Sick-day hot pot lunch with my sibling at COEX Magok: J's Pot

What is J's Pot Magok Branch?

J's Pot Magok Branch is an individual hot pot (huoguo) restaurant in COEX Magok where everyone eats from their own pot, with their own broth. Today I had lunch with my younger sibling near my office, haha. My sibling loves hot pot, so I went looking for a place to treat them and found J's Pot Magok Branch! Since it's one hot pot per person, each of us could pick our own broth and eat comfortably, which seemed perfect for two people with different hot pot tastes, haha.

Where is J's Pot Magok Branch and how do you get there?

The address is B2, COEX Magok Tower A, 143 Magokjungang-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, about a 5-minute walk from Exit 6 of Magongnaru Station. It's inside COEX Magok, so it wasn't hard to find!

It's on B2 of COEX Tower A. The branch is newly opened, so it's clean and spacious, and I thought it would work well for company dinners, dates or group gatherings! There seem to be a few J's Pot branches, and I think one of them got a Blue Ribbon, haha.

Seating at J's Pot Magok Branch: can you eat hot pot alone?

J's Pot Magok Branch has both table seats and solo seats, and every seat has its own induction burner, so it looked great for eating alone too. I was surprised by how big it is the moment I walked in!

There are table seats,

and plenty of solo seats too, so I think it's good for eating alone, haha.

There's even a panda having its own pot, so cute >_< It's holding chopsticks, too >_<

The tables are spaced widely and the lighting is soft, so we could chat and take our time over the meal. It felt like eating fancy hot pot *-* Best of all, every seat has an induction burner so you can do one pot per person, which was really convenient!

What we ordered at J's Pot Magok Branch

At J's Pot Magok Branch we ordered two beef hot pots through the table-side ordering screen. We both chose tomato broth but picked different options.

• Beef hot pot for 2 (both tomato broth)
• Tofu (me) / mushrooms (my sibling)
• Shrimp balls / fish balls (I chose fish balls)
• Noodles (my sibling, "Newjin" noodles) / rice (me)

The plates that were served right away:]

Is the J's Pot sauce bar easy for first-timers?

The sauce bar at J's Pot Magok Branch has recommended combinations, so even people who don't eat hot pot often can make a tasty sauce. While the food was coming out, I headed straight to the sauce bar. I think the sauce bar is another fun part of J's Pot, haha.

You can mix all kinds of sauces and spices to your taste and make your own sauce. I don't eat hot pot often, so I thought making a sauce would be hard, but following the recommended combination turned out delicious!

I made a peanut sauce and it was sooo good *-*

How was the beef hot pot in tomato broth at J's Pot Magok Branch?

The beef hot pot at J's Pot Magok Branch came with generous vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and fish cake, and I was happy with the quality of the meat too!

It's a huge amount, haha.

The vegetables and meat were fresh, which I loved >_<

Why one pot each helps when you have a cold

The best thing about the one-pot-per-person setup at J's Pot Magok Branch is that you can cook at your own pace! My sibling eats reeeeally slowly (though since hot pot is their favorite, they were a bit faster this time).

Also, I had a cold and was worried about eating together, so being able to eat separately put my mind at ease! One pot each seems like the biggest strength here:]

Menbosha (fried shrimp toast) at J's Pot Magok Branch

We ordered the mensha (fried shrimp toast) separately, but you also get mensha with a Naver review event, so keep that in mind, haha. The shrimp had a lovely bouncy texture! The fry was nice and crispy too, haha.

Now on to the hot pot itself! In go the vegetables.

The wood ear mushrooms are sooo good *-*

The broth is dark and gradually reduces, haha.

Tip: don't add all the noodles at once

It's best to add the noodles at J's Pot Magok Branch a little at a time. My sibling ordered the noodles and I ordered rice, and it was my first time seeing these noodles! The texture is unusual, haha.

Thanks to my sibling I'm trying lots of new things, haha. The left is overcooked and the right is just right, apparently! You should add the noodles bit by bit right before eating. If you put them all in at once, they're bound to get soggy, ㅠㅎ

Nom nom, enjoying the meal

Shrimp balls vs fish balls, plus frozen tofu

Among the options at J's Pot Magok Branch, the shrimp balls were especially good. Isn't the beef a pretty color?! And these shrimp balls!!! The shrimp texture is so good ㅠㅠ I ordered the fish balls, and they were tasty too, but next time I'll get the shrimp balls >_<

This is the frozen tofu, with a spongy texture and you can feel the layers!

Payment and reservations at J's Pot Magok Branch

J's Pot Magok Branch accepts Payco, and you can reserve through Catch Table too:] On my way out, it looked like they have prepaid cards as well.

Who should try J's Pot Magok Branch?

J's Pot Magok Branch is a great fit if you love hot pot but find sharing one pot inconvenient. These days I think places where everyone can eat comfortably on their own are better, haha. If you're looking for something a bit different to eat out in Magok, I recommend J's Pot Magok Branch 😊