Bundang eel restaurant two-person set: Mansuheon Jeongja

Grilled eel used to mean charcoal grilling, full stop. Eel rice bowls have only recently become trendy, and while eel has always counted as a premium food, eating it in an actually upscale dining atmosphere wasn't easy — the charcoal smoke got in the way.

Mansuheon Jeongja delivers interiors and plating that look like they're straight out of a drama. It's already made a name for itself for office dinners and family meals alike!

Every step of the meal, from start to finish, is designed with care to present eel's value in a deeper, more refined way. Centered on charcoal-grilled eel and hanwoo (Korean beef) short rib, Mansuheon's evening table is worth meeting. The eel is first carefully pre-grilled over 1,300-degree charcoal, then finished at the table, so the eel's natural flavor and the charcoal aroma come through even more clearly. This is the Jeongja branch of Mansuheon.

First time hearing of 'aged eel'... isn't eel supposed to be live eel bought fresh off a stall and grilled right away?

Catch Table or Naver reservations available, walk-ins welcome.

Where is Mansuheon Jeongja, and what are the hours?

Across from Bundang Police Station and Doosan! Second floor of the Compose Coffee building

At Mansuheon Jeongja, eel rice bowl is the lunch main and grilled eel is the dinner main. Hours are 11:30–21:45 (weekends from 12:00), it's wheelchair accessible, and parking is free at Emco Heritz 1st complex.

Private rooms, group tables and the green tea with grains

Mansuheon Jeongja is split between group seating and private rooms, so if you want a room, book ahead for a more comfortable meal. The pre-meal tea is green tea, but with some kind of grain mixed in — brown rice or job's tears, I think. It had a sort of sungnyung (scorched-rice tea) effect, gently settling the stomach.

The staff's service was flawlessly kind — really appreciated it.

The table setting and the complimentary chawanmushi

Water kimchi, wasabi, ssamjang and sliced garlic / ginger and sauce, plus small side plates

We got to eat chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) on the house.

Got lucky and landed a window seat, hehe! At a restaurant, the seat is half the meal!

How good are the side dishes at Mansuheon Jeongja?

Pickles, potato salad, lettuce-and-scallion geotjeori (fresh kimchi), and napa cabbage geotjeori. The side dish quality is excellent too. My mom tried the geotjeori and said, 'Why doesn't mine turn out like this?' (Note to Mom: use less tuna extract.) The lettuce and scallion keep a light, crisp texture and the seasoning is nicely light too.

The main course: salt- and sauce-grilled eel with octopus and minari salad

An eel restaurant that lives up to the word 'premium' — the asparagus is a highlight

The salt-grilled version brings out a clean, deep flavor, while the sauce-grilled version adds the fun of brushing on the special sauce yourself at the table. The eel comes pre-grilled already, so all it needs is enough time on the fire to crisp up the skin. The sauce burns fast, though — keep a close eye and pull it off in time.

The moist texture and nutty taste of the asparagus, the eel grilled golden and hot, its firm texture and umami deepened by aging — I'm strictly a salt-over-sauce person when it comes to meat, but the sauce here was rich and lingered in the mouth in a way that really stuck with me.

This octopus minari salad rounds out the two-person set. I was torn between doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and doenjang rice, but with the tea already filling me up, I went for the set with the octopus salad instead, and it was a good call. Octopus is a proven flavor on its own, and pairing minari's (water celery) fragrance with eel is also a nice treat.

Is Mansuheon Jeongja right for company dinners and in-law meetings?

Mansuheon Jeongja seems to be a regular spot for important meetings and dinners for nearby companies, but there are plenty of family meals too. For occasions where you want to be careful — a parent's birthday, meeting the in-laws — Mansuheon Jeongja is the kind of place to trust.

Your future will unfold at these important tables, so you'd better eat well and make a good impression...