Family Korean restaurant meal in Dalseo, Daegu: Geumdeungeo

A grilled-fish table set inside Jincheon Mat Town

It is fairly close to Jincheon Station and located inside the Jincheon Mat Town building, so it was not hard to find. We could use the building parking lot too, which made it convenient to visit by car.

As its name suggests, Geumdeungeo Dalseo Branch (금등어 달서구점) is a place for table sets centered on grilled fish. They say they prepare the sets in-house with clean water, rice, nuruk salt, fresh seafood, vegetables, and more.

The waiting area is spacious.

They also sell sauces and meal kits.

Thoughtful.

Best of all, I liked that it is a restaurant rated “Excellent” for hygiene by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Hygiene is naturally something I think about when choosing a restaurant to visit with family, so being able to confirm this made me feel a little more at ease.

Set options and prices

You can choose according to the combination you want.

• The A Dajeong Set is ₩38,000 per person and includes blue crab, scallops, shrimp, webfoot octopus, soy-marinated shrimp, boiled octopus slices, sea squirt, and more.
• The B Hwalgi Set is ₩45,000 per person. With live abalone, abalone sashimi, sea cucumber, and more added to the A Set, it is a more generous option.
• The C Pungseong Set is ₩55,000 per person and adds live rock octopus and scallop sashimi. I thought it would suit a special day, a family gathering, or a meal out with parents.

As the dishes began appearing on the table one by one, the phrase “a full table set” really felt spot-on.

Moist grilled mackerel and a variety of side dishes

The large grilled mackerel arrived beautifully browned. It was appetizingly grilled on the outside while the flesh stayed moist, making it great with rice. Fish can be dry or smell fishy when it is not cooked well, so I do not always reach for it, but warm on top of rice, it was absolutely a rice thief.

I also liked that it was not just grilled fish: vegetable side dishes, kimchi, and many other banchan (Korean side dishes) were served together, so we could eat a little of everything. A bite of mackerel with a side dish and a spoonful of rice, and I could see why people who love Korean food seek out this kind of table set.

Being able to try a little of several dishes made it feel less like a simple grilled-fish meal and more like being treated to a properly laid-out meal. When choosing somewhere to take parents or have a family meal out, I prefer a place like this over somewhere too casual, with a varied spread that fills the table. It would also work well for a gathering or a special-day meal.

We ordered the grilled mackerel and gulbi set meals

I ordered the grilled mackerel set meal and the gulbi set meal.

All the side dishes were fresh and tasty, so they were good to eat with our child too.

And soup, too.

The mackerel flesh was moist and tender inside, and on warm rice, it really was a rice thief like no other. Cooking grilled fish at home means dealing with the smell and the prep, so having properly grilled mackerel at a specialist restaurant was much easier. I also liked that it did not feel like a simple grilled-fish place where you only eat mackerel: we could enjoy assorted side dishes such as vegetables and kimchi, along with seafood dishes.

Once all the food was laid out, “a table full of food” was exactly the right description. The main grilled mackerel was nicely browned and looked delicious even before taking a bite.