Gwangyang eel restaurant, eel tteokgalbi lunch for three: Deokeun
In short
Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch is a live-eel grill house on Hangman9-ro in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, where you pick your eel downstairs and eat it upstairs. Visiting for lunch with mom, the writer chose three large eels served boneless, plus eel soup and eel tteokgalbi (grilled eel patty), paying 35,640 won per kg with the 10 percent lunch discount. Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch is an easy pick in Gwangyang for treating parents to a nourishing meal.
Good to know
- Live eel price
- 35,640 won per 1kg (appears to be the 10% lunch-hour discounted price)
- Boneless fillet price
- 5,940 won per 100g
- Table setting fee
- 4,000 won per adult / 2,000 won for elementary school age and under
- How it works
- Buy the eel on the 1st floor, eat on the 2nd floor, pay after the meal
- Parking
- Lot right in front of the restaurant
- House rule
- No outside food or alcohol
- Sauces
- Soy sauce, wasabi, spicy sauce, onion sauce, salad sauce; teriyaki sauce on every table
- Also good to know
- Ice cream for review events; eel, eel soup and eel tteokgalbi available for takeout
- Price reference
- ₩35,640 ≈ $26.5 · ₩5,940 ≈ $4.4 · ₩4,000 ≈ $2.9 (2026-09-27)
as written by the visitor on Aug 11, 2026
I went out for eel with my boyfriend around this time last year, and this time my mom came to visit so the three of us went for eel together!! I loved it back then too, but honestly Deokeun Jangeo is such a good Gwangyang eel spot to bring your parents to. There's a branch in Gwangju too, so next time we're planning to take mom and dad to the Gwangju Deokeun Jangeo haha
Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch: parking and how big the restaurant is
Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch is a live-eel direct-sale restaurant on Hangman9-ro in Gwangyang. There's a parking lot right out front and the place is genuinely huge — big enough for group visits! It was so hot that we just rushed straight inside, so I don't have a photo of the outside haha...
They run their own japonica freshwater eel farm in Yeongam, South Jeolla, so they say they can supply fresh, high-quality eel. Since the producer raises and sells it directly, it feels like a more trustworthy eel restaurant 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Live eel prices and picking three large eels
At Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch, live eel was ₩35,640 per kg, or ₩5,940 per 100g for boneless fillet. Since it was lunchtime, this seemed to be the 10%-discounted price (?). So affordable
There were tons of chunky, big eels! Since there were three of us, we picked the one with three big chunks haha. There are lots of eel types, so just pick whichever one you like
Buy downstairs, eat upstairs: the 4,000 won table setting fee
The restaurant is on the 2nd floor, and outside food and alcohol are not allowed.
You buy the eel on the 1st floor, eat at the restaurant on the 2nd floor, and pay when you're done — that's it! Eel is exactly what you need for a nourishing meal ✔️
The table setting fee is ₩4,000 per adult and ₩2,000 for elementary school age and under.
They're also giving out ice cream as part of a review event. Eel, eel soup, and eel tteokgalbi (patty) can all be packed to go!
What lunchtime looks like at Deokeun Jangeo
Interior
Last time I came for dinner, it was so packed I couldn't even take photos, but coming at lunch was much better! In the evening this place fills up and there's even a wait. Overall the restaurant is clean and the tables have decent space, so it seems like a good spot for a family meal or a visit with several people
Self-serve bar: ssam greens and five sauces
The default side dishes, and our eel!
You can help yourself to more from the self-serve bar if anything runs low
and there are plenty of fresh leafy greens for wrapping too!
There's soy sauce, wasabi, spicy sauce, onion sauce, and salad sauce, plus teriyaki sauce on every table. Personally, the spicy sauce was my favorite haha
How the boneless grilled eel tasted
The eel is huge and long. We ordered three chunks, and grilling just two of them already filled the whole grill. The eel itself was seriously big
The eel turning golden brown as it grills
My boyfriend's grilling skills have gotten better than the first time 🤣 thanks babe ^..^
It's nice being able to eat without worrying about bones since it's boneless! At first we tried it plain, without any sauce, to taste the eel itself, and it was clean-tasting yet savory — absolutely great!!! 👍🏻 After that we tried it with the eel teriyaki sauce, but I felt the spicy sauce paired much better with the clean flavor of the eel!
Eel soup and eel tteokgalbi (grilled eel patty)
My beloved eel soup. Why do I love soups so much. It was so good last time I had it that I ordered it right away this time
A bite of eel + a spoonful of eel soup broth + a bowl of rice. Isn't this combo pure body-nourishing bliss haha
When you order the eel soup, they also give you Japanese pepper powder (sancho) and extra side dishes — I just ate it plain without adding any!
+ eel tteokgalbi (patty)!!! Eel tteokgalbi tastes just like regular tteokgalbi, so I think kids would love it too. After eating so much eel, the portion looked like a lot at first, but we inhaled the whole thing lolol. The savory eel flavor and charcoal aroma blended together so well that we never got tired of it, all the way to the last bite! 💓
After a hearty meal of delicious grilled eel for the first time in a while, I really felt like I'd properly nourished my body — so satisfying~~~~ I highly recommend Deokeun Jangeo, an especially great Gwangyang eel restaurant to bring your parents to ⭐️💛⭐️
Where it is
101 Hangman9-ro, Gwangyang-si, South Jeolla Province, South Korea전남광주통합특별시 광양시 항만9로 101 더큰장어 광양점
