Magok hot pot sets for 64,000 won with peanut sauce: J's Pot Magok

With COEX Magok opening recently, a lot of people have been looking up where to eat around here. I went to COEX Magok on September 17 myself and started looking for lunch a bit past lunchtime. While looking around, I found J's Pot Magok Branch.

If you like hot pot you might have heard of this place before, but this was my first visit. Honestly I walked in without high expectations, but after eating — huh? It was better than I thought haha :)

With places like this, there's always one thing that sticks with you afterward. For me that day, it was the peanut sauce.

Where is J's Pot Magok Branch? Basement floor 2 of COEX Magok

J's Pot Magok Branch is at Unit 208, B2, Le West City, 143 Magok-jungang-ro. Since it's inside COEX Magok, it was easy to eat here while sightseeing.

When I walk into a restaurant, I quietly check out the atmosphere as much as the food. This place was clean but not too stiff — comfortable to sit and eat in.

After sitting down and looking at the menu, I saw the beef set and mala set and thought — should I get one, or both? After a moment I just ordered both haha. If you're curious about both, you might as well try both together.

Inside J's Pot Magok: a Hong Kong local diner feel

Walking into J's Pot Magok Branch, the atmosphere hit me pretty quickly. Rather than a typical hot pot place, it felt more like stepping into a local Hong Kong restaurant.

Vintage illustration frames hang on the walls, and red curtains are worked in between spaces, so the color scheme alone gives the place character. Add the lighting, and it feels a bit like a scene from an old Hong Kong film. That said, it's not decorated like an old-school Chinese restaurant overall. The table and bar-style seating areas are neatly arranged, and the seats are well divided so everyone can use their own pot.

It's like a retro mood mixed with a clean, modern layout. I really like this kind of vibe, so I had fun looking around the space even before the food arrived.

What's in the beef set and mala set, 24,000 won each

That day I ordered the beef set (₩24,000), the mala set (₩24,000), and orange chicken (₩16,000) for a total of ₩64,000.

• Beef set: beef, mixed vegetables, mixed mushrooms, corn noodles, 2 shrimp balls
• Mala set: beef, mixed vegetables, 2 shrimp balls, mixed tofu, flat glass noodles

Ordering both filled the table fast. "Oh... that's more than I thought," I thought at first, but that worry turned out to be pointless. Once I started eating, things disappeared one by one.

Starting the hot pot with the beef

Whenever I go for shabu-shabu, I somehow check the meat first. The beef that day had a nice bright red color. I dropped a piece into the pot, cooked it briefly, and tried it — oh, the beef was good. It worked well with vegetables or dipped in sauce.

And the shrimp balls — these were delicious. One in while eating meat, another in while eating vegetables... eating like that, the shrimp balls disappeared quickly too. At first it looked like a lot of ingredients, but once I started eating, the pace picked up fast haha.

The peanut sauce from the sauce bar at J's Pot Magok

And here's the part I had the most fun with at J's Pot.

The sauce bar. There were way more options than I expected. Since it was my first time, I was a little confused about what to do — do I mix these? Just dip in one? After a brief think, I just scooped a bit of whatever caught my eye.

Then I tried them one by one... and the peanut sauce won :) It's a pretty thick, dense sauce. Dipping a piece of beef in it, the nutty flavor hit right away. Oh, this is good. After that first try, I kept reaching for it every time I ate meat. I ended up going back for more. That day I was truly hooked on the peanut sauce haha.

Why personal pots at J's Pot Magok suit a group

At J's Pot Magok Branch, each person eats from their own pot, which made things quietly convenient. Each table has one pot per person, so everyone at the table can eat their own way.

Hot pot preferences vary a lot from person to person. Some like spicy broth, others prefer something plain. The ingredients people want to add differ too. But eating separately like this, there's no need to compromise on taste. You just pick what you want and drop it in your own pot — done.

I really liked this setup. Being able to eat together while each person eats exactly what they want is more convenient than I expected. It'd work well for families, and for groups of friends too without any pressure. If you're looking for a group dinner spot near Magongnaru, this is a genuinely good point in its favor. Since everyone can just eat what they like, choosing the menu is a lot less complicated.

Beef set broth and ingredients: mixed mushrooms and corn noodles

The beef set and mala set have slightly different ingredients. Ordering both together meant I got to try a bit of everything. The broth had real depth too.

The beef set comes with mixed mushrooms and corn noodles.

The broth had exactly the kind of flavor you'd call 'wholesome.'

The spicy mala set: mixed tofu and flat glass noodles

The mala set comes with mixed tofu and flat glass noodles.

I'm a noodle person, so I dropped the flat glass noodles in right away.

These wide, flat noodles soak up the broth so well. Picking up a chopstick-full, the texture was great too. Meat, then vegetables, then noodles, then back to meat. Eating this way kept things feeling fresh every round. It's a pretty solid combination.

Orange chicken, 16,000 won: why not sweet and sour pork?

Since just doing shabu-shabu felt like it wasn't quite enough, I also ordered orange chicken. Honestly I'd seen this on YouTube recently and had wanted to try it for a while. I thought about ordering sweet and sour pork instead, but I kept being curious about the orange chicken. So this time I just went with what I was curious about.

When the dish came out and I took a bite, the bright orange scent hit first. Eaten with the chicken, the combination worked better than expected. I'd thought sweet and sour pork would be the safer choice, but after eating this, my mind changed a bit. It was one of those 'ah, so this is why people order orange chicken' moments.

The tangy orange scent paired well with the chicken flavor, so I kept reaching for more. Eating one in between rounds of shabu-shabu was a nice change of pace. At first I thought I'd ordered too much, but once I started eating, that thought disappeared. If you've been curious about it from YouTube like me, it's worth ordering alongside everything else.

Finishing the meal with corn noodles

After eating through most of the shabu-shabu, I finished with the pasta-style corn noodles. Corn noodles in hot pot felt a little unexpected at first. But once I tried them, they worked better than expected.

After meat, vegetables, and finally noodles, I was pretty full. I thought that was really it... but then I kept eating :) In the end I finished everything. After finishing, I was seriously stuffed.

What stood out most at J's Pot Magok Branch

Thinking back on the way home that day, the peanut sauce was what stayed with me the most. With so many sauce options, I wasn't sure what to go for at first, but I kept reaching for the simplest one — the peanut sauce. Its thick, nutty flavor paired really well with the beef.

And the personal pots were great too. Eating together as a group while each person adds whatever ingredients they want was genuinely convenient. Sharing the beef set and mala set, I got to pick through beef, vegetables, mushrooms and tofu, corn noodles and flat glass noodles — there was fun in the variety. Finishing off with noodles at the end, it was a proper full meal.

Deciding what to eat at COEX Magok in Seoul

With COEX Magok being new, it seems like more people are looking for places to eat around Magok now. I just wandered in that day, but after actually eating there, I walked out satisfied. If you're after hot pot near Magongnaru,

J's Pot is worth checking out. Especially if you're visiting as a group, the personal pots made it easy to eat, and being able to each choose your own ingredients was a solid plus.

If you're deciding where to eat at COEX Magok, this is worth a look too. Next time I go, I think I'll grab the peanut sauce before even thinking about the menu :) I left this day thoroughly full and satisfied.