Daegu restaurant with a Sunday lunch wait and makgeolli: Geumdeungeo

What kind of restaurant is Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch?

Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch is a wood-fired mackerel set-meal restaurant located on the 2nd floor of 57 Deulan-ro, Suseong-gu, Daegu. Its signature dish, wood-fired grilled mackerel, is ₩19,000 per person — mackerel cured in nuruk (fermented rice starter) salt and grilled in a wood-fired oven.

Last week I went to Daegu for a friend's wedding. Saturday evening I had mungtigi (raw beef), and while figuring out what to eat for Sunday lunch, I found Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch!

Daegu has so many good restaurants that I struggled to decide what to eat, but jjonghwa bibimbap or makchang (grilled offal) weren't really my style, so I wanted something clean and refined — a proper Korean set meal. Geumdeungeo Deulanguil is known for its grilled mackerel, and with tons of reviews and great ratings, I decided to check it out.

Honestly, I usually buy grilled fish out rather than making it at home — it smells up the kitchen and grilling is a hassle! I'm not a fan of fish with lots of bones, but fish like mackerel or Spanish mackerel that are easier to pick apart, I actually enjoy.

What especially intrigued me was that Geumdeungeo doesn't do ordinary grilled mackerel — they cure it in nuruk salt first, then grill it in a wood-fired oven. I was curious how different that would actually taste.

To cut to the conclusion: I think I understand why it's called Geumdeungeo ("golden mackerel") haha. The mackerel was delicious, but honestly the spicy pork and even the basic side dishes were all so tidy and well made — this is a place I'd personally want to visit again if I go back to Daegu!

Parking and finding the entrance

Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch is located on the 2nd floor of 57 Deulan-ro, Suseong-gu, Daegu. There's parking space on the 1st floor of the building, and mechanical parking is also available.

What surprised me right when I arrived was how big the building is. It's a sizable restaurant, so it's not hard to spot even from a distance!

We visited on a Sunday around lunchtime, and even the parking lot was packed with cars — I immediately thought, ah, this is a real local favorite.

We took the elevator up to the 2nd floor! Once you get off, there are waiting chairs right outside. I mean, how much waiting do they normally get...? Already got me excited~~~~~~~

How long is the wait for Sunday lunch?

Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch has a waiting kiosk inside the restaurant, and when we arrived for Sunday lunch there was one group ahead of us. The maximum dining time is 1 hour 30 minutes, and parking support also caps out at 1.5 hours.

Watching customers keep streaming in, it was clear this place is a real favorite in Suseong-gu! If you're visiting on a weekend lunch, it's probably good to expect some kind of wait.

This is the waiting area inside the restaurant. Just looking at all the awards on the wall tells you this is the real deal... And that fan in the box over there is huge and super refreshing, haha, I grabbed one for myself too ^^

While waiting, I noticed they also sell various takeout items. Besides grilled mackerel, there were side dishes, seasoned laver chips (gimbugak), and other things good for eating at home. The most famous signature menu, nuruk salt-cured wood-fired mackerel, also comes vacuum-packed, so it looked good for a convenient home meal or as a gift.

Country of origin labeling was all in place too.

What's on the self-service banchan bar

Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch has a self-service corner. All the side dishes are said to be made in-house, and they come as part of the basic table setting, but you can grab more if you want.

Green onion kimchi and seokbakji (radish kimchi),

Salad, beef-flavored red pepper paste,

Bellflower root in red pepper paste, and personally my favorite — black sesame lotus root salad!

Japchae (glass noodles), and gijang seaweed with anchovy sauce. This one's tasty! Something about it really wakes up the palate?

Stir-fried anchovies with peanuts, and even the old-fashioned puffed rice snack that older folks love!

Private rooms, group tables and how big the restaurant is

Once you step inside, just like the exterior suggested, the restaurant is quite large. There's plenty of seating and the tables are spaced decently apart!

There are also private rooms further in, which look great for a family meal or dining with parents. Group seating is available too, so it seems well-suited to family gatherings or work dinners with a lot of people. In fact, when we visited, there were plenty of families dining there.

Geumdeungeo Deulanguil menu and prices

The menu at Geumdeungeo is simpler than expected. The mains basically come down to grilled mackerel / spicy pork / cockle salad.

The signature wood-fired grilled mackerel is ₩19,000 per person. Ordering one per person is standard, and an extra whole mackerel is ₩7,000. Fire-grilled spicy pork is ₩20,000 for a minimum order of two people, with extra orders at ₩9,000! The generous cockle salad is ₩16,000.

Since we'd come all the way to Geumdeungeo, we wanted to properly try the signature dish, so we ordered the mackerel set for two plus an extra mackerel! We also added the spicy pork. And then I spotted makgeolli on the menu — you can't have a Korean set meal without makgeolli — so I ordered that on the spot haha.

They were also selling Chuseok gift sets. It's limited to 30 sets by reservation, so if you want one, it's best to book ahead.

Our table: mackerel set for two 38,000 won, extra mackerel 7,000, spicy pork 9,000, makgeolli 5,000

As soon as we sat down, the basic side dishes came out right away. And these side dishes... every single one was genuinely tidy and delicious!!!!!!!!!!

At a lot of Korean set-meal restaurants, there are tons of side dishes but only a few you actually keep reaching for. At Geumdeungeo, though, the seasoning across the board wasn't too strong, and everything was tasty enough that I felt like I could finish a whole bowl of rice on the side dishes alone.

The siraegi (dried radish greens) soup that came with the meal was tasty too. It kept simmering so it stayed warm the whole time. It wasn't sharp or salty — the broth was clean, making it perfect for a spoonful between bites of mackerel or pork.

Overall, Geumdeungeo's food felt like it was letting the ingredients themselves shine rather than relying on heavy seasoning, and the siraegi soup was exactly that kind of dish.

Among the side dishes, the one that hit my exact taste was the black sesame lotus root salad! The crunchy texture of the lotus root combined with the nutty, soft flavor kept me reaching for more. I refilled it ^^

That gijang seaweed and anchovy sauce combo was also a strange, interesting flavor. Sweet, sour, salty, all at once? Something I'd never tasted before but that also felt familiar... a flavor I kept going back to. Refilled that one too.

Even the japchae came out this neatly plated.

All the other side dishes were great too! They do takeout, so if I lived in Daegu, I definitely would've taken some home haha.

And the rice — exactly how I like it, fluffy but with a good chewy stickiness!

Fire-grilled spicy pork added for 9,000 won

The spicy pork came out first. If you order the mackerel set and just add pork, it's only ₩9,000!

I assumed the mackerel would completely overshadow it, but the pork was genuinely delicious. It had a solid char-grilled flavor — the moment it hit my mouth, that distinct fire-grilled aroma came through, and the sauce wasn't too spicy or overpowering, just the kind that keeps you reaching for more rice. A total rice thief!!!!!!

And the real kicker here is the perilla leaf! I never would have guessed perilla leaf would pair this well with spicy pork stir-fry. Its distinct fragrance matched perfectly with the smoky char-grilled sauce. Personally, if you visit Geumdeungeo, don't just eat the mackerel — I'd strongly recommend trying the spicy pork too!

What nuruk salt-cured wood-fired mackerel tastes like

And finally, Geumdeungeo's signature dish, wood-fired grilled mackerel, arrived! We'd ordered the two-person set plus an extra mackerel, and it came out lined up on a large iron plate.

At Geumdeungeo, the mackerel is cured in nuruk salt before being grilled in a wood-fired oven. The nuruk salt reportedly uses natural sea salt from New Zealand's clean coastal waters! It's grilled at 450 degrees in the wood-fired oven, crisping the outside while keeping the inside moist.

What surprised me most on the first bite was the texture of the mackerel flesh! I always pictured grilled mackerel as having somewhat firm flesh with a visible grain, but this mackerel was genuinely so soft. The moment my chopsticks touched the flesh, it separated gently, and once in my mouth, there was almost no dryness or firmness — it just melted apart, moist and tender.

If I had to compare it to meat, it's like sous vide chicken breast versus regular chicken breast? That's how different it was from the texture I expected from grilled mackerel.

The outside was golden-brown and slightly crisp from the wood-fired oven, while the inside retained its moisture and was extremely soft. Maybe because of the nuruk salt curing, the seasoning wasn't overly salty, and the mackerel's own savory flavor really came through. I think I get why it's called Geumdeungeo, "golden mackerel."

Makgeolli with a Korean set meal, 5,000 won

I spotted makgeolli on the menu and ordered it right away ^^ A little hair-of-the-dog makgeolli, haha.

Since mackerel and spicy pork are both Korean dishes, they paired really well with makgeolli. With so many varied side dishes on the table, there was zero shortage of things to snack on with it ^^

Free americano and apricot juice after the meal

After finishing the meal, Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch lets you use a coffee machine and apricot juice for free. They even set out ice cups for takeout, so you can pour your drink of choice and sip it on your way out!

And just when I thought we were done and heading out, it wasn't over yet haha. Even without stopping by a separate café afterward, we got to walk out with a cool drink in hand — a satisfying finish right to the very end.

What really surprised me was that even though we ate until we were completely full, my stomach felt comfortable afterward. It wasn't the kind of meal that grabs your palate with MSG or heavy seasoning — more like a tidy, well-composed spread that let the ingredients' natural flavors shine as much as possible.

Eating there, I kept thinking this would be a great place to bring my parents. The restaurant itself is spacious with private rooms and group seating, making it well-suited for family meals or gatherings, and the food isn't too intense, so it works well for dining with older family members too! If you're craving a clean, tidy Korean spread, I'd recommend giving Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch a visit.

What to know before you visit Geumdeungeo Deulanguil

• There are two Geumdeungeo locations in Daegu: Dalseo-gu and Deulanguil Main Branch
• There's a wait for weekend lunches
• Using the Naver welcome coupon gets you a taste-size cockle salad
• There's a self-service bar with free side dish refills
• Takeout is available
• Free drinks after the meal (apricot juice, americano)