Four-fish sashimi platter eaten dobrai-first at Jaecheoldameun Mapo

If you want to enjoy sashimi, grilled gizzard shad, salt-grilled shrimp and a mixed seafood platter all at once near Daeheung Station, I found a really solid spot. This time I visited Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada (제철담은 마포바다), and true to its name — which roughly means "seasonal seafood, packed in" — the whole table really did feel like it was overflowing with seasonal catches.

⚠️ Caution if reading after 10pm. This post features an excessive amount of sashimi, shrimp, gizzard shad, seafood, and tofu kimchi. If you're resisting a late-night snack, read this tomorrow morning instead. I've already eaten, so I take no responsibility.

Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada at a glance

• Name: Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada
• Address: 1F Bonghwa Building, 104 Baekbeom-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• Transit: 81m from Daeheung Station Exit 3
• Hours: Mon / Wed / Thu / Fri 17:00–23:00, Sat / Sun 12:00–23:00
• Break time 14:30–16:30 (weekends)
• Last order 21:30
• Closed every Tuesday
• Ordered: Mapo Bada Signature Table ₩151,000

How close is it to Daeheung Station? Exterior and parking

Walk just a bit from Daeheung Station and you'll spot the big "Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada" sign. Since it opened on September 2, the entrance was still surrounded by opening-celebration flower stands, and the whole place had that clean, brand-new feel.

The first thing that caught my eye on the exterior was the fish tank. There's a large live-fish tank right out front where you can see the fish swimming around — somehow a seafood restaurant just feels more legit when you can see the tank like this. The inside was also visible from outside, so it looked bright and lively rather than closed-off.

There's no dedicated parking lot at the restaurant. If you're driving, they direct you to alternate parking at the Hicar Plaza Halla Auto Yeomni branch entrance, about 100m away toward Gongdeok Station. Check the country-of-origin signage too.

Interior, seating, and corkage conditions

Since it just opened, there are lots of congratulatory flower wreaths. Once inside, the space was noticeably bigger than it looked from outside. The first floor stretches back quite a ways with plenty of tables, so it seemed good not just for a meal for two but for family dinners or group gatherings too.

Overall, with bright lighting and wood-tone tables, it had a clean, comfortable vibe rather than the old-school feel typical of seafood restaurants. There were window seats too, nice for dining while looking outside in the evening.

For anyone who likes to drink, note the corkage info. Excluding drinks sold in-house, you can bring wine, whiskey, sake, or traditional Korean liquor — the first bottle is free, and it's ₩10,000 per bottle after that. Good conditions for a group meal with drinks.

Mapo Bada Signature Table, ₩151,000 — what's included

A moment later, the table-buckling-under-food scene: unveiled.

The owner apologized for the food being a bit slow and gave us a free draft beer on the house. A drink before the food arrives — cheers~~ You'll see once you visit, the owner and staff are genuinely, genuinely kind (not just because of the free beer, definitely not, haha).

What we ordered that day was the Mapo Bada Signature Table. Three staff members wheeled it in on its own table setup, and my jaw dropped the moment it arrived. The lineup: salt-grilled shrimp + raw shrimp + gizzard shad sashimi, the four-fish sashimi platter, grilled gizzard shad, mixed seafood, cold jeyuk (boiled pork), tofu kimchi, steamed egg, and abalone porridge. It's honestly too much food to fit in one photo.

The price alone isn't light, but once it actually arrived, the portions were huge and varied — a great setup for several people to share.

Abalone porridge and steamed egg

The abalone porridge was great to start with. Its color was already deep, showing how well the abalone innards flavor had soaked in — and taking a spoonful, it wasn't thin at all, but rather thick and rich.

It was so good we finished the whole bowl of abalone porridge before anything else, haha. Kept nibbling on the soft steamed egg along the way too~

Four-fish sashimi platter: sea bream, rockfish, flounder, amberjack

The main sashimi came in four types: sea bream, rockfish, flounder, and amberjack. It arrived with ginger, pickled radish, lemon, and sprouts on the side. The owner told us that sea bream changes flavor over time, so we should eat it first.

The sashimi was layered generously on a big plate, and the portions were ample — cut thick rather than thin, giving it a satisfying chew.

The flounder was mild yet chewy, the rockfish had a firm bite, the sea bream was clean and springy, and the amberjack had a richer, nuttier flavor compared to the other white fish — it was fun rotating through all four.

Sashimi wraps, generously piled

Putting a few pieces of sashimi on a big lettuce leaf with some chogochujang (vinegared chili paste) or other fixings and taking a big bite was delicious too. Dipping each piece in soy sauce one at a time was nice, but partway through switching to wrapping it up like a sashimi ssam was a whole different flavor experience. Since the sashimi was cut thick, it didn't get lost even wrapped up.

Am I eating the sashimi to drink the beer, or drinking the beer to eat the sashimi? Someone please tell me, haha. The seaweed soup with shrimp in it had a refreshing broth too.

Salt-grilled shrimp and live octopus

And then there was the salt-grilled shrimp, which was so good that day. A whole pile of cooked shrimp came out, and peeling each one revealed plump, meaty flesh. Peeling them while still hot really brings out the springy texture, and the seasoning wasn't overdone, so they were great eaten plain.

Eat one, peel another — hands stayed busy, but somehow we couldn't stop. Our table finished every single one. The live octopus, still wriggling, had that springy, chewy texture!

Cold jeyuk and chamnamul (aster) salad

I didn't expect a seafood restaurant to nail cold jeyuk (boiled sliced pork) like this. Thickly sliced cold jeyuk was piled high with fragrant chamnamul (Korean aster) salad on top — the jeyuk was mild and the chamnamul was aromatic, and together they made a great combination.

After eating nothing but seafood, a bite of meat in the middle really refreshed the palate. We polished off every last piece, haha.

Mixed seafood platter

The mixed seafood platter was also quite generous. Scallops, abalone, sea cucumber, sea squirt and more all arrived on one plate, so it was fun picking through the variety. The scallops came big, still in their shells, and the abalone had pretty decorative knife cuts. Breaking up the sashimi with completely different textures in between made the whole table feel even more abundant. I ate all the sea squirt and abalone myself, haha.

Grilled gizzard shad and fried sweet pumpkin

True to the season, gizzard shad made an appearance too. A whole tray of nicely browned grilled gizzard shad arrived, giving off that distinct nutty, grilled-fish aroma. After all the sashimi and raw seafood, a bite of warm grilled gizzard shad completely changed things up — the kind of dish that makes you want a drink. Perfect for a group of four to each get their own fish.

I thought I wouldn't be able to eat any more fried food, but the fried sweet pumpkin was so good it disappeared in a flash too, T-T

Tofu kimchi

The tofu kimchi wasn't a small portion either. Soft tofu was arranged around the edge of the plate, with a generous mound of stir-fried kimchi piled in the center. Topping the tofu with warm kimchi for a bite is, as always, a combination that never fails.

Why is even the stir-fried kimchi this good here... I want to know who the chef really is.

Raw shrimp and gizzard shad sashimi

The Signature Table also includes raw shrimp. Cleaned raw shrimp came out with a small side of gizzard shad sashimi, and the springy texture was great. The shrimp had a subtle natural sweetness, nice with a light dip in chogochujang, and switching between it and the sashimi highlighted the textural differences clearly.

The scallops were fresh too.

A whole tray of fried shrimp heads

"It's not over till it's over" seems to be the motto here. It's not just the shrimp itself — the heads get fried separately too, arriving on a whole tray of their own. Crispy and nutty, shrimp lovers can really enjoy this part fully. At this point you really do think, "wait, there's still more coming?"

The fried shrimp heads are the ultimate beer snack.

Final thoughts — good for a family gathering?

A good seafood restaurant for a family gathering in Mapo, Jaecheoldameun Mapo Bada is less about going for a single plate of sashimi and more a great place to enjoy a whole variety of seasonal seafood and dishes at once.

In particular, the Mapo Bada Signature Table we had that day was built around the sea bream, rockfish, flounder and amberjack sashimi platter, plus raw shrimp, salt-grilled shrimp, grilled gizzard shad, mixed seafood, cold jeyuk, tofu kimchi, steamed egg, and abalone porridge — genuinely a huge range of dishes.

With a big live-fish tank out front and a clean, spacious interior befitting a newly opened restaurant, it seems like a great fit for family meals or gatherings with several people. It's also very accessible, right by Daeheung Station Exit 3. If you want to eat sashimi and seasonal seafood in a variety of forms near Daeheung Station, this is a place worth remembering.

And one last thing for anyone reading this late at night: if the salt-grilled shrimp photo made you hungry, that's completely normal. Editing these photos made me want to eat it all over again too.