Yeoju Korean restaurant for braised cutlassfish: Nadeulmok

If you come to Yeoju, you have to start with a proper meal, right? Yeoju is known for its rice, so rather than a quick bite this time, I looked for a place where I could enjoy warm rice with lots of side dishes—and visited Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap (나들목 여주쌀밥).

A Korean restaurant near Yeoju Premium Outlets

Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap is on Sejong-ro in Yeoju and is close to both Yeoju Premium Outlets and Yeoju CC, making it a great place to eat on the way to or from a Yeoju trip or shopping outing. There is parking too, so it was easy to visit by car! I stopped by on my way to Yeoju Premium Outlets, and at just a four-minute drive away, it was perfect for a meal before or after shopping.

Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap is popular enough to have a wait..! Fortunately, the restaurant is spacious, so the wait is not too long—I personally think it is worth waiting! We arrived around 11:30 on Sunday and got in after about 10 minutes.

Inside, it has the clean, straightforward feel of a Korean set-meal restaurant! The tables are a little closer together than I expected, but it was so lively with diners that it did not feel uncomfortable~

Ordering the braised cutlassfish set for two

Here is the menu at Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap. What I was looking forward to most when I visited was, true to the name, the Yeoju rice. Since set meals come with a stir-fried pork side dish as standard, we ordered the braised cutlassfish set for two.

Appetizers

These days it is easy to have a simple meal at home too, but eating Korean food out is fun because you get a properly laid table of rice and side dishes, right? Since this menu comes with stone-pot rice, even the wait for warm rice after ordering was lovely💕

The appetizers were salad, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), cheongpomuk (mung bean jelly), and fried eggplant. They are made and used on the same day, so everything was incredibly fresh!

The fried eggplant in particular is one of Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap’s famous side dishes—so much so that it is sold separately. The filling was packed with meat, the eggplant was juicy, and the outside was crisp, making for a really special fried dish!

Braised cutlassfish set

This is the braised cutlassfish set for two that we ordered at Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap. Once the appetizers arrive, the braised cutlassfish set and seasonal vegetable side dishes follow.

The truly amazing part! Stir-fried pork comes as one of the standard side dishes. And it is a generous portion, too :) The set-meal options include bulgogi, braised cutlassfish, soy-marinated raw crab, and the basic Nadeulmok set, so it seems easy to choose according to everyone’s tastes.

Thick cutlassfish and my favorite soybean paste stew

For a braised cutlassfish set for two, I think there were about four or five pieces of fish—perhaps because one whole large cutlassfish goes in! There was also lots of radish, cooked until soft and soaked through with seasoning. You know it is a total rice thief, right~?

I do not usually eat doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), but at Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap it was my favorite menu itemꯁ It was bursting with savory flavor, with just the right seasoning and ingredients..! I got a little carsick on the way there and my stomach was not feeling great, but with the soybean paste stew, the stone-pot rice went down so easily~🥄

Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap does not serve regular bowls of rice! It is stone-pot rice only. Stone-pot rice is of course included when you order a set meal, and if you want extra rice, you can add another stone pot.

Once the whole spread was laid out, I was reminded that Korean food is most fun when there are lots of side dishes. It was fun choosing one side dish at a time with the rice, eating it warm with the stew, and comparing all the different flavors.

I loved that this was not a meal centered on one intensely seasoned dish, but one where you could have a little of many different foods together!

Just look at that cutlassfish flesh..😋 I often buy cutlassfish at my neighborhood supermarket and grill it, but I do not think I have ever seen it this thick! It was really full of flesh and not salty at all! The spicy seasoning was delicious over a spoonful of stone-pot rice.

Finishing with nurungji from the stone pot

Even the pickled cucumber I had been craving was at Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap 🥰 Stone-pot rice is great simply as rice, but another highlight was being able to make nurungji (scorched rice) from the rice left in the pot after the meal! I personally love ending a meal with nurungji, so I was even more satisfied. At first, I wondered whether I could eat enough rice with so many side dishes, but once I started eating, I naturally kept reaching for more rice~

Coffee for dessert too ☕️ If you want a hearty meal after a Yeoju trip or an outlet visit, or a neat Korean meal with your family, Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap would be a great choice. When you are craving a proper Korean spread in Yeoju, I recommend Nadeulmok Yeoju Ssalbap for a filling meal of warm stone-pot rice and varied side dishes :)