Busan mala tang with mild white broth: Mara Golmok

Mala tang is hugely popular with elementary-school kids these days, isn't it? My daughter had been singing the "I want mala tang" song for days, so I took her hand tight and we went to Mara Golmok in Deokcheon over the weekend. Since you can order a white broth that children can comfortably eat, I thought I'd recommend it as somewhere to go with kids too ^^

Mara Golmok's location and atmosphere in Deokcheon's food alley

Mara Golmok (마라골목) is in Deokcheon's food alley, so it was easy to find. If you're driving, the privately operated paid parking lot behind the alley is convenient! I also liked that the interior was kept nice and clean. There are quite a lot of tables, too.

Mala tang self-serve ingredients and beef pricing

Once we were seated, we headed straight to the self-serve ingredient bar and had a good look around.

At the self-serve bar, vegetables such as bok choy, bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, and napa cabbage were all kept wonderfully fresh!

There were also lots of glass noodles in different sizes, bunmoja (thick chewy starch noodles), and other noodles, so it was really fun choosing what to add ^^ Seeing them keep the vegetable bins full also made me happy with the hygiene management.

And this place has one truly next-level advantage: beef isn't weighed and priced separately—it is charged at the basic rate!

Usually when you go out for mala tang in Deokcheon, the per-gram price goes up whenever you add meat, so it feels a little burdensome to pile it on. But at Mara Golmok, beef is charged at the same base weight-based price as the other vegetables, so we could load up on ingredients without worrying. Such good value~!

You can also order a variety of sides, including mentosha shrimp toast and fried rice.

What's more, steamed rice is provided for free, so you can help yourself to as much as you like.

At first, we didn't even know there was free rice and went all-in on ingredients from the self-serve bar, but next time I'll try to pace ourselves..~ It's really delicious mixed with plain rice, too!

Level 0.5 white broth with my child

Since I was eating with my elementary-school daughter, I ordered level 0.5 for the spice level.

The white broth has no heat at all; it is clean and savory. If you're looking for a Deokcheon mala tang spot that people who can't handle spice—or people dining with children—can enjoy, I highly recommend Mara Golmok's mala tang loaded with generous meat and ingredients!

Here's a little pro tip for the adults. First, portion your child's serving onto a plate, then add just a small drizzle of the provided mala oil to the adults' broth. That way, the heat stays gentle but mala's distinctive tingly, subtle aroma blooms right up and brings the broth to life!

A huge, washbasin-sized bowl of mala tang

A little later, our order came out, and everyone's jaw dropped when we saw the size of the bowl.

I thought I had only taken a little of each thing, but the bowl that arrived was seriously about the size of a washbasin. Looking at the photo comparing it with a paper cup, I burst out laughing, wondering whether we could possibly finish all that.

The broth was so savory and perfectly seasoned that it was the kind of flavor anyone, young or old, would nod along to—so we ended up finishing it all~ haha

As we fished out and ate the fresh ingredients and beef, we cleared that enormous bowl with only a little broth left.

Thanks to it, our Deokcheon mala tang visit filled us right up. If this place were right in front of our home, I think I would have begged to come every day. I'm almost relieved it is a little distance away from home ^^