Seodaemun Korean BBQ with grilled kimchi: Mapo Gui Madang

I visited Mapo Gui Madang (마포구이마당), a delicious and affordable meat restaurant in Bukgajwa-dong. It is famous locally as a great-value spot, so all kinds of customers, young and old, come by.

Mapo Gui Madang Bukgajwa Direct Branch: location and atmosphere

Bulgwangcheon Stream is only a 10-second walk away, so it is the perfect location for a stroll after your meal.

The interior is spacious and clean, and it looked great for company dinners, group get-togethers, or family meals. Some meat restaurants feel a little greasy and sticky, but this place was comfortably fresh with none of that!

Mapo Gui Madang menu and what I ordered

There are exactly five main dishes: frozen pork belly, thick-cut pork belly, thick-cut pork neck, thick-cut pork intestine, and spicy grilled webfoot octopus. There is a wide selection of sides too, and the prices are low overall, so you can order without feeling burdened.

• Fresh thick-cut pork belly (200 g) ₩13,900 × 2
• Flash-frozen pork belly (200 g) ₩9,900 × 2
• Doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) ₩3,000
• Rice ₩1,000 × 2

A great basic spread with ssamjang and kimchi

When you order meat, the basic spread includes wrap vegetables, ssamjang (savory dipping paste), doenjang, garlic, white kimchi, green-onion kimchi, and napa cabbage kimchi. The ssamjang and every kind of kimchi here are works of art.

If your stomach allows it, you absolutely have to get refills too, haha.

You have to order the ₩3,000 doenjang-jjigae

It is only ₩3,000, but this doenjang-jjigae comes in a big portion with plenty of ingredients.

It is packed with meat, tofu, and vegetables, and the broth is both rich and refreshing, so you really have to order it!

It is even better with rice, haha. I finished a bowl of doenjang rice in no time, hahaha.

Par-cooked thick-cut pork belly with grilled kimchi

When you order two portions of thick-cut pork belly, one large piece comes out. It arrives par-cooked, so it cooks quickly.

Put napa kimchi, green-onion kimchi, and raw garlic on with it, then grill everything in the pork belly fat—the smell is insane ㅠㅠㅠ

Grilled kimchi with pork belly? Everyone knows that is delicious, but this place is the real deal. The owner must be a kimchi master, hahaha.

Does an affordable pork belly price mean an affordable taste? Absolutely not—it is simply delicious pork belly! It was chewy yet tender, with zero off smell; honestly, I would have believed it was premium Korean pork, haha.

Above all, eating it with kimchi is absolute heaven here. The pleasantly ripe sweet-and-tangy kimchi with juicy, delicious pork belly—there is no way that combination could be bad.

It is delicious wrapped in greens, and delicious with rice too. I immediately understood why this is considered a Bukgajwa-dong favorite!

Flash-frozen pork belly grilled on the griddle

We also ordered two portions of frozen pork belly. It comes with salt and pepper, so just sprinkle them on generously and grill it.

Of course, we refilled the kimchi and grilled that alongside it too, hehe.

Frozen pork belly has a different charm from thick-cut pork belly: crispy yet chewy, and increasingly nutty as you chew. I like frozen pork belly, but I do not love places that grill it on foil; I loved that I could grill it directly on the griddle here.

At ₩9,900 per portion, the serving is generous, so you can get full with great value.

Once you try the rice, meat, and kimchi samhap (a three-part combination), you cannot help but recognize this as a Bukgajwa-dong favorite. Definitely order rice and try the samhap! Haha.

Final thoughts on Mapo Gui Madang Bukgajwa Direct Branch

An affordable, delicious, clean, and friendly meat restaurant!

The low prices are great to begin with, but the meat is better than average, so the value is crazy good. On top of that, the restaurant is clean and the staff are kind, so it is now saved in my heart as a Bukgajwa-dong favorite.

There are actually quite a few affordable meat restaurants, but not many have delicious meat and kimchi while also being clean and friendly. This place is genuinely a great restaurant, no question!!! I will definitely be back!