Siheung octopus restaurant in a new white building: Maepsi Nakji

What is Maepsi Nakji Mulwang Reservoir Main Branch like?

Maepsi Nakji (맵시낙지) Mulwang Reservoir Main Branch is an octopus restaurant at 6-1 Dongseo-ro 857beon-gil, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi, 1st floor, open daily from 11:00 to 21:00 (last order 20:00). I found it while looking for somewhere to eat near Mulwang Reservoir. I'd heard it hadn't been open long, and the exterior already looked different.

The clean white-toned building looks like a private pension house.

When you think of an octopus restaurant, you usually picture an old, long-running joint. Maepsi Nakji has a completely brand-new-building feel, so I was excited before even walking in.

Parking and weekend waits at Maepsi Nakji

There is parking for up to 22 cars in front of the restaurant. I visited on a Sunday at 12:30 and 3 groups were waiting.

It's well known by word of mouth, with people coming from Seoul and other regions, so expect a wait on weekends. We waited about 15 minutes and then went straight in.

There's a separate waiting area by the entrance,

and it's equipped with a coffee machine, water purifier, baby chairs and even restrooms.

Aprons are also set out here and there!

Inside the restaurant and the self-serve bar

Inside, there are 20 tables and room for 80 people in total, so it feels open and spacious. Family gatherings or groups would be no problem at all.

The owner runs the place personally and reportedly cares about a friendly, pleasant space.

The self-serve bar sits in the middle of the restaurant, and the selection is seriously good.

• Cabbage salad, white kimchi, bean sprouts, perilla leaves, cold seaweed soup
• Nurungji tea (sungnyung) and soft tofu
• There's even rice

How do you order, and what did we get?

You sit down, prepay, and then order on a tablet.

Here's what we ordered.

• Maepsi stone-plate octopus for 2
• 35cm octopus-shrimp pancake

Spoons and chopsticks, wet wipes and tissues are in the drawer under the table. The side dishes are the ones I saw at the self-serve bar earlier.

Every table has an induction burner, so you can keep dishes like clam soup (mosijogi-tang) warm while you eat.

How good is the 35cm octopus-shrimp pancake?

The 35cm octopus-shrimp pancake (nakji saeu pajeon) came out first. At 35cm, it's overwhelming just to look at.

I liked that it came with two dipping soy sauces. Dipped in the sweet-and-sour one, it stays clean and never feels greasy 😍

There's octopus inside and it's tender, not tough. The batter is golden and crispy outside and chewy inside, so the more you chew, the more the nutty flavor comes up.

The mild taste of the octopus and the plump texture of the shrimp blend into the scallion pancake, and with every bite a faint seafood aroma spreads. So good.

How spicy is the Maepsi stone-plate octopus?

We had the Maepsi stone-plate octopus (dolpan nakji) set to less spicy than Shin Ramyun, and it was just right. The main finally arrived, and the sizzling sound and aroma of it stir-frying on the stone plate reached us first.

It isn't too spicy but keeps a nice kick, and the sauce soaks right into the octopus, so one bite spreads a deep, rich seasoning flavor.

The octopus is tender, not tough, and maybe because it's stir-fried on the stone plate, the surface caramelizes slightly and the sauce tastes even richer. Octopus is said to be rich in taurine, good for fatigue and recovering energy 🐙 Delicious and good for you too, a two-for-one!

The table full of stone-plate octopus and pancake looks filling just to look at. The restaurant's philosophy of putting style and care into even a single meal seemed to come through in every dish.

How to eat stone-plate octopus: seaweed-flake bibimbap and perilla wraps

Every table at Maepsi Nakji has seaweed flakes (gimgaru),

so I put seaweed flakes and the octopus stir-fry on rice and mixed it all up. This is honestly heaven.

Adding bean sprouts too would have been even better. I only realized that while writing this post, haha.

Wrap the mixed rice in a perilla leaf from the self-serve bar and take a bite: the leaf's distinctive aroma meets the octopus sauce for a whole different flavor. Definitely try this combo.

Who should visit Maepsi Nakji Mulwang Reservoir Main Branch?

Maepsi Nakji works for eating out, company dinners, dates, family gatherings, daytime drinks, lunch or dinner, and it's a great Mulwang Lake restaurant. With this quality at a reasonable, not-overwhelming price, I think the value is unbeatable. I strongly recommend it if you're planning an outing to Mulwang Reservoir ☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★