Korean restaurant in Dalseo, Daegu for barley corvina: Geumdeungeo

Wood-fired grilled fish in Jincheon-dong Mat Town

I visited Geumdeungeo Dalseo Branch (금등어 달서구점) in Jincheon-dong Mat Town. There are two locations, one on Deulan-gil in Suseong-gu and one in Jincheon-dong, Dalseo-gu, and I was excited to hear that this more-than-200-pyeong space grills its fish in a wood-fired oven!! There are not many restaurants around serving barley corvina, but it was on the formal set menu—and I had saved this place because I love green-tea pot rice. A brand-new standout for Korean set meals in Daegu: Geumdeungeo Dalseo Branch.

An adults’ play area that makes the wait fun

They set up an adults’ play area so you can play games instead of getting bored while waiting to go in. A 7.00-second stopwatch challenge, chopstick dice Jenga, floating coins in water, a coin fountain—my interest level was exploding, haha. And there was a puffed-rice machine going pop! pop! and making freshly puffed rice in real time 🫢 Was this a restaurant or an amusement park? It was so much fun, haha. Of the Korean set-meal restaurants I have visited recently in Daegu, this was the freshest concept.

Chuseok gift sets I looked over after the meal

Chuseok gift sets were on sale. Barley corvina started at ₩52,000, mackerel at ₩30,000, sesame oil was ₩13,000, perilla oil ₩14,000, roasted seaweed ₩5,000, puffed-rice snacks ₩3,000, and side dishes were neatly packaged from ₩5,000 for one pack or ₩13,000 for three. The refrigerated display also held sauces such as gochujang (Korean red chili paste) and soy sauce. The packaging had the feel of a department-store food hall, so it looked great for gifting.

An open kitchen, wood-fired oven and separated rooms

The open kitchen sits in the middle, so I got to look at the wood-fired oven as I headed to the room we were shown to. I had seen wood-fired pizza before, but wood-fired fish was a first for me, so the grilled fish was fascinating 🙂

The rooms were divided up: some were separated by doors, while others had sliding screens you could pull down. The window-side seats were screen seats, and the interior corridor side had proper rooms. If you reserve for four or more people, it seems likely you could be assigned a larger room.

House-made side dishes and a self-serve bar

Just look at the standard of the side dishes at Geumdeungeo Dalseo Branch, where they say everything is made in-house 🫢 There was warm japchae (stir-fried glass noodles with meat), seasoned radish and bellflower-root vegetables, fresh kimchi, seasoned seaweed, and salted seafood with seeds. The spread focused on delicious side dishes that take plenty of work to make. The initial table setting comes with the basic sides, and after that you can bring back more from the self-serve bar. Every single one was neat and tasted refined.

A full spread of glossy pot rice and wood-fired fish

The pot rice was so glossy, as though it had been coated in shine. It seemed like they used good rice, almost as if it had just been milled. Vegetable tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour fried vegetables), braised lotus root, seasoned bellflower root, seasoned radish, seasoned aster greens, thick unseasoned gopchang gim (thick roasted seaweed), sesame-salt soy sauce, and salted seafood with seeds: a package of rice-stealing accompaniments that went beautifully with the wood-fired grilled fish.

The clear mallow soup with tiny dried shrimp, moist grilled mackerel, chewy and pleasantly salty barley corvina, and freshly cooked pot rice were all so delicious 🫢 Not many places serve barley corvina, and a place that does it this softly and chewily is precious ㅠㅠ It was even better than the barley corvina I had in Boseong, Jeollanam-do.

Parking and side-dish shopping after the meal

There were several dedicated parking areas for the shopping complex on the 1st, 3rd and 4th floors, and the building was big and spacious, so parking was easy. You self-register your parking when leaving, and it is valid for four hours. For Chuseok gift sets, mackerel started at ₩30,000 and barley corvina at ₩50,000. The packaging was pretty and luxurious, so I thought it would be nice to buy a gift for an elder while dining here 🫢 Maybe it is a great side-dish shopping spot for grown-ups, haha. The freshly puffed snacks, side dishes and sauces were all neat and clean. 🙂 I recommend it if you are looking for an upscale Korean set meal in Daegu!!