Mapo seafood restaurant with raw and grilled shrimp: Mapo Bamdada

I went to Mapo Bamdada craving raw shrimp

Raw shrimp has been everywhere on Instagram, Shorts, and Reels lately, right? It was making me drool like crazy, so I visited Mapo Bamdada, a Seongsan-dong bar known for selling raw shrimp and a popular Mangwon-dong spot with a wait.

146 World Cup-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 1F Mapo Bamdada · 12:00–01:00 · Parking available

Getting there from Mapo-gu Office Station and parking

Mapo Bamdada is a popular Mangwon-dong seafood restaurant; take Exit 4 of Mapo-gu Office Station. For parking, there is room for eight cars just past Ganghwa Ttongttong Fresh Pork. Ask the restaurant before parking.

An interior that works well for any party size

Inside, there are only the seats you need and no wasted space, so it is used really well! That makes it easy to visit whether you are a group, a pair, or a party of three. Since it is such a popular Mangwon-dong seafood restaurant, customers kept streaming in. I recommend making a reservation.

There are lots of events, too: win the “Catch 10 Seconds” game and receive an omakase assorted sashimi platter, try the no-lose roulette event, or get one bottle of soju or beer for writing a review. There is plenty to enjoy here. The restroom is inside and clean.

A menu ranging from raw shrimp sashimi to shima aji

Here is the menu. Along with omakase sets and sashimi, there is a wide range of seafood. Beyond the usual sashimi choices, they have raw shrimp sashimi, live squid sashimi, live mackerel sashimi, and shima aji.

I have been seeing shima aji all over Instagram lately, and when I looked it up because I wanted some, it was expensive. But it is called the Hermès of fish... no wonder...... Next time, I am going to try the shima aji too!!

An abundant, delicious spread of side dishes

Mapo Bamdada's side dishes are seriously abundant!! And every single one is delicious 👍 The salad dressing was good, the mulhoe (cold raw-fish soup) was packed with sashimi, the soy-marinated shrimp and clam soup were full of ingredients, and even the grilled fish was tasty, with the flavor of agu-jjim (braised monkfish).

Raw shrimp sashimi + grilled shrimp set, ₩48,000

We were going to have only raw shrimp, but there was a set that came with grilled shrimp, so we chose this. Isn't it so generous?>< It even had flower decorations, so it looked lovely too. I also loved that the fried shrimp heads came with it from the start! A Seongsan-dong bar serving raw shrimp—what a precious find 🦐

Convenient peeled raw shrimp

We tried the raw shrimp first. It arrived all peeled, so it was easy to eat. I like raw food, but I cannot eat it if it has a fishy taste; these were genuinely fresh and not fishy at all! Even quite a while after we started eating, the tails were still moving, which surprised me—I thought, wow, they really must be fresh!!!

I was happy that it came with the trendy Buldak mayo sauce. I think raw shrimp tastes even better with Buldak mayo!

Plump and sweet grilled shrimp

Grilled shrimp cannot possibly be bad, right? The shrimp were plump, big, sweet, and insanely delicious 👍👍 There was plenty too, so it did not feel lacking at all. Thanks to my friend for diligently peeling them again today ❤️

We fried the shrimp heads again

Fried shrimp heads are just ridiculously delicious ㅠㅠㅠㅠ They are so nutty and rich that I almost want to say you are a fool if you do not eat them~~ They were that good. So after eating the grilled shrimp, we asked them to fry the heads that came off those too, and ate them again. So happy><

And I discovered a new talent of mine: I am freaking good at peeling shrimp heads. Good enough to go on a master show. If anyone wants one peeled, just say the word and I will do it for you haha.

Can you see how cleanly we scraped everything up? There were two of us, and we ate until we were completely full. Satisfied, satisfied, super satisfied!! We had soju, and it went down so easily that I wanted more, but my friend told me to stop, so I held myself back hehe.

When you want raw shrimp and grilled shrimp together

I visited Mapo Bamdada, a popular Mangwon-dong seafood restaurant and Seongsan-dong bar that sells raw shrimp. I could enjoy the currently trendy raw shrimp at peak freshness, and I understood why Mapo Bamdada is so popular and has a wait. The grilled shrimp is delicious too, so make sure to try it and enjoy~ I tried shrimp this time, so next time I will come back for the sashimi varieties.