# Family dinner at a Gwangju eel restaurant: two whole eels at Ppaksen - By Hyerin Mok (https://superchart.com/en/@chungjang-lunch-bench/) - Written Sep 15, 2026 - Local places › Restaurants › Gwangsan, Gwangju - Sponsored: This visit was sponsored by the business. - English edition: https://superchart.com/en/@chungjang-lunch-bench/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/ - Also in: [한국어](https://superchart.com/ko/@chungjang-lunch-bench/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/index.md) ## In short Ppaksen Freshwater Eel Songjeong Station Branch is a grilled freshwater eel restaurant in front of Songjeong Station in Gwangsan, Gwangju. On a Sunday evening the writer brought her parents here as a restorative meal for her mother, who suffers from rhinitis, ordering two portions each of salt-grilled and spicy sauce-grilled premium eel plus charcoal-grilled deodeok, steamed egg and eel soup, with two whole premium eels coming to just over 50,000 won. Salt-grilled eel topped with green onion kimchi seared on the grill was the best bite of the night, and the value makes Ppaksen an easy pick for a family meal. ## Good to know - **Location**: 1st floor, 14 Songjeong-ro 30beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju (in front of Songjeong Station) - **Salt-grilled / sauce-grilled eel**: 9,800 won per 150g portion - **Ordered that day**: Premium grilled eel, 2 portions salt-grilled + 2 portions spicy sauce, charcoal-grilled deodeok, steamed egg, one eel soup per person - **Premium eel price**: Two whole eels just over 50,000 won (about 27,000 won each) - **Set menus**: Energy Boost Set (grilled eel + deodeok + bokbunja wine), Chadol Beef Yukhoe Samhap Set - **Included with the meal**: Doenjang stew, side dishes (green onion kimchi, garlic, chili, ginger), onion and chive soy dipping sauce, self-serve side dish bar - **Sauce choice**: Regular sauce or spicy sauce - **Parking**: 3–4 cars in front of the restaurant (tight); Songjeong Station Market public lot, a 3-minute walk - **Time of visit**: Sunday evening - **Price reference**: ₩9,800 ≈ $7.3 · ₩50,000 ≈ $37 · ₩27,000 ≈ $20 (2026-09-15) *as written by the visitor on Sep 15, 2026* The weather's gotten a bit cooler lately, with a chilly wind blowing morning and evening — and my mom seemed to be struggling with her rhinitis, so I took my parents to in front of Songjeong Station to help her build up her strength~ > Paid with my own money, verified!! ## Where is Ppaksen Freshwater Eel Songjeong Station Branch, and where do you park? Ppaksen Freshwater Eel Songjeong Station Branch is at 14 Songjeong-ro 30beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea, 1st floor, right in front of Songjeong Station. Here's what the storefront looks like — there's a small parking space right in front, but it's pretty tight with room for only 3-4 cars. It's probably more convenient to use the Songjeong Station Market public parking lot, a 3-minute walk away :) - Parking: available - Business hours: no information - Break time: no information - Regular closed days: no information We visited on a Sunday evening, and here's what the inside looked like. The tables were spaced quite generously, which made it comfortable and pleasant. ## Menu and prices: grilled eel at 9,800 won per portion There was a menu board right in the middle of the restaurant — can you see the prices!? A regular portion of salt-grilled or sauce-grilled eel is 150g for ₩9,800, so it's quite good value. There was also an Energy Boost Set with grilled eel, deodeok, and bokbunja, and a Chadol Yukhoe Samhap Set with beef brisket. ![Menu board at Ppaksen Freshwater Eel Songjeong Station Branch](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-01-9x0d1-966.webp) ![Menu board showing the price for one portion of grilled eel](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-02-1g65n-966.webp) ![Menu listing showing the Energy Boost Set](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-03-r9256-966.webp) ![Menu listing showing the Chadol Yukhoe Samhap Set](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-04-9973z-966.webp) ![Menu board placed in the middle of the restaurant](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-05-2q4y7-966.webp) ![Price list for the grilled eel menu](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-06-a1pk4-966.webp) We ordered premium grilled eel — two portions of salt-grilled and two of sauce-grilled — plus deodeok (bellflower root), steamed egg, and eel soup, one per person. For the sauce-grilled, we could choose regular or spicy sauce, and we went with spicy. ![Table set up with grill before ordering](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-07-pik44-966.webp) ![Table setting after ordering the grilled eel](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-08-mk8fa-966.webp) ## Side dishes and what comes with every order Once we ordered, they brought out the side dishes first — though they were less like typical banchan and more like things meant to be eaten alongside the grilled eel, such as green onion kimchi, garlic, chili peppers, and ginger. ![Green onion kimchi with garlic, chili, and ginger side dishes](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-09-vy35t-m-966.webp) If you run out, you can also get refills at the self-serve bar. An onion-and-chive soy sauce also came out with the meal. ![Onion-and-chive soy sauce](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-10-1hn3g-966.webp) Doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) is also included by default — and it tastes like, well, exactly the doenjang stew you'd expect haha. ![Standard doenjang stew served with the meal](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-11-rwaek-966.webp) The steamed egg came out quickly too. And again, it was that same savory, mild steamed egg everyone knows!! ## Two whole premium eels, pre-grilled over charcoal At Ppaksen Freshwater Eel Songjeong Station Branch, they bring the whole eel to the table and cut it into bite-sized pieces before putting it on the grill — I snapped a photo before it got cut up. It came pre-grilled, already about 70% cooked, so it only needed a little more time on the grill before we could dig in. ![Whole pre-grilled freshwater eel](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-12-4w60g-m-1200.webp) Two eels like this came to just over ₩50,000, meaning each eel was around ₩27,000 — and they were quite plump and a decent size. I'd say this place genuinely delivers on value for grilled eel. There was no grilling service, so since the sauce-grilled eel can burn easily, we made sure to flip it often ourselves. ### Charcoal-grilled deodeok root at Ppaksen While the eel was grilling, the charcoal-grilled deodeok came out too — does anyone else love deodeok? ㅠ I'm someone who can't get enough of it once it's seasoned and grilled like this, so I was thrilled. ![Seasoned deodeok grilled over charcoal](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-13-14srx-966.webp) ![Deodeok placed on the grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-14-139sz-966.webp) You can eat it right away since it comes already grilled, but it's even better if you put it on the grill for a bit longer. The fragrant flavor unique to deodeok combined with the charcoal aroma was great, and it did a nice job cutting through the richness when we were getting a bit tired of the fatty eel. ## Salt-grilled or spicy sauce eel: which one won? Here's the eel once it was mostly cooked. I plated one piece each of salt-grilled and sauce-grilled — looks good, right? haha. The sauce for the sauce-grilled version was quite thick and sticky, so it wasn't easy to grill properly ㅠ ![Salt-grilled and sauce-grilled eel cooking on the grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-15-1skj0-966.webp) ![A piece each of salt-grilled and sauce-grilled eel on a plate](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-16-1fbkx-966.webp) First, the salt-grilled eel, which is easy to enjoy as a base flavor~ If you want to taste the eel itself in its purest form, salt-grilled is definitely the safest choice. Grilled over charcoal, the outside turns a nice golden brown with a savory, smoky aroma, and thanks to the fat content, the inside stays moist and tender. ![Golden-brown salt-grilled eel](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-17-1mtc9-966.webp) Eel has that characteristic richness, so eating it with ginger or the side dishes helped cut through it and made it taste even cleaner. ![Salt-grilled eel served with ginger](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-18-1n1my-966.webp) ![Grilled eel eaten together with side dishes](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-19-1uq65-966.webp) Wrapping it in a lettuce leaf like this was delicious too, of course, ![Salt-grilled eel wrapped as a lettuce wrap](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-20-1mbnn-966.webp) ![Salt-grilled eel topped with grilled green onion kimchi](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-21-8my4s-966.webp) but the winner of the day for me was lightly grilling some green onion kimchi on the grill and putting it on top of the salt-grilled eel haha. Next up, the sauce-grilled version! The sauce I ordered was the spicy one, so it was quite spicy, with a sweet-and-salty balance that went great with rice — and even though I didn't drink that day, it looked like it would pair really well with alcohol too. ![Spicy sauce-grilled eel](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-22-13j26-966.webp) I claimed the eel tail for myself haha. I came here to help my parents recover, but ended up treating myself pretty well too. Having tried both styles, I personally found the clean flavor of the salt-grilled eel suited my taste more than the sauce. ## Finishing with eel soup, and why the sancho pepper divides opinion We finished up with eel soup. ![Eel soup served in an earthenware bowl](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-23-u2stf-966.webp) Filling up on grilled eel and then having eel soup on top felt like properly building up our strength — and after all that rich grilled eel, finishing with a hot soup dish really hit the spot. ![Rice mixed into the eel soup](https://img.superchart.com/images/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner-24-1hk8z-966.webp) We even mixed in rice and cleaned out the whole earthenware bowl — it was a delicious eel soup. That said, the broth seemed to have a touch of sancho (Sichuan pepper) powder added to mask any fishy smell, and that might be a bit polarizing depending on your taste. ## Is Ppaksen Freshwater Eel worth it for a family dinner in Gwangju? This time we had quite a hearty meal with grilled eel plus deodeok, steamed egg, and eel soup. The biggest strength was definitely the good value for money, and if I come back again, I think I'll lean more toward the salt-grilled eel :) If you're looking for a great grilled eel spot near Gwangju Songjeong Station, or a place for a family meal or a health-boosting dinner, I'd recommend ! - Taste: 4 - Value for money: 4 - Atmosphere & cleanliness: 4 - Service: 4.5 - Would revisit: 4 - Honest review rating: ★★★★ ## Where it is - Ppaksen Freshwater Eel Songjeong Station Branch (빡센민물장어 송정역점) - 14 Songjeong-ro 30beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea - 전남광주통합특별시 광산구 송정로30번길 14 1층 - 35.1358431, 126.7937032 - Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/search/%EB%B9%A1%EC%84%BC%EB%AF%BC%EB%AC%BC%EC%9E%A5%EC%96%B4%20%EC%86%A1%EC%A0%95%EC%97%AD%EC%A0%90/@35.1358431,126.7937032,17z --- Superchart · https://superchart.com/en/@chungjang-lunch-bench/gwangju-songjeong-eel-grill-parents-dinner/ · https://superchart.com/llms.txt