Live abalone hotplate for four at Onda, a Donghae Mukho restaurant

While traveling around Donghae, I was trying to decide what to eat for lunch and ended up at Onda Donghae Mukho Main Branch, where you can enjoy octopus and seafood all at once. The sea right out front gave a great view, and the food was pretty generous too.

Where is Onda Donghae Mukho Main Branch, and where do you park?

It's located at 151 Iljul-ro, Donghae-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea. Being close to Dokkaebi Valley Sky Valley, it's a convenient stop while touring around Mukho. Right in front of the restaurant there's a large shared parking lot. We drove there, and having so much space made the visit easy. Not having to hunt for parking down side streets is definitely a plus for anyone traveling by car.

What caught my eye first was the sea stretching out across the street from the restaurant. Looking out at it from the parking lot really made it feel like a trip to Donghae. It was also a great spot to take a short walk along the beach after eating.

The second-floor dining room and its ocean-view window seats

Looking at the building from outside, I thought the restaurant would be small.

Once inside, it was different from what I expected. The building has two floors, and dining is only on the second floor. The first floor has a waiting area for guests in line. Going up to the second floor, there were plenty of tables and the dining space was bigger than I'd imagined.

The window seats especially opened onto a refreshing view of the blue East Sea. I'd come expecting a typical seafood restaurant, but the view was better than expected and I found myself staring out the window for a moment. Being able to eat while looking at the sea was one of the charms of this place. With both window seats and an inner dining area, it worked well even for a group visit.

Octopus, seafood and beef brisket hotplate for four: 98,000 won

For lunch near Mukho Station, I picked the octopus seafood hotplate with beef pork belly (문어해물우삼겹철판), four servings.

It cost ₩98,000 and came out on a huge hotplate loaded with all kinds of ingredients. Centered around octopus and beef pork belly (usamgyeop), it was a hearty hotplate dish combining seafood like abalone, shrimp and clams with vegetables like mushrooms and bok choy. Even though it's technically one menu item, picking through the many ingredients made it fun to eat.

With seafood and meat piled together on the hotplate, it looked pretty appetizing. Being a four-serving portion, the hotplate had quite a presence taking over the table. Starting with octopus, then adding beef pork belly, and eating clams and vegetables in between, I got to enjoy a variety of different textures. It was also nice not having to order seafood and meat separately — everything came together on one hotplate.

Four live abalone still moving on the hotplate

What impressed me most was the abalone. There were four abalone on the hotplate in total, and they were actually still alive and moving. Watching them move right in front of us really drove home how fresh the seafood was.

Four abalone was a nice number for four people to split one each. Alternating with the other seafood made the hotplate feel even more abundant.

Is the red sauce at Onda spicy?

The octopus was cut into bite-sized pieces to eat alongside the other seafood. Adding the beef pork belly gave a savory flavor different from eating seafood alone. The sauce looked red, so at first I thought it would be quite spicy, but it actually wasn't. It was a mildly spicy sauce, good for eating seafood and meat together, and never felt overwhelming even after a while.

Finishing with two servings of fried rice

When we'd nearly finished everything on the hotplate, we ordered two servings of fried rice. One serving could also be free through a Naver review event.

With hotplate dishes like this, there's always the fun of frying rice in the leftover sauce. Frying rice in a sauce infused with seafood and beef pork belly flavor felt like eating an entirely different dish. It was a good call not to order the fried rice at the start, but to add it only after fully enjoying the hotplate.

After the four of us finished the hotplate and shared the fried rice, we left having had a really filling lunch. Onda Donghae Mukho Main Branch let us enjoy an ocean view alongside a generous hotplate meal. If you're looking for a hearty seafood lunch in Mukho, Donghae, it's worth considering a visit.