Daedeok Korean restaurant with brown rice: Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo

An Sangsseo-dong grilled-fish restaurant worth visiting even for a late lunch

I visited Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch (화덕으로간고등어 신탄진점), a popular Sintanjin spot and grilled-fish restaurant in Sangsseo-dong, for a late lunch.

It is on a main road, with parking available in front of and beside the restaurant.

Inside, it is spacious, bright, and clean, with four-person tables! We arrived at almost 2 p.m., yet lots of people were still eating. Since there is no break time on weekends, guests kept arriving even after 2 p.m. at this Sangsseo-dong Korean restaurant.

The very back has long sofa seating, so it looked well suited to company dinners, gatherings, or family meals!

There is a tablet PC at every table. The menu is divided into mains, sets, extras, kids' items, alcohol, and drinks, so you can simply order what you want. We chose the mackerel set meal and the atka mackerel set meal, and each one lets you choose brown rice or white rice.

Wood-fired grilled fish and a generous self-bar

This popular Sintanjin restaurant, Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo, has a wood-fired oven right inside for grilling fish! When you grill fish at home, the smell tends to linger, which is a downside. Here, they grill it in an oven over 500°C, so it is so convenient—and it is the kind of Korean food that everyone, young and old, can enjoy, with little chance of anyone disliking it.

One great thing about Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo in Sangsseo-dong is the self-bar!

The sweet tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), crispy pork cutlet, warm japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), and savory sungnyung (scorched-rice tea) are all things kids can eat too~

From sides that pair well with grilled fish, such as cabbage salad, kimchi, fried tofu in sweet sauce, lotus root, and ssam vegetables, to appetite-whetting salads, the self-bar was so abundant! I also liked that the staff refilled the dishes right away so nothing ran out~

There was muk (acorn jelly) with sauce as well, plus a bibimbap station where you could make your own bibimbap! Disposable aprons are also available for anyone who needs one—just help yourself.

A full table of mackerel and atka mackerel set meals

They set out the basic side dishes, then our main grilled fish arrived.

They started us off with six side dishes. It was nice that we could easily get more from the self-bar if we needed to~

These are the sides we picked up separately from the self-bar! The tteokbokki was not spicy, just pleasantly sweet, and the pork cutlet was better than expected, so it was very popular. My friend said the fried tofu in sweet sauce was delicious.

The doenjang-guk (soybean-paste soup) was clean-tasting and savory, and they gave us a generous amount too! There were as many side dishes as you would expect at any good Korean restaurant. Everything comes out plentifully, making this a satisfying meal at a popular Sintanjin spot.

I chose brown rice, while my friend chose white rice. They gave us heaping portions of rice too~

Both the mackerel and atka mackerel were generously sized! The mackerel felt more thoroughly crisped, while the atka mackerel was really huge.

The mild flavor of wood-fired grilled mackerel

The mackerel grilled in the hot wood-fired oven was seasoned with just the right amount of salt, not too salty, and the oil had rendered away, so there was no fishiness at all. The flesh was nicely plump too; it was well seasoned enough to eat with just rice, and I really enjoyed its clean, mild flavor~

Crispy atka mackerel skin and bibimbap

Did you know how delicious the crispy skin of grilled atka mackerel is? It was extra nutty, so I ate every bit of the skin. The atka mackerel was even bigger than the grilled mackerel, with lots of mild flesh, and I really hope everyone tries that crispy skin too~

After finishing the grilled fish, we still had rice left, so we put the bibimbap ingredients from the self-bar into a bowl, added rice, and mixed it all together~ There was a wide variety of namul (seasoned vegetables) for bibimbap, and the gochujang (red chili paste) kept it from feeling rich, making for a very filling lunch.

At the entrance, there are maesil-cha (plum tea), sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch), and a coffee machine. You can have whichever you like; we had plum tea, and it was great for freshening up our palates.

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo in Sangsseo-dong, Daejeon! Known as a popular Sintanjin restaurant, it is busy on both weekdays and weekends. One advantage is that there is no break time on weekends, so you can visit whenever you like. The fish is grilled crisp outside and tender inside in the hot wood-fired oven, and you can enjoy a range of side dishes at the self-bar, so if you are looking for a good restaurant in Sintanjin, give Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch a visit ✨