Jeju Korean restaurant for grilled mackerel and fish roe stew

I’d been curious about Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo ever since hearing that Lee Young-ja recommended it, and it turned out there was one in Jeju too 👀 So I stopped by while I was on my Jeju trip 😆 You can have grilled mackerel at home, of course, but a whole spread of wood-fired fish and generous side dishes is just different, right?

A comfortable interior made airy by floor-to-ceiling windows

The overall atmosphere was comfortable, and the floor-to-ceiling windows made the dining room feel open rather than stuffy! I’d come for a delicious meal during my Jeju trip, but the view outside the windows somehow made it feel even more like a proper getaway, haha. The restaurant was quite neat too, so it seemed like a nice place for families or larger groups to have a relaxed meal 😊

Our order: a two-person mackerel set with fish roe stew

We ordered the two-person grilled mackerel set plus an à la carte fish roe stew set. Rather than having only grilled mackerel, it was a nice combination for two since we could have the fish roe stew as well! It was perfect when we wanted a hearty meal during our Jeju trip.

A self-serve bar for extra rice and side dishes

There’s a self-serve bar here, so you can help yourself to more rice, soup, or side dishes if you run short. I liked that anyone with a big appetite could eat their fill without feeling self-conscious, haha.

Best of all, you can fry your own eggs, so I immediately made one myself, hahaha. Having a freshly fried egg with the meal before digging in somehow made it feel even tastier 🤭

The banchan, especially the young radish kimchi

The basic banchan (Korean side dishes) included japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), seasoned cucumber, young radish kimchi, and black sesame lotus-root salad. Every side dish was pleasantly tasty, but the young radish kimchi was my favorite! It was beautifully fermented, and with the grilled mackerel, it was a total rice thief, haha. Mackerel really is best with rice and kimchi 😆

Moist mackerel baked in a 500°C wood-fired oven

Here comes the main event: grilled mackerel 🐟 Perhaps because it was baked in a wood-fired oven—at a whopping 500°C...—the outside was beautifully golden while the flesh stayed moist. Grilled fish can sometimes be dry, but this one was moist and great with rice~

The mackerel flesh was delicious on its own, but it was also good wrapped in lettuce with rice! The fish’s savory flavor really came through, so the rice just disappeared, hahaha. If you’re looking for wood-fired grilled fish at a Jeju restaurant, I think this would suit anyone who loves grilled mackerel.

Spicy, refreshing fish roe stew

There was a generous amount of roe in the fish roe stew, and its broth was spicy yet refreshing, making it great alongside the grilled mackerel. A spoonful of broth after a bite of mackerel made everything go down so cleanly, haha. Adding the stew made the meal feel much more abundant than having grilled fish alone.

A hearty meal in Jeju Iho Tewoo

Overall, the food was delicious, and it was easy to add more rice or side dishes at the self-serve bar, making this a wonderfully filling meal. Above all, I loved the moist wood-fired mackerel, and I was happy with the combination of it and the fish roe stew 😊 If you’re looking for wood-fired grilled fish during a Jeju trip or a hearty meal around Iho Tewoo, mackerel lovers may want to stop by 🐟💛