbi has the pleasure of eating the lean meat, and also the fun of pulling the meat off the bone!

My reliable grill master = my husband. As they say, the one who's eaten a lot grills well, and he grills both the raw galbi and the seasoned one perfectly. He cut it at the right time into the right size and set it in front of me.

Ahh ♡ This is how galbi should be. Look at that color. Personally, I'm someone who thinks seasoned meat is only good when it's cooked until the marinade on the outside turns a slightly dark brown. I'll grill it once more here.

Even the final seasoned LA galbi was perfect at Usijang Hoegwan. Since I ordered the set, the meal item is included too, so there's no need to agonize over ordering a meal separately, and it all wraps up smoothly ♡ And so, once again today, I got further from my diet.

Who should go to Usijang Hoegwan?

I'd strongly recommend Usijang Hoegwan to anyone looking for a Mapo Station Korean BBQ with good meat at reasonable prices. It's perfect for a Mapo Station company dinner and also one of the good Mapo Station spots for lunch, so if you're ever in Mapo or Gongdeok, definitely stop by ♡