Goyang Korean restaurant for grilled fish and bulgogi: Min Cook Apbadang

Over the weekend, I went out for grilled fish with the kids. We eat grilled fish at home often too, but having it when dining out feels different, doesn’t it? 😊 More than anything, I loved the neatly set side dishes, and overall it was a great place for an easy, unfussy meal. It was also comfortable for dining with kids, so let me introduce it!

Min Cook Apbadang Seongsa location and visitor information

It is on the first floor at 60-1 Heungdo-ro 415beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:50 to 21:00. Break time is 15:00–16:30 on weekdays and 15:30–16:30 on Saturdays and Sundays. Last orders are at 21:00 on weekdays and 19:30 on weekends, and parking is available in front of and beside the restaurant.

Min Cook Apbadang Seongsa (민쿡앞바당 성사) is near IKEA, so it is also well known as a good place to eat near IKEA. I think every local must know it! There is parking both in front and behind the restaurant, so it is easy to visit.

This is a place where you can taste dishes by a World Food Master who has worked exclusively with fish.

They also sell many different kinds of side dishes~ The portions looked quite generous too.

It seems the fish is prepared with whatever is in season at the time. The kinds and combination of fish served also vary a little depending on the number of diners.

Evening visit atmosphere and ordering

When we visited at dinnertime, it was already full of guests. It really is a popular Seongsa-dong spot 😊 The photo was taken as we were leaving after finishing our meal. There may be a wait on weekends or public holidays, but you can reserve in advance through Naver Reservation for a more convenient visit. Inside, the clean wooden tables and chairs created an overall warm, comfortable atmosphere. It felt cozy and easy for a family meal.

Ordering is easy with the tablet at the table. After taking our time looking through the menu, we ordered grilled fish and charcoal-grilled bulgogi. We thought grilled fish alone might be a little lacking, so we added charcoal-grilled bulgogi that the kids would enjoy too. Being able to have fish and meat together made for a nice combination.

Lightly seasoned side dishes and salted hairtail innards wraps

After ordering and waiting a little, the neatly arranged side dishes began arriving one by one~ There was a nice variety to enjoy with the grilled fish. Most of all, I loved that none of the side dishes were overly seasoned. They were not too strong, so they were great to eat with the kids too 😊 You can refill any side dishes you run out of at the self-service bar, so you can eat comfortably without feeling self-conscious. It was a clean, unfussy spread for a meal.

I absolutely loved this wrap... Wrap rice with galchi sokjeot (salted hairtail innards), and it is seriously delicious! You have to try it!

Flounder, bottom cod, and cod collar grilled fish

At last, the grilled fish we had been waiting for arrived! We got three kinds of fish: flounder, bottom cod, and cod collar. Just looking at the beautifully golden grilled fish made it look so appetizing. With several types, it was fun tasting them one by one.

I was especially happy that there was flounder, which the kids love~ Flounder has tender, mild flesh, so it is great to eat with children. What I liked most was that they turned on the induction burner so we could eat the fish warm! The fish did not get cold during the meal, which was so nice 😊

Just look at how much fish flesh there is~ It was so plump that even pulling off one piece gave us a very generous bite. The outside was deliciously golden and grilled, while the flesh was moist and tender, so it was really good. I especially loved the combination of the crisp exterior and the mild, juicy interior. Putting a piece of fish over rice made the rice go down so easily~

The charcoal-grilled bulgogi I personally liked most

We added one serving of charcoal-grilled bulgogi to the set menu, and the portion was still quite generous~ It had a subtle smoky char-grilled aroma that whetted my appetite from the very first bite.

The meat was tender rather than tough, so it was good to eat with the kids. The seasoning was lightly sweet without being too intense, and it went wonderfully with rice.

The grilled fish was delicious too, but personally, the charcoal-grilled bulgogi was really, really good! 😋 The smoky aroma and sweet seasoning came together so well that I kept reaching for more. Ordering it with the grilled fish was such a good combination because we could alternate between mild fish and bulgogi.

Chewy pot-cooked rice and a finishing bowl of sungnyung

A Korean meal feels incomplete without sotbap (pot-cooked rice), right? The rice here had such wonderful stickiness. At places that do not make sotbap well, the rice can feel dry or hard, but the rice here was truly chewy and sticky. I already love rice with that springy texture, so it was completely my taste!

And of course, we finished with sungnyung (scorched-rice tea)~~ Pouring warm water into the pot and gently scraping up the nurungji (scorched rice) gave such a lovely nutty flavor. After a filling meal, having warm, savory sungnyung made everything feel settled and comfortable! I really think sungnyung is the best finish to a Korean meal. 😊

A meal that was great with the kids

Overall, Min Cook Apbadang Seongsa was a clean, easy place for an unfussy meal. The grilled fish made with seasonal fish came in a nice variety, with wonderfully plump flesh, and was truly delicious. Above all, I liked that every side dish was neat and not overly seasoned. After enjoying the sticky, chewy sotbap and finishing with sungnyung, I felt like we had had a wonderfully satisfying meal 😊 I would recommend it when you want to enjoy delicious grilled fish and Korean food with the kids without any fuss.