Yeouido Korean restaurant: wood-fired atka mackerel and mackerel sets

Where is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido?

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido is a wood-fired grilled fish Korean restaurant in the basement arcade of Lotte Castle Ivy, 86 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. It's 408m from Exit 2 of Saetgang Station (Line 9 & Sillim Line).

Today I visited Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido, a Yeouido restaurant grilling Korean fish over a wood-fired oven. It's located in the basement arcade of Lotte Castle Ivy in Yeouido.

Whether you take the escalator, elevator, or stairs down, there are maps everywhere so it's easy to find. It's located next to the famous Gayang Kalguksu.

Since it hasn't been open long, the storefront is bright and clean.

A wide hall that suits solo diners and big groups

Once you walk in, Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido has one big hall with plenty of seating. The spacing between seats is wide and the tables are big, so it's comfortable for eating. It welcomes everything from solo diners to groups, which is probably why it gets even busier at lunchtime.

What is on the menu and how much do the sets cost?

True to the name — Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo (mackerel grilled in a wood-fired oven) — grilled mackerel is the signature dish, sold as a set with spicy pork stir-fry, pizza, braised dishes, and roe stew. Pork, braised dishes, and roe stew made sense, but pizza? Turns out they have a big wood-fired oven that bakes pizza too!

Since they carry so many kinds of fish, there are also single-item sets, not just combos. Atka mackerel, Spanish mackerel, hairtail, black hairtail, and more.

There's a range from a kids' set for preschoolers to tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patties), pizza, and dumplings. You can also order extra sides that come with the sets.

• Wood-fired Atka mackerel set 15,500 won
• Wood-fired mackerel set 13,500 won

Order placed!

What can you help yourself to at the self-bar?

At Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido, you can freely help yourself to the basic side dishes at the self-bar, and there were a few extras beyond what came with the meal.

First up, tteokbokki soup and sungnyung (scorched rice water). When you're eating grilled fish, which is naturally a bit oily, I think sungnyung at the end is essential. The tteokbokki soup wasn't too sweet either — exactly the taste you'd get at home or from a stall by the school. Kids would probably love it, haha.

The basic sides that came out were lettuce, altari radish kimchi, japchae, black sesame lotus root salad, and maybe stir-fried potato? All of these are also at the self-bar, though cheongpomuk (mung bean jelly) salad isn't included in the basic set — help yourself if you want some! Dried radish green soybean paste soup also comes with the meal and can be refilled at the self-bar.

Fish coming off the wood-fired oven nonstop

Can you see the wood-fired oven? Fish comes out of it nonstop. Food cooked in a wood-fired oven is never bad, right? The pizza looked good too, so next time I want to try the pizza combo. Since my seat was fairly close to the oven, I watched dishes come out, and the smell of the spicy pork stir-fry was insane...

There was fresh wasabi and soy sauce, plus what looked like a house-made ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste). I wondered what it was for, but seeing the lettuce, I figured it'd taste great with the grilled fish and would also be needed for the pork stir-fry. This house-made sauce was so good I could just wrap it in lettuce with rice alone and it'd be delicious!

Wood-fired atka mackerel set, 15,500 won

The grilled fish arrived. First, the Atka mackerel — it's huge, haha. With grilled fish or seafood in general, the bigger it is, the better it tastes.

These side dishes can be freely refilled at the self-bar! None of them were over-seasoned — they had that neat, home-cooked feel, so honestly I could've filled up on the sides alone, haha.

But the star is the grilled fish. True to being a Yeouido restaurant specializing in Korean grilled fish, the fish itself was glistening... cooked exactly crispy-outside-tender-inside, the flesh underneath was so soft, and the skin was crisped up nicely. As someone who loves the skin on grilled fish, this passes.

Wood-fired mackerel set, 13,500 won

Next, the mackerel. If a place uses low-quality mackerel, it smells strong and can be dry as eating chicken breast... but here it was cooked just right — tender and chewy.

The Atka mackerel was delicious too, but I'm voting for the mackerel. I already like grilled mackerel to begin with, but Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido grilled it so well — topped with fresh wasabi, it was heavenly.

I love that distinctive oiliness of mackerel. It's the kind of fat you can enjoy without feeling bad about it, haha.