Bluefin tuna & swordfish 6-way sashimi set in Cheonan: Donghae Bada

Today I want to introduce the mixed sashimi and seafood stew set at Donghae Bada Hoetjip, a Cheonan Dujeong-dong favorite. This place has a wide range of menus — tuna, live sashimi, seafood dishes — and since it's a room-style restaurant, it's perfect for group dinners.

Location and parking at Donghae Bada Hoetjip

It's located at 5-11 Neulpureun 6-gil, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungnam, open 11:30–22:00. This Cheonan Dujeong-dong restaurant is a 321m, 4-minute walk from Oseong Elementary School, and there's a bus stop right out front, so it's easy to reach by public transit too.

The parking lot in front of the shop is quite spacious, so parking is convenient as well.

Inside — the tank, coffee vending machines, and room seating

Right as you walk in, there's a clean tank full of seafood on the left, and on the right, two coffee vending machines for dessert.

The main hall is divided by partition-style walls and furniture that block sightlines just enough while keeping things open — you get a sense that the layout was thought through, so it's not fully visible from the entrance but doesn't feel closed off either.

All the other seating is in fully separated private rooms, which struck me as great for group dinners.

If you reserve ahead, the tableware is already set up when you arrive, and staff show you to your seat kindly!

Menu lineup

There's seasonal flounder to start, salt-grilled king prawns, croaker sashimi and jeon, plus courses featuring premium bluefin tuna cuts, croaker sashimi, and mixed sashimi with tuna. Seafood dishes include monkfish stew, seafood stew & braise, and the mixed sashimi + seafood stew & braise set. Beyond that there's mul-hoe (cold raw fish soup), butter-grilled lobster, grilled gizzard shad, pomfret sashimi, boiled whelk, horn conch, cuttlefish, live octopus, boiled pork, sea cucumber, sea squirt, fried shrimp and snow crab, pork cutlet, fish bone soup, rockfish soup, grilled herring, and abalone porridge — quite a range.

What we ordered and the banchan

Ordering is done through a table-order tablet, and each seat has extra plates plus chojang (vinegar-chili sauce) and soy sauce already set out.

First, the banchan (side dishes) arrived: grilled herring, jeon (savory pancake), salad, seaweed soup, aged kimchi, bossam (boiled pork wraps), silkworm pupae, and water dropwort. The seaweed soup had dried shrimp in it, giving it a really clean, deep flavor, and every single banchan was delicious! They refill generously too, so even a kid who can't eat raw fish could easily be fed well just on the banchan spread.

The jeon didn't seem to have too much flour in the batter — moist yet crispy, and I devoured it in no time. When we asked for a refill, they brought it out freshly grilled right away!

The grilled herring had thick, meaty flesh and skin that came out perfectly crisp,

and the boiled pork had no off smell, coming out tender and moist — not a huge portion, but great as a palate-opener before the sashimi!

The 6-way sashimi platter — bluefin tuna, swordfish belly, rockfish, croaker

The seafood stew and the sashimi came out almost at the same time — you can tell the quality just from the photos, right? It was packed with scallops, abalone, horn conch, clams, crab, squid, shrimp, fish roe and more, and while it simmered we started on the sashimi first — no need to lift a finger, since staff handled all the prep themselves!

Ta-da! While the stew simmered, we ate the mixed sashimi first. I'm not sure of the exact breakdown, but it came out as six kinds — bluefin tuna, swordfish belly, rockfish, croaker, and more.

The rockfish was clean and mild but firm and chewy, with no fishy taste — easy to eat without any hesitation. The croaker had soft, moist flesh with a subtle richness and umami.

The tuna practically melted the moment it hit my mouth, with a deep nuttiness and rich fattiness — heavy yet full of flavor — while the swordfish was cleaner and lighter than the bluefin tuna.

Pairing it with the accompanying side dishes made the flavors even richer.

Seafood stew — tableside prep and water dropwort

Meanwhile, the seafood stew was bubbling away — looking at it again, the ingredients were so big and plump, I was amazed all over again.

At first I didn't realize they'd also prep everything for us, so I lifted the lid and adjusted the heat myself — but staff came right over and cut everything into easy-to-eat pieces!

The broth had deep umami from all the different seafood and a spicy kick, but not overly spicy — kids could handle it too — and adding the water dropwort that came as a base banchan gave it an extra fragrant, fuller flavor.

With every bite of squid and octopus, you could really taste the freshness, and picking through all the different ingredients was fun in itself. Between the seasonal sashimi, the tuna, and the seafood-packed stew, this was a genuinely satisfying meal.

Overall verdict

• There's a set menu combining seasonal live sashimi, tuna, and seafood dishes
• It's a great Cheonan Dujeong-dong restaurant for group dinners
• The ingredients are fresh

For these reasons, if you're looking for a good restaurant in Cheonan's Dujeong-dong, this place is worth a visit.