Food Guide | MAPO

Mapo is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, and it is one of the trendiest areas as it has neighbourhoods like Hongdae, Sinchon, Hapjeong and Mangwon. In this food guide, I'll recommend the top 6 restaurants that Korean locals love!

Austin (오스틴)

As you can tell from its name, Austin is a Western restaurant. Austin is the state capital of Texas, and this restaurant serves authentic Texas foods. It is a two stories building with a terrace. If you come here when the sun is down, the yellow lights make a perfect romantic atmosphere.

We were delighted as the portions of the food were very large. There were nine loaves of bread and three types of meat on an iron plate. It was for three people, but four people could eat and be full. The drinks here were also massive. 

We were so full after this meal that all of us could not move. If you are a barbecue lover, Austin will satisfy you.

• Address: 서울시 마포구 상수동 93-108
• Hours: 12:00 - 23:00

Joo5il (주5일주점)

The restaurant's name means five days a week restaurant in Korean. And as the name suggests, this restaurant only opens five days a week. This Mangwon's gourmet is hidden in the alley and is on the many locals' favourite restaurant lists. It aired on Wednesday Food Talk (수요미식회) which is a food talk show that introduces best-tasting restaurants around Korea.

It's a small restaurant with only 10 tables, and you have to get in line to enter. The food here is quite extraordinary as it looks like a foreign dish but tastes like a Korean one. The menu here changes often. The chef here likes to change the menu to use the best ingredients that are sold on the season.

The most popular dish here is the eggplant dish. The eggplant isn't cut into small pieces. Instead, the slices of the whole eggplant are served with a special sauce. The flavour is rich and delicious, but the portion could be a little small for most of you. 

The menu above is the chicken curry with purple rice. The curry was creamy, and the chicken was tender. 

Menu below is the shrimp soup. It was similar to borscht, but it tasted ordinary. I recommend you to try the eggplant dish even if you don't like eggplant as it tastes exquisite. Sadly due to COVID-19, the pub is only doing takeaways for now.

• Address: 서울 마포구 포은로 89

Mapo Instant Buckwheat Noodles District (마포즉석모밀촌) 

Many traditional restaurants in Korea sell only one type of food, especially the cold noodles that we call soba (buckwheat noodle). This restaurant specializes in soba but in a Korean way. It is one of the most loved noodle restaurants in Mangwondong.

Koreans eat soba with a little mustard in the soup, and it tastes refreshing. The portion of one bowl here is equal to two at other restaurants. Have it with hot dumplings, and it would make a perfect meal! 

• Address: 서울 마포구 동교로 20 
• Hours: 10:30 - 21:00

Nocturne No.5 (녹턴넘버5)

Nocturne No.5 is famous for their matcha ice cream, which has six levels to it. Each level of matcha has a nickname. No.1 is shimkung (heart skip a beat), No.2 ssum (fling), No.3 hogam (crush), No.4 sullem (flutter), No.5 yeoljung (passionate) and No.5+ propose. 

Regardless of its nickname, the most popular matcha flavour is No.3. If you love the bittersweetness of matcha, then I recommend you try all six flavours.

Other than the matcha ice cream, there are matcha cheesecake, matcha tea and black tea. These are also very popular. The taste of these teas can be a bit strange at first. If you must choose one, I recommend you picking the matcha tea. Matcha has always been popular among Korean. 

• Address: 서울 마포구 포은로 117
• Hours: 11:00 - 21:00

Berlin Kitchen (베를린키친) 

This restaurant has only four tables and four main menus. The main four dishes are healthy meals and use fresh ingredients. In addition to the main course, side dishes and desserts are also healthy and light.

We ordered a seafood curry and a beef menu. The seafood curry is was not the same as curry we eat regularly in Korea. Korean curry's are thick and heavy, but here it was light and creamy. The vegetables and seafood were fresh and delicious. 

Below is the Berlin kitchen's signature dish for the beef menu. The grain rice is served with a lot of fresh vegetables, sweet soy sauce and pre-seasoned beef. Mix all these together, and it reminds you of the Japanese beef rice bowl. It was delicious overall. 

• Address: 서울 마포구 포은로 86-1
• Hours: 12:00 - 21:00

Namul Meongneun Gom (나물먹는 곰)

Although there are thousands of Korean restaurants that provide Korean cuisine, it is hard to come by a Korean restaurant that has authentic and delicious Korean cuisine. This long name of the restaurant means 'herb eating wild bear' in English. So you'll see a lot of fresh herbs used in their food. 

From Hongdae to Hapjeong, you can find this beautiful restaurant that has gourmet Korean dishes. There are many side dishes in this restaurant, which have higher qualities compared to many other restaurants. 

Most of the Korean restaurants give simple marinated side dishes like kimchi, sprouts, radishes, and more. But there were pancakes, sweet potatoes and buckwheat curd, which are hard to find in other Korean restaurants here.

When it comes to representative Korean cuisine, you must taste Japchae (stir-fried vegetables) and bibimbap. These two dishes seem simple, but making simple food delicious is much harder than you think.

The shrimp marinated in soy sauce was terrific. It was not so salty and went perfect with rice. If you want to have authentic traditional Korean cuisine, I strongly recommend this place.

• Address: 서울 마포구 잔다리로 20-12
• Hours: 12:00 - 22:00

This blog was about the top six restaurants in Mapo. If you have more questions or comments about this blog post, please leave them down below or email us at help@creatrip.com