Mapo88 Review of Queenstown's must-try Korean restaurant in Queenstown (2024)

Queenstown Korean Restaurant

After living in Auckland for most of my life, I moved down to Queenstown earlier this year. One of the biggest disappointments of living in Queenstown was the lack of Korean restaurants. The Kimchi restaurant in the center of town opens at 4pm, and Dure in Frankton was a little less accessible.

A colleague I work with told me about a new Korean restaurant opening in the center of Queenstown, and its name is mapo88. It's not too far from where I work, so I decided to give it a try. I was actually really missing Korean food.

Queenstown Korean Restaurant Mapo88, Queenstown Location, opening hours

Queenstown Korean Restaurant Mapo88 is located in the center of Queenstown. I'll leave you with the address.

Take the alleyway next to Cookie Time and you'll find Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo 88. It's directly opposite the ice bar.

In the photo above, as you come down the alleyway, Mapo 88 Korean restaurant is on your right.

This is where Black Burger used to be. The only thing I didn't like was that it was hard to tell if the store was open or closed except for the sign in the photo that says open. Without that sign, you might think it was closed from the outside.

There are few windows to look in from the outside, and the wooden framed windows seem to block the view from the outside to the inside. If you're not someone who hears about it by word of mouth like me, you might just walk right past it. I think it would be more noticeable if there was a neat sign in front of the store.

Inside Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo 88

As soon as I walked through the door, I saw Cass's sign. When I saw Cass, I realized that I was in a Korean restaurant. By the way, Cass is a representative Korean beer brand.

I loved the dim lights on the ceiling, it just felt so familiar. Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo88 sells meals, but it felt more like a drinking establishment.

Unlike the locals here, Koreans like to pair food and alcohol together, so it seemed like they offered a wide variety of food to go with their drinks.

Queenstown Korean Restaurant Mapo88 Menu & Prices

The menu had a front and back menu, and a separate drinks menu. The menu at Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo 88 is categorized into Tapas, Street Food, Soup, Meal, SSAM, with Soju, and Chicken.

Tapas

The tapas are small portions for a full meal, so it's best to think of it as a side dish. I'll have to try the seafood pajeon and gimbap next time, especially the gimbap, which I'd love to try with the tteokbokki sauce.

Street food

If you like spicy food, you might want to try the Buldak Ramyun (fried chicken noodle soup), which I could eat, but I'd probably refrain because it's spicy and requires a lot of water.

For street food, we still highly recommend Tteokbokki, a favorite Korean street food. It's very spicy, so it's not recommended for those who don't like spicy food.

Soup type

It seems to have all the classic Korean soups. You'll find miso stew and kimchi stew, the staples of stews, and my favorite, gukbap. If you've been drinking the night before, I recommend the Pork Bone soup for the next day.

Meal menus

I'm not sure how hot it gets in Queenstown in the summer, but if it's hot enough, I'd recommend cold noodle soup.

While Korean food may not be very accommodating to vegetarians, one of the most popular dishes that can be served to them is bibimbap, or stone-cooked bibimbap. With a variety of vegetables and rice tossed with a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce, you'll enjoy a variety of textures and flavors.

쌈(Korean lettuce wraps)

SSAM is basically Korean food wrapped in something. Think of it as a lettuce and sesame leaf wrap with meat on top.

Chicken (Half boneless Chicken)

The chicken above is estimated to be half the price of a whole chicken. To really enjoy the chicken, we recommend pairing it with a beer.

Food for drinking

This is Mapo 88's menu for drinking snacks. It seems to consist of typical Korean snacks that are commonly found in Korea. If you want to pair it with soju, you can try the soup menu, which includes maratang, bouji-jjigae, potato soup, and jjampong.

If you're not a fan of soup, a plain steamed egg or corn cheese would be a good alternative.

More menu

Mapo88's beverage and alcohol menu includes beer, soju, drinks, traditional Korean liquor, and wine.

Queenstown Korean Restaurant Mapo88 Food Review

Mapo88 on a weekday afternoon seemed quiet, perhaps because I stopped by for lunch, so I was able to get a seat where I wanted to sit. The wait for food wasn't as long as I thought it would be, and even if I ordered multiple items, they were served quickly once they were ready.

When I heard about the new Queenstown Korean restaurant, it was the soup that made me happy - I was excited to be able to eat Korean favorites like pork soup, sundae soup, and bone haejangguk.

I ordered potato soup (pork bone stew), tteokbokki (rice cake), and bokbunja. Also, if you order the appetizer menu, it does not come with rice, so you will have to order rice separately if you want it.

Tteokbokki ($20) was at the top of the menu, and the basic side dishes were salad, kimchi, and fried potatoes. I don't think I've been to a restaurant with basic side dishes in a long time.

Tteokbokki was really my favorite. In fact, there are so many different types of tteokbokki in Korea, and this was my favorite style of tteokbokki. The rice cakes and oden were delicious, but the best part was the tteokbokki broth. It was sweet and had a nice spicy flavor.

One of the appetizers that drew me to this house was the pork bone stew ($39), a soup made by boiling pork bones for a long time. The meat attached to the bones is boiled together with the shiregi, and the broth made by simmering for a long time is really delicious.

I used to go to Jomaru Potato Soup (now closed) when I lived in Auckland, and it was a really good potato soup compared to theirs. When I took a spoonful of the soup, I immediately thought of soju.

The amount of rice I ordered separately was also a lot compared to other Korean restaurants. The meat in the potato soup was also tender and the amount was okay in my opinion. I've been to a lot of Korean restaurants in New Zealand, and I've experienced quite a few where the portions are small, so this exceeded my expectations.

For two people, it's more cost-effective to order this pork bone soup from the appetizer menu and order rice separately than to order the pork bone soup from the soup menu separately.

Bokbunja ($23) is a type of raspberry and a traditional Korean liquor made from it. The color is a bit like red wine, and it's not very strong and has a slightly sweet taste. In Korea, bokbunja is widely considered to be good for men's stamina.

You might be wondering how much it cost me to eat this way, and it totaled $90 (about $56).

There's been a lot of buzz about the new Queenstown Korean restaurant, probably because it's hard to find new restaurants in Queenstown, and I found out about it through a colleague of mine.

However, the feedback from my coworkers who went was a little different. The number one thing I heard was portion size, with many people saying that the portions were smaller than they expected.

Of course, I don't know what they ordered, so I can't really comment on what I didn't get to try, but I think the portions were adequate, and I can imagine that if they had chosen the tapas menu, they might have felt like they got less.

For those interested in learning more about Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo 88, please use the link below.

Finalize

Today we're talking about Mapo 88, a new Korean restaurant in Queenstown, and I'm personally happy to have one more place to eat Korean food.

It's close to my work, so I'm planning to stop by and try some Korean food, and I'll keep you updated on that as well.

Please note that my Korean names for food items may not be exactly what the restaurant intended. This is just my personal opinion.

Please also understand that the above menu prices are subject to change at any time due to the restaurant's circumstances.

If you're looking to try Korean food in Queenstown, why not try Mapo 88? Thank you for reading this article.