Taking mom for tender grilled eel near Sagajeong: Cheonsangae Jangeoga

Taking my eel-loving mom out

My mom loves eel~ In the old days she'd have eaten it ten times over the summer, but after her hospital checkup, eel, egg yolks, pork — all the good stuff — got flagged as things to cut back on. She grumbled, so am I supposed to only eat beef then? >.<

She's never liked pork much and doesn't really eat chicken either, so beef is about the only meat she'll touch lol. But you can't eat beef every single day?! And it's not like she eats it constantly — as long as she's not overdoing it, enjoying a good meal is better for her health anyway ^^

She'd just been to two university hospitals for tests recently, so she must be even more worn out and low on energy — and she's got cataract surgery coming up soon too. There was no way I could just sit back as her daughter~~ So I looked for an eel place close to home and settled on Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch!!!

I'd been to Cheonsangae Jangeoga a while back and the eel was delicious and the vibe was nice too~ So I figured mom would love it, and off we went to Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch =3

Location — between Myeonmok and Sagajeong stations

By subway it's right between Myeonmok Station and Sagajeong Station on line 7! On foot Sagajeong seems a bit closer — it's on the road heading toward the front gate of Myeondong Elementary School, so it's easy to find.

Interior — wood tones and staff who grill for you

The wood-toned interior feels upscale enough for family gatherings and group get-togethers. And since the staff grill the eel for you directly, it's especially comfortable for company dinners or meetups where you just want to relax.

I didn't see a fish tank out front so I wondered where the eels were kept — turns out there's a separate eel tank near the kitchen, and I spotted where they light the charcoal too. Even with charcoal being lit inside, the space stays cool and pleasant, which surprised me ^^ Grab any extra side dishes you want from the self-serve bar~

Menu and events

The basic set comes with an eel count that varies by party size, plus stone-grilled sushi, seasoned oyster, doenjang stew (soybean paste stew), and grilled potato. There's also a weekday lunch special at a slightly cheaper price with a solid spread — good option for a Myeonmok-dong lunch spot too ^^

There were quite a few special promotions too — free eel for guests 80 and over, free eel for pregnant guests, 10% off for police officers and firefighters, and even a Naver save event^^

After entering party size and ordering on the table order system, the basic banchan (side dishes) get set right away — lettuce wraps, sliced pickled ginger, pickled perilla leaves, wild ginseng cultured root, and pickled chili shreds.

Charcoal-grilled eel and snow mushroom

100% domestic japonica freshwater eel grilled directly over domestic Yeoju oak charcoal!! They also top the eel with a snow mushroom (white jelly mushroom, seolhwabeoseot) bigger than a fist, which is unusual to see and tasted great too ^^

Eel isn't sold by the kilogram here — it's ordered per fish per person, so like 2 people, large, 2 fish. And you don't have to grill it yourself — the staff grill it for you. They kept coming by to check the timing and grill it just right, so we could just sit back comfortably~~ and focus on talking.

Grilling the snow mushroom (white jelly mushroom)

It's called snow mushroom because it looks like it blooms in a snowflake-white, flower-like shape — I've had plenty of it in mala tang, where it's usually called white jelly mushroom ^^

I normally like white jelly mushroom but never thought to grill it haha. It cooked first while the eel was still going, and they gave it to us to dip in sauce and try — the texture I love was there and even better ^^

It especially paired well with the eel too and tasted great together~

Wild ginseng cultured root in the sauce

There's wild ginseng cultured root on top of the sauce~ I always assumed ginseng tastes bitter so I almost skipped it, but I tried it anyway and honestly couldn't taste any bitterness at all >.<

Doenjang stew, stone-grilled sushi, seasoned oyster

By the time the eel had turned nicely golden, the doenjang stew, 2 pieces of stone-grilled sushi, and seasoned oyster (eogulgot) came out.

The rice has sesame oil mixed in too, adding a nutty flavor, and when you top it with eel tail and a bit of wasabi, it's a whole different, unique flavor ^^ I usually toss eel tail because I think it's not very tasty, but I don't think I'll be throwing it away anymore lol.

We like our eel grilled nice and golden, so we grilled it a bit more to taste — that part's self-serve, do it your way haha.

First time wrapping eel with seasoned oyster ^^ Felt like a fun new experiment haha. Also tried our usual favorite combos — with snow mushroom, with seasoned oyster — enjoying the eel in all kinds of ways~

Even eaten plain it's clean and nutty~~ the eel is so tender it melts — a texture older folks would enjoy too.

Finishing with rice-scorch dessert

Once the eel was mostly gone, we ordered the rice-scorch (nurungji) dessert ahead of time! It said it takes about 15 minutes, so timing the order in advance means it arrives just when you're ready — and the portion is generous. Warm and nutty, really satisfying ^^

We were too full for the eel soup so we skipped it, but finishing off with rice-scorch instead of eel soup was a nice clean way to wrap things up?! There was even a hidden potato tucked in the charcoal haha.

Eating domestic japonica freshwater eel with wild ginseng cultured root and snow mushroom added made it taste even better, and somehow felt twice as healthy ^^ With staff grilling for you, you can really focus on the gathering while you eat — great pick as a meetup spot near Sagajeong.