Mackerel and pork sets at Cheonan fish grill Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo

The Korean-food lover Mina-mochi is back!!! On her day off, I visited Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo Cheonan Main Branch with my daughter for what must be our Nth time now ✨ Even in the evening it was packed with people, and every time we go there's a crowd — clearly still a beloved local favorite in Cheonan. No matter how many times I visit, it's consistently delicious, so whenever I crave grilled fish, this is where I naturally end up. Today's another revisit review of Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo Cheonan Main Branch, let's go 💓

Where is Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo Cheonan Main Branch, and is there parking?

Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo Cheonan Main Branch is located at 46-5 Handeul 2-ro, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, near Cheonan Baekseok IPARK 2nd Complex. The neighborhood is full of great restaurants, from octopus places to samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), making it a popular area for meals.

• Address: 46-5 Handeul 2-ro, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00 - 20:30
• Break time weekdays only 15:30 - 16:50
• Last order 14:50, 20:50

There's plenty of parking space too, so you can visit comfortably without worrying about where to park.

It's also appeared on SBS Live Today episode 3394 and KBS ON's Daeho Wattdaeho, among other shows — time to head in~

Inside Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo: open kitchen with a wood-fired oven

Right at the entrance of Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo Cheonan Main Branch, you're greeted with celebrity signatures and a thoughtfully arranged dessert & snack corner 🥠 They sell easy grab-and-go snacks from giant sweet rice yakgwa (honey cookie) to monaka and almond bars.

The interior is quite spacious and neatly organized without any clutter, and the lush green plant decor gives it a bright, cheerful atmosphere 🌿 Tables are spaced generously apart with a variety of seating options, making it perfect for family meals as well as office lunches or company dinners!!

The kitchen in the back is open-style, and inside sits a massive wood-fired oven, front and center!!! The staff were busy moving around, placing fish one by one into the oven, and you could watch them turn golden brown right in front of you.

What's on the self bar at Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo?

At the self-serve corner you can take as much as you like — there's japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), white rice, and nurungji (scorched rice). At the bibimbap-making corner, there are a whopping six kinds of seasoned greens 🌿 There was even altari radish for wrapping!! Plus the standard side dishes — chonggak kimchi (young radish kimchi), lotus root salad, deodeok (mountain root) salad, and cucumber-pepper salad 👏🏻

Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo menu and prices

The menu offers a wide variety of grilled fish sets — mackerel, Atka mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cutlassfish — and quite a few non-fish options too, like pork bulgogi, crab in soy sauce, egg roe soup, and braised deokja (a large flatfish). There's also a set for two and separate side dishes, so it's easy to mix and match to your taste +.+

Ordering the mackerel set and the spicy pork set

• Mackerel set ₩16,000
• Pork set ₩17,000
• Coca-Cola Zero ₩2,000
• Total: ₩35,000

The table filled up beautifully ✨ My daughter wanted both the pork and the mackerel since they're both her favorites, so we ordered both and split them!

From the self bar we scooped up as much alba cabbage and tteokbokki as we wanted, since they're both our favorites hahaha. The tteokbokki was chewy and spicy — so good!!

When choosing the set, you can pick white or brown rice, so for my daughter's and my health we went with brown rice ✔️ You can also swap to gondre (mountain vegetable) rice for an extra ₩3,000.

Since there were bibimbap ingredients at the self bar, it would've been a shame not to grab some, so I carefully scooped just enough for three spoonfuls and mixed it with gochujang (red chili paste). The greens were mildly seasoned, perfect for mixing, so I demolished it in no time hahaha.

How the wood-fired grilled mackerel tastes

The wood-fired mackerel — crispy outside, moist inside — was glossy and generously sized, with scoring cuts that made it look absolutely incredible!! It was so moist, light, and perfectly crisp-tender that I let out a sigh of admiration with the very first bite ❤️ This is the ultimate rice thief 👏🏻👏🏻

The tail part had thick, meaty flesh too, which is actually my favorite bite — but I gave it to my daughter >.< When I picked out the bones for her, she was so touched she insisted on feeding me too hahaha. Every time we eat fish, we end up handing each other pieces — such a heartwarming mother-daughter scene 💓

Spicy stir-fried pork served on a hot iron plate

The pork bulgogi also arrived on a piping-hot plate that stayed warm throughout the meal, loaded generously with onions, scallions, and garlic — perfect to pair with the meat +.+

The sauce was savory with just the right amount of spicy-sweet, and it soaked into the meat beautifully — perfect with rice! Piling a big piece of pork bulgogi onto the brown rice made for a fantastic combo hahaha.

My daughter said it was so delicious she was practically wiggling with joy hahahaha.

We finished up full and wrapped things up with sungnyung (scorched rice water) 💛 With exam season keeping my daughter busy studying, having a hearty, healthy dinner together like this is one of life's little joys 💓 As we were heading out, she even scooped snacks into a paper cup hahaha.

Why this Baekseok-dong fish grill is worth a return visit

When my daughter thanked me for bringing her here, it made me so proud all over again 💕 The staff are kind, the place is clean, the self bar is well-stocked, and above all, the grilled fish is delicious — that's why I keep coming back, and I highly recommend it 🫶🏻 That wraps up my revisit review of the Cheonan mackerel favorite, Hwadeuro-ganggodeungeo in Baekseok-dong, after another hearty dinner with my daughter 💓