Eel restaurant at Balsan Station for couples: perilla soup, Jangsuchon

It had been a while, so my boyfriend and I went out for some eel to restore our energy. This time we visited Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel (장수촌 풍천장어) in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. You can have domestic pungcheon eel grilled over charcoal here, and there are plenty of meal dishes besides eel too. Staff grill and prepare the eel for you, so it was a really comfortable meal. Here's my honest review!

Where is Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel, and what about parking?

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel is on the 2nd floor of a building at 27 Gangseo-ro 54-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. It is open daily 11:00–21:50, with last order at 20:50. Parking is free, and there is a space right next to the building, so it's convenient if you come by car.

Go up the stairs from the building entrance to the 2nd floor and you'll find the restaurant.

A sign at the entrance said the restaurant won a Customer Love Brand award. Knowing it had won a grand prize made me look forward to the meal even more, haha.

Seating and facilities inside Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel

The inside was bigger than I expected, with a lot of seats. There are regular tables and partitioned seating, so it's good for family meals and looked fine for group gatherings with many people too.

The window-side seats caught my eye. The windows were wide open so you can eat with a breeze coming in, which I liked. On a nice day it seemed like a great way to eat without feeling stuffy.

There's also a separate storage area for the eel. They say Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel prepares its eel on the same day and serves it the same day!

There was a coffee machine you can use after your meal, too.

Eel extract is sold at the entrance as well, 30 packs for ₩65,000, so it's worth a look if you're shopping for a gift for older family members! They also sell a variety of drinks and alcohol.

There's a self-serve bar on one side too, where you can refill side dishes as much as you like~

A notice said the eel is domestic, grade 1 pungcheon eel shipped directly from the farm. When you first start grilling, a staff member helps with the initial setup, and there's also a guide on the wall for grilling eel well!

Disposable aprons are provided, and if you join the Naver receipt review event you get grilled king prawns as a free extra, so definitely take part if you visit~

There's a separate smoking room beside the entrance. Smokers don't have to go far outside the restaurant.

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel menu and prices

Salt-grilled eel at Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel is ₩59,000 for 1kg, and the table setting fee is ₩3,000 per person. Besides grilled eel there are meat dishes, meals and side dishes.

Main dishes

• Salt-grilled eel 1kg – ₩59,000
• Extra eel 500g – ₩30,000
• Beef short rib meat 150g – ₩17,000

Side dishes

• Grilled whole abalone (4) – ₩18,000
• Grilled king prawns (7) – ₩15,000
• Steamed or grilled scallops – ₩15,000
• Steamed oysters – ₩18,000

Meals

• Jangchu-tang (eel soup) – ₩11,000
• Beolgyo cockle bibimbap – ₩11,000
• Jjageuri kimchi stew – ₩10,000
• Perilla rice-cake soup (glutinous rice) – ₩10,000
• Janchi guksu (banquet noodles) – ₩7,000
• Extra jangchu-tang – ₩3,000

What did 1kg of salt-grilled eel for two look like?

The first thing they set up at Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel was the charcoal. Then the side dishes came out one by one: salad, seasoned lettuce, lotus root, white kimchi, perilla leaf pickles, garlic and ssamjang (dipping paste), all good with eel. You can eat the eel plain, but with so many sides to go with it the table was quite generous.

They also gave us one eel extract each to try, as a free extra. Thanks to that, we really got our energy boost 👍🏻👍🏻

There were two of us, so we ordered 1kg of salt-grilled eel.

A staff member put the eel on the grill and sprinkled salt over it! The salt wasn't ordinary white salt but had a purplish tint. It turns out it's purple salt made with Gochang bokbunja (black raspberry).

While the eel cooked, we ordered rice and got ready to eat. A free jangchu-tang came out too, and the table filled up in no time.

What does the free jangchu-tang taste like?

The jangchu-tang at Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel had a rich broth, and it actually felt hearty and deeply savory, like eating bone hangover soup. I was curious how it would taste, and even I, who normally don't like chueo-tang (loach soup), enjoyed it, and my boyfriend said it was good too 👍🏻

How does the staff-grilled eel taste?

At Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel, the staff did the grilling themselves. They cut the eel into bite-size pieces and flipped it back and forth so it cooked evenly.

Eel can taste different depending on how it's grilled, so it was really nice not to worry about burning it when someone else grills it for you. As time passed the surface turned golden brown, and the eel cooking over the charcoal looked so appetizing, haha.

It had been a while since I last had eel, so I was even more excited🙂

I first tried a well-cooked piece dipped in the sauce. Maybe because it's charcoal-grilled, the eel's nutty richness came with a smoky charcoal aroma, which I loved. And of course you can't skip the combo with a little ginger on top! The ginger added a fragrant note so I never got tired of it.

Next I tried the eel with the perilla leaf pickles and white kimchi. The pickles added their distinctive aroma and saltiness, and the white kimchi had a clean taste, so both went well with eel. Switching between dipping in the sauce and eating it with side dishes gave me lots of combinations~ Above all, since the staff grilled the eel, we could just focus on eating comfortably.

Finish the meal with perilla rice-cake soup

When we were almost done with the eel, we ordered the perilla rice-cake soup (deulkkae oksimi, ₩10,000) as an extra. It arrived as a bowl full of creamy white, thick perilla broth, and it looked nutty just from the sight.

The broth first: the nuttiness of perilla came through strongly, and the smooth, thick texture was nice and warming. Inside were round oksimi (glutinous rice dumplings), and when I scooped them up they were chewy and so good! It's a different kind of nutty flavor from the eel, which made it a great way to finish the meal🖤

Who is Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel good for?

That was Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel, where my boyfriend and I had a hearty stamina meal of salt-grilled eel after a long time! Staff grilled and prepared the eel for us so we could eat comfortably, and we also enjoyed the savory jangchu-tang and the nutty perilla rice-cake soup. If you're looking for a good eel restaurant in Gangseo-gu, a spot for a team dinner, or a place to eat with your parents, check out Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel~