Balsan Korean restaurant: ₩5,000 soju dinner with a friend, Mikodam

I visited Mikodam, a newly opened hanjeongsik (Korean set-meal) restaurant at Balsan Station. The short version: Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch has unlimited jeyuk-bokkeum (spicy pork stir-fry), so I left full and happy. Here's my review of what I think will become a well-known Balsan Station set-meal spot.

Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch hours and facilities

Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch is open daily 11:00-22:00. It offers group dining, Naver reservations, delivery and corkage, plus baby chairs and birthday perks, and parking is covered for up to 3 hours.

• Group dining available
• Naver reservations available
• Birthday perk
• Delivery available
• Baby chairs
• Corkage allowed
• Parking available, 3 hours covered

How does parking work at Mikodam near Balsan Station?

You use a nearby parking building. When you leave, a staff member gives you a slip of paper; show it when you pay at Mikodam and they stamp it. You get up to 3 hours of free parking, and you hand it in when exiting the car park.

Mikodam's dining hall and private rooms

It's newly opened, so it was very clean, and probably because it's a hanjeongsik place, lots of families came. We were two people eating in the hall, and the tables were spaced widely and comfortable, so we could chat easily while eating.

There are 3 private rooms in total, seating up to 12 people, I was told. They looked good for family gatherings or company dinners.

Mikodam says the side dishes in its set meals are made with carefully selected ingredients. Hanjeongsik restaurants get a lot of family visitors, with kids and elders eating the same food, so I guess they take ingredients seriously.

Mikodam menu and prices

What comes in Mikodam's ₩46,000 set for two?

The (Hansang Gadeuk) set for two at Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch is ₩46,000: one seaweed soup and one cockle bibimbap per person, plus one side dish of your choice, with a price discount built in. We also ordered soju (₩5,000).

I saw the set for two and ordered it. ₩46,000 works out to ₩23,000 per person. Prices in the ₩20,000s are usually lunch prices, but you can eat this at dinner too, so for a Korean set meal it's good value. We chose flounder seaweed soup, the vinegar-dressed version of the cockle bibim, and beef jeon (pan-fried beef) as our side.

Starter salad at Mikodam

First to wake up our appetites was a salad with onion and vegetables. The dressing was fresh and not overpowering, perfect before a meal.

How is Mikodam's flounder seaweed soup?

The best dish for me and my friend that day was the flounder seaweed soup! It had far deeper savory flavor than ordinary seaweed soup, really delicious.

A whole flounder goes into the soup. The broth was wonderfully clear and refreshing, gentle on the stomach, and I emptied the bowl in no time. Kids and adults alike would love it.

Beef jeon or soy-marinated crab: choosing the side dish

I agonized for a long time over whether to pick the soy-marinated crab or the beef jeon as the side, and I think ordering the jeon was the right call.

The beef was tender and the egg coating wasn't thick, so it tasted clean, and with chives on top the combination is so good you keep eating.

Grilled Norwegian mackerel

The mackerel was grilled golden, slightly crisp outside and moist inside. It had almost no fishy smell, so if you like fish, I think you'll be satisfied.

It was a big Norwegian mackerel, so the two of us couldn't finish a whole one. The flesh was plump and went well with rice.

Vinegar-dressed cockle bibim

The vinegar-dressed cockle bibim was a sweet-and-sour dish that revived the appetite. There were plenty of cockles, and with crunchy vegetables the texture was great too. It goes well with rice.

Can you get refills of pork stir-fry and japchae at Mikodam?

At Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch the jeyuk-bokkeum (spicy pork stir-fry) is unlimited and the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) can be refilled too. The pork was another dish I was happy with: a faint fire-grilled aroma, and a sauce neither too spicy nor too sweet, a real rice thief. Best of all, since it's unlimited, I didn't have to ration it.

The japchae was better than I expected. The noodles weren't mushy but chewy, and the seasoning was just right, so my chopsticks kept going back. Since both can be refilled, I dug in without holding back.

Namul side dishes, gopchang laver and kimchi

The namul (seasoned vegetables) were bracken, bean sprouts and spinach, and none of them were heavily salted, so you could taste the mild, clean flavor typical of hanjeongsik. There was also a side dish that cut the richness, which went well with the mackerel.

Gopchang-gim (crinkly seaweed) and kimchi came too and went well with rice, making it feel like a comforting home-cooked meal. The seaweed was especially better than I expected.

I also liked that the soju at Mikodam is only ₩5,000, not expensive.

We refilled the pork stir-fry and the japchae once each. The refills weren't smaller or worse; they came in the same amount and same quality.

Unlimited pork stir-fry! That's one of the reasons I have to come back to Mikodam.

With so many side dishes and refills, one bowl of rice wasn't enough. Extra rice at Mikodam is ₩1,000.

What free desserts does Mikodam offer?

By the door of Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch there are self-serve dessert snacks and drinks. Fitting for a hanjeongsik restaurant, the snack is gangnaengi (puffed corn snack). Hahaha. I'd added extra rice and was so full that I only took a few.

There's maesil (plum drink) and sikhye (sweet rice drink) to help digestion, plus a coffee machine. I liked that even the drinks are free.

Mikodam review event and birthday perk

At Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch, doing the review event gets you an egg roll, and visiting on your birthday gets you a large beef jeon as a freebie! I ate the medium jeon, so a large one for free means I have to visit on my birthday~ I recommend Mikodam, a Balsan Station set-meal restaurant!