Mapo Station beef BBQ with slushy soju and yuksashimi: Usijang

Usijang Hoegwan (우시장회관) is a hearty beef spot where yukhoe (Korean raw beef) and beef gukbap (soup with rice) come together in one big spread.

My boyfriend and I were craving beef, so we searched for a good place near Mapo Station and ended up at Usijang Hoegwan 🤍 The moment we walked in I thought, wow, this is a proper old-school place. Fresh beef assortment, same-day-slaughtered yukhoe, and a hearty gukbap: it was all perfect ✨ The portions and the quality were so satisfying that I wondered why I hadn't come sooner! Here's my honest review, let's go!

Where is Usijang Hoegwan? Location, hours and parking near Mapo Station

Usijang Hoegwan is at 15-10 Samgae-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, 230m from Mapo Station. It is open daily 10:00–21:50, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00.

• Address: 15-10 Samgae-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: daily 10:00–21:50 (break time 15:00–17:00)
• Parking: 2 spots in front and 2 beside the restaurant; use Dohwa Public Parking Lot when full

Usijang Hoegwan's old-school exterior and interior

It's only 230m from Mapo Station, so it's easy to reach by public transit! I knew I'd be drinking, so public transit it was~~ 🖤 The exterior is a hip, neon-lit look like in the photo, and the bright lights make it easy to find.

Unlike the hip exterior, the inside is cozy and comfortable. It's exactly the old-school mood I love... the kind of place where you instantly think, time for a bottle of soju, haha

I visited at 7pm on a weekday evening. There were people out for a work dinner or a get-together, and families eating out too~ The lively atmosphere was perfect for a drink ✨

The walls were covered with signatures from lawmakers and plenty of 1++ Hanwoo (top-grade Korean beef) certificates. It made me trust the place even more!

Usijang Hoegwan menu and 3-person assorted set price

The menu runs from boiled beef slices, nutritious hot pot and gukbap to grilled beef, yukhoe and raw seasoned beef, so it works for a filling meal or an evening group dinner. A 700g beef assortment set for under ₩70,000 is a kind price, and the value is crazy 🥹

The two of us confidently ordered the 3-person assorted set (₩116,900). It comes with a beef assorted platter, a large yukhoe and clam beef gukbap (+₩4,000). Note that there's a separate table setting fee of ₩1,500 per person!

Side dishes, silbi kimchi and the self-serve bar

The basic side dishes are silbi kimchi, pickled perilla leaves, pickled cheongyang chilies (spicy green chilies), wrap vegetables, pickled onions and seasoned lettuce. They laid everything out quickly, and they're the solid kind that go perfectly with meat 👍🏻 The homemade silbi kimchi was a work of art,, laid on top of the gukbap it's amazing! It's Daejeon-style spicy kimchi, not too hot, just nicely spicy.

If you need more side dishes, you can just use the self-serve bar, which I liked. The bar was kept very clean too!

How does the 1++ Hanwoo kkurisal yuksashimi (large) taste?

The yukhoe here is said to be 1++ No. 9 grade Hanwoo, and it uses kkuritsal (a prized cut from the shoulder area) rather than the usual top round. It came out first in the set, and I fell for how pretty it looked 🥹 The color was lovely and that glowing marbling packed between the grains,, the looks alone were on another level,,!

Maybe that's why the chewy texture that clings to your mouth was insane, haha. It felt a bit like mungtigi (a Daegu-style chewy raw beef dish)? Fresh and nutty, so good,, 🩷

The sauce that comes with it is a little witch too! Sweet and spicy, with plenty of freshly pressed sesame oil, so it's super nutty ⭐️ Put garlic and chili on the yukhoe, roll it up nicely~~ and dip it deep in the sauce. You can imagine how good that is,, the kind of taste where if one of the two of you dropped dead mid-meal, the other wouldn't notice 😖

Not drinking with 1++ yukhoe is practically a crime. Bring on the soju right now-!! The soju was so cold it had ice slush in it, and it hit my heart, the heart of a drinking couple,, 🤣

700g assorted beef platter: jin-galbisal, fresh galbisal and marinated LA galbi

The beef assorted platter at Usijang Hoegwan is 700g of jin-galbi (prime rib meat), raw galbi (unmarinated rib meat) and marinated LA galbi (thin cross-cut short ribs). The quality is obvious at a glance, right?

Jin-galbisal with just a touch of salt

The jin-galbi looks the best, so I'll try it first ^.^ The marbling blooming across the surface like flowers is a work of art just to look at,, this is meat you know is good without even tasting it‼️

Sizzling over the charcoal~~ I only lightly cooked both outer sides! The heat was strong, which made me so happy. As a proud graduate of Harvard Grill University, I take pride in my grilling, and I can't stand weak heat 🥹 In the mouth it melted away before I could even chew..! Rich nutty flavor and deep beefy aroma, a really luxurious taste, so good,, 🩷

A cut this good needs no wasabi and no wraps, just a dab of salt 👍🏻

Fresh galbisal: chewy and tender

Next up is the raw galbi, whose bright red color shows its freshness right away. Looking around, lots of people were ordering it by the kilo, maybe because it's good value!

The fat lines on the raw galbi put even the bone-in galbi to shame,, it's just delicious meat..

The raw galbi was very tender too! Different from the jin-galbi, it has a little chew as well, so the texture is amazing 👍🏻 Between the chewy-soft bites, the clean, nutty flavor is out of this world ㅜㅜ

The red one is Usijang's special sauce, and the meat is really good dipped in it too 🖤

Marinated LA galbi that begs for rice

Last up was the marinated LA galbi! The sweet-salty aroma of the special marinade and the charcoal smell slap you in the face.. (thank you)

The marinade had soaked right into the meat, so the savory depth exploded, and the LA galbi was so good too! I don't know how they tenderized it, but it was crazy soft

Hehe, my boyfriend picked the meat off the bone for me ♥️ With the savory marinade and charcoal smoke soaked in, it was a total rice thief of a galbi ㅜ If I weren't so full I'd have ordered a bowl of rice right away, what a shame...!

Usijang Hoegwan's signature clam beef gukbap

The set menu includes one meal item, and I picked the signature clam beef gukbap 🍲

The clam beef gukbap is topped with plenty of tender beef, and that meat was super soft too! The broth is a deep, rich beef stock with a cool clam aroma on top. Heavy and fragrant at the same time,, ⭐️ I could tell right away why it's the signature dish.

The rice inside is already torenhaed (rinsed with hot broth), so it gets thicker and richer the more you eat! And the clams just keep coming, no matter how many you eat... The 3-person set was so much food that I was panting, but my boyfriend loved the clam beef gukbap so much he washed the bowl clean without leaving a drop.. 🫢 (he ate everything else too, of course ^^)

Usijang Hoegwan near Mapo Station: final verdict

Usijang Hoegwan is a Mapo Station beef spot where you can enjoy a whole cow in many ways, from start to finish 🩷 Jin-galbi, raw galbi, marinated LA galbi, the freshest yukhoe imaginable and gukbap: the lineup is great and the quality of every single item was really high! It's an amount three people could stuff themselves with, and at this quality the value is top-notch, truly,,

The owner and staff were very kind too, and we had a pleasant time throughout the meal 👍🏻 If you're looking for a Mapo Station BBQ place, or want a hearty snack to go with a drink, run to Usijang Hoegwan. Highly recommended!⭐️