Weekend lunch waiting and hoibal pairing at Padong, Mangwon

The weather was so nice that a friend and I went out to Mangwon! While looking for a lunch spot, we ended up at Padong, a Japanese restaurant everyone raves about.

Padong's location and hours near Mangwon Station

Padong

• 📍 47 World Cup-ro 17-gil, B1, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• 🚘 No parking available
• ⏰ Daily 11:30–21:00
• Closed every Monday
• Closes early when ingredients run out

Since it's tucked in a Mangwon-dong alley, there's no parking at all. Use the public lot at Mangwon 1-dong Community Center nearby! I walked from Mangwon Station, and it's not far from there. The restaurant is on the basement floor (just a few steps down).

How long is the weekend lunch wait?

I went for weekend lunch, and sure enough, being a popular spot, there was a wait. I put my name on the waiting list right away. I arrived around 1pm with two parties ahead of me, so it wasn't too long! There was a steady stream of waiting parties the whole time we ate too.

Padong's menu and our order

~Menu~ When your turn comes up, staff come out to take your order first. Since I was sharing with a friend, we ordered futomaki ₩16,000, mazesoba ₩12,000, cola ₩3,000, and a Jim Beam highball ₩7,000. They also have basil soba, kimchi cheese nabe, steak rice bowl, tuna rice bowl, salmon rice bowl, cold soba, and shrimp tempura udon!

There were so many options it was hard to choose,, futomaki seems like a must-order, and the steak rice bowl looked popular too. Go late and it might be sold out, so watch out!

Atmosphere and seating

Inside, there are five 2-person tables and one 4-person table. It's on the small side, so it seems like a good spot for solo dining on weekdays! When I visited, there were families and couples too. The interior is clean with a wood tone, so photos come out feeling really nice. It matches the vibe of Mangwon-dong well too haha.

Jim Beam highball

Drinks came out first! With the sun beating down and it being a bit warm, the Jim Beam highball was so good.. Since it was lunch, we only ordered one and split it with my friend, but it paired perfectly with the food and went down so smoothly 😋 I seriously considered ordering another one.. My friend, even though she'd been drinking the night before, said it was so good, lol.

It's an open kitchen so you can watch them cook, and the kitchen is spotless so you can eat with confidence ✨

The food arrived! Since we'd already ordered before sitting down, it didn't take long. The lighting in the restaurant makes food photos come out really well. Visuals on point.

A jangguk (savory soup) comes as a default, and my friend said even the soup was really good ˃ᴗ˂

Two basic side dishes come with the meal! The sauce in the photo is meant to be added in after eating about half the mazesoba, as staff explained.

Mazesoba

I love mazesoba, and Padong's is genuinely loaded with ingredients! So much meat and scallion it's hard to even mix♡ I mixed it thoroughly and dug in — the noodles were chewy and the seasoning was delicious haha. Adding the vinegar they gave us partway through added a savory depth, so it stayed delicious without getting tiring all the way to the end. Definitely recommend adding it in before you finish☆ There were so many other dishes I wanted to try that I considered ordering one more, but the portion was already huge!

Futomaki

The futomaki (thick sushi roll) I'd been looking forward to after seeing other reviews! It was even bigger than it looked in photos, which surprised me lol. It was the biggest futomaki I've ever seen.. (a size you literally can't fit in one bite). So even though it might not look like a lot in photos, it's seriously filling! The sashimi inside was tasty, the cucumber added a crisp crunch, and the fried shrimp gave a nice crispy bite too, so the texture was great. Adding a little wasabi that comes on the side makes it even better, so I recommend it~

The combo worth ordering at Padong

The mazesoba and futomaki combo works really well together, so ordering both is a good idea haha. Definitely get the highball with it too! Futomaki is available for takeout, so packing it up for a picnic by the Han River in Mangwon sounds great too..♡ If I come back, I'm definitely ordering the highball again and trying dishes I haven't had yet. Especially the steak rice bowl..!

Small restaurants often make it awkward to use the restroom, but Padong has one inside the restaurant, which was really convenient!

This was a spot I found myself, and I was proud my friend enjoyed it too ☺️ Generous portions and great taste — if you're looking for Japanese food in Mangwon, I recommend Padong!