Mangwon sashimi restaurant for non-raw-fish eaters: Mapo Bamdada

A Mangwon squid sashimi place even people who can't eat raw fish can enjoy

Mapo Bamdada (마포밤바다) is a Japanese-style sashimi restaurant near Mangwon and Mapo-gu Office Station that specializes in live squid sashimi. My girlfriend doesn't like raw fish, but squid sashimi is the one kind she eats, so when she came up to Seoul to visit, we headed to Mapo Bamdada.

I'm such a sashimi fiend that it's one of my favorite foods, but sadly my girlfriend isn't much of a fan T_T When I couldn't eat raw fish as a kid, the first one I tried was squid sashimi, then flounder, so squid has a low barrier to entry and works for almost everyone. That's also why I think freshness and the basics matter so much for it. So we decided to go to a squid sashimi specialist that was really good and had a nice atmosphere.

Can you park at Mapo Bamdada?

Mapo Bamdada has very limited parking, so I recommend using a nearby public parking lot!

Mapo Bamdada's exterior and ₩10,000 lunch special

Here's the exterior of Mapo Bamdada.

Outside Mapo Bamdada, lunch special menus are posted at a shockingly cheap ₩10,000. The other menu items and prices are posted too, so you can check them before going in.

There's also a comedian's autograph at the entrance. And the message is, well, very comedian-like...

What's the atmosphere inside Mapo Bamdada?

The inside of Mapo Bamdada has a stylish wood design and was buzzing with noisy, chatty customers. It was a bit early for dinner, yet the place was still full of energy.

I loved the fishing nets used as decor, like a restaurant in a real port town. We found a seat and ordered.

Mapo Bamdada's menu and what we ordered

The menu at Mapo Bamdada runs from the top-end wild-caught omakase set to single-fish sashimi, meals and fried shrimp. We laughed for a good while at the "Energy Spoon Worm" (정력의 개불, penis fish, a kind of sea worm).

As planned, we ordered the live squid sashimi (2 squid) and the giant! fried shrimp.

Mapo Bamdada's basic side spread: half-dried pollack, mulhoe, marinated shrimp and clam soup

As the basic spread, Mapo Bamdada brought out a parade of fancy sides: half-dried pollack (kodari), mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), marinated shrimp and more. If you order something cheap like the ₩10,000 lunch special it probably won't come out the same, but if you eat light, this alone is more than enough for a meal.

A soup boiled with clams came out too. If the sides are this good, how amazing will the main dishes be? I was already looking forward to it...

How many pieces come in Mapo Bamdada's giant fried shrimp?

One of the mains: fried shrimp!

The giant fried shrimp at Mapo Bamdada came as six shrimp. True to the name, it's not just fried shrimp but giant! fried shrimp, and each one was big and plump.

Personally, what I really loved was the kodari (half-dried pollack) from the basic spread. With a bowl of rice it would have been a total rice thief, so I was sad we hadn't ordered rice.

How fresh was Mapo Bamdada's live squid sashimi?

And now the main of mains: Mapo Bamdada's live squid sashimi. It looks fresh at a glance, and the decoration is pretty too, right? Squid so fresh it seems to wiggle like live octopus, dipped in tangy chogochujang (sweet-sour chili sauce): how good could that possibly be!

Even my girlfriend, who rarely eats raw fish, was totally satisfied! I'd give it a 10 out of 10 too, a perfect live squid sashimi.

Is Mapo Bamdada a good date spot?

Honestly, I came for the squid sashimi alone, but overall satisfaction, from the basic side spread to the fried shrimp and clam soup, was beyond my expectations. The squid in particular was so fresh it felt like it had just been pulled from the sea.

The atmosphere is good and the menu is varied, so it looks fine for a date, or for a casual drink with friends on a happy day. If you want fresh sashimi and tasty seafood dishes in Mangwon, give Mapo Bamdada a visit!