Hapjeong bar with a ₩39,000 Korean beef tataki course: Bako Jumak

A Hapjeong bar open until 4 a.m.: first round or third round at Bako Jumak

Picking a bar near Hapjeong Station is harder than it sounds — especially on a night when you want proper snacks but not a heavy meal. I set up dinner plans near Hapjeong Station with a budget of around ₩40,000. My goal was clear: not just a place with good vibes, but somewhere I could order three dishes and keep the flow going from start to finish without interruption. That's how I ended up at Bako Jumak.

The actual total that night was ₩39,000, from exactly three dishes: Korean beef tataki ₩23,000, truffle jjapaghetti ₩8,000, and ice hongsi (frozen ripe persimmon) ₩8,000 — meat, then noodles, then a cold dessert to finish. Written out, it looks less like a bar order and more like a tasting course someone planned, but at the time I was oddly serious about it.

How long is the walk from Hapjeong Station to Bako Jumak?

Bako Jumak sits at 27 Dokmak-ro 7-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's about 498m from Hapjeong Station Exit 3, roughly a 5–7 minute walk from either Hapjeong or Sangsu Station. From Hongik Univ. Station it's about 900m, around a 15-minute walk — so Hapjeong is clearly the easier approach.

The Hapjeong area has bars everywhere, so even with a destination in mind, you end up eyeing every signboard along the way. That happened to me too. I meant to head straight to Bako Jumak but kept scanning the neighboring shops as I walked.

My first misstep happened here. Fresh out of the station, I figured I'd get there quickly and walked with only a glance at the map. That kind of confidence rarely lasts past five minutes. I ended up pulling out my phone again to check the location. In Hapjeong, a map beats "it's probably that way" every time — I have to admit that.

The place runs daily from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m., with last order at 3 a.m. You can go for dinner as a first round, or drop by as a second or third stop after spending the evening in Hapjeong — there's plenty of time either way.

Inside Bako Jumak: seating, group reservations and restrooms

Once inside, the word "jumak" (traditional Korean tavern) in the name wasn't just for show. The space is built around Korean bar food, so it felt noticeably different from the many izakaya-style bars scattered around Hapjeong.

There's a good range of seating, from quiet tables for two to spaces for bigger groups. Group bookings are available too — reservations run from 2 people up to 30 or more, with parties over 30 needing a separate inquiry.

One thing I quietly check at any bar is the restroom situation. Having to step outside the building or hunt down another floor mid-meal is annoying, but Bako Jumak has separate restrooms for men and women.

After sitting down, I opened the menu and the evening's strategy meeting began. Dishes like sinew-and-fishcake stew or mook-sabal (acorn jelly in broth) caught my eye, but I decided to center the order on Korean beef tataki, followed by truffle jjapaghetti, and finish with ice hongsi.

Meat, then noodles, then persimmon. Nobody handed me this course — I built it myself.

First dish: Korean beef tataki, ₩23,000

The dish I anchored the order around was Korean beef tataki, priced at ₩23,000.

Tataki gives you a rough idea of its texture before you even bite in, but the actual experience comes in stages. First you get the firm sear on the surface, then a couple of chews in, the tender interior follows, and finally the beef's distinct flavor lingers in your mouth.

I'm not the type to pile on side condiments right away with a dish like this. I have this needlessly strict rule that the first bite has to be the meat alone. Nobody ever told me to follow this rule — I just do.

After the first bite, I added condiments from the second piece onward. Even with the same tataki, the impression shifts depending on what you pair it with, which made it good for slow drinking. This is exactly why I'd chosen tataki instead of jumping straight into a hot soup dish — it clicked for me here. The Korean beef tataki anchored the whole order that night.

Truffle jjapaghetti, ₩8,000: hard to resist

Second up was truffle jjapaghetti (jjapaghetti, the instant black bean noodle brand, dressed up with truffle), priced at ₩8,000.

Spotting the word "jjapaghetti" on a bar menu makes a person briefly lose their senses. I know I can make it at home. I know exactly how much a single instant noodle pack costs. So why do I still order it at a bar? No idea. But that night, the word "truffle" gave me a justification.

Lift the noodles and the sauce clings to them; the moment it hits your mouth, that familiar salty jjapaghetti flavor comes first. The first couple of bites carry the noodles' chewiness, then the sauce spreads as you keep chewing. Add the truffle aroma on top and it heads in a completely different direction from the beef tataki I'd just had.

Here I broke a small rule of my own.

I'd mentally decided to "finish the meat, then move to noodles," but with one piece of tataki still left, I reached for the jjapaghetti. Then went back to the tataki. Nobody said anything, but I still glanced around like I'd been caught. Nobody cared. Good.

Alternating between the two turned out to be fun. Following the beef's aroma, then swerving into the jjapaghetti's rich sauce. If the ₩23,000 dish was the main event, the ₩8,000 jjapaghetti did exactly its job of shifting the mood midway.

Finish with ice hongsi, ₩8,000, a frozen persimmon dessert

Had I stopped here, it would've just been a solid meat-and-noodles evening. But that night's order also included ice hongsi (frozen ripe persimmon) for ₩8,000.

After the beef tataki and truffle jjapaghetti, my mouth still carried the lingering meat-and-sauce aftertaste. A cold spoonful of hongsi completely flipped the mood.

First the cold hits your tongue, then as it softens slightly, the persimmon's characteristic smooth texture comes through. It's less something you chew than something you slowly dissolve on your tongue. The sweetness follows right after, standing out even more against the salty dishes before it.

One spoonful, a short pause, then another. At this point I could give my past self some credit for planning all the way through to the ice hongsi from the start.

Three dishes for ₩39,000: why the order mattered

That night's order came to Korean beef tataki ₩23,000, truffle jjapaghetti ₩8,000, and ice hongsi ₩8,000 — exactly ₩39,000 total.

What I liked was that the three dishes didn't overlap in direction. Starting with Korean beef tataki to focus on the meat itself, pulling in a richer, more familiar flavor with the truffle jjapaghetti, then finishing cold and sweet with the ice hongsi.

Bar-hunting in Hapjeong can get overwhelming just from the sheer number of menu options. Bako Jumak also has a wide range of Korean bar snacks, so I did consider adding a soup dish at first. But looking back at that night alone, splitting the order clearly into three distinct directions worked out well.

It's about 500m from Hapjeong Station, a 5–7 minute walk. Being open from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. also makes it genuinely useful for planning an evening around Hapjeong. Worth keeping in mind for group gatherings or work dinners too.

Next time I go back, I'm planning to add a soup dish like sinew-and-fishcake stew. This time the tataki was the centerpiece — next visit, hot soup gets to play the supporting role.

But the answer for that night was already settled: beef tataki, then jjapaghetti, then finish with hongsi.