Yeouido eel restaurant for an office worker's lunch: Daedong Jangeo

What is Daedong Jangeo Yeouido like?

Daedong Jangeo Yeouido (대동장어 여의도점) is a freshwater eel grill restaurant on the first floor of the Oakwood Yeouido Park Hotel. Besides grilled eel, it serves an eel set meal at lunch, so I thought it would work well as an office-worker lunch.

I had a lunch appointment near Hangang Park in Yeouido and wanted something really filling, so I went for freshwater eel, haha. On days when your energy is draining away, nothing beats a stamina-boosting meal, right? Best of all, the seating is in private rooms, so it was nice and quiet! Let me walk you through it one by one~ let's go go go!

Location and exterior of Daedong Jangeo Yeouido

Daedong Jangeo Yeouido is close to National Assembly Station. Even at a leisurely pace it's a quick walk from the station, so it was easy to get to for a lunch meeting in Yeouido.

The restaurant is on the first floor of the Oakwood Yeouido Park Hotel. Maybe because it's inside a hotel, my first impression was clean and rather upscale.

Unlike a typical eel place, the overall mood is calm, which made it feel even more relaxing.

How are the room seating and parking?

What I liked most about Daedong Jangeo Yeouido is that the seating is in private rooms!

At lunch you end up chatting about all sorts of things with your coworkers,

and in a room you can talk comfortably without worrying about the people around you. The mood seemed right not just for office lunches but also for bringing your parents, a family meal out, or an important occasion.

You can use the hotel parking lot, and with 1 hour of free parking, driving there felt hassle-free too.

I ordered the grilled eel set meal for lunch

What we ordered at Daedong Jangeo Yeouido that day was the grilled eel set meal! I wondered if eel at lunchtime might be a bit over the top, but once I tried it, it was actually great, haha. Rice and soup come with it, so it was a properly filling meal.

Even before the eel arrived, side dishes started appearing on the table one after another. The spread looked neat and generous. It isn't just eel on its own; you get rice and side dishes to go with it, so the set meal format was just right for lunch.

Sides to go with the eel: braised mushrooms and cold buckwheat kimchi soup

Okay~ time for the taste review. Eel is rich and nutty, so the side dishes you eat with it matter more than you'd think.

Daedong Jangeo had several sides that pair well with eel, from white kimchi to myeongi namul (pickled greens), green onion kimchi and braised mushrooms. Personally, I kept reaching for the braised mushrooms.

They were salty and savory, and went well with rice too.

There was also a chilled buckwheat kimchi soup, and taking a spoonful now and then between bites of eel left my mouth feeling clean and reset! Since eel is oily, having something refreshing like this meant I didn't get tired of it and could enjoy it to the end.

How is the grilled eel at Daedong Jangeo Yeouido?

And then the long-awaited grilled eel arrived! The flesh was visibly thick, so it looked great from the start.

The eel's nutty aroma rose up, and the surface was grilled to a nice golden color.

Taking a bite, the outside was slightly chewy and the inside soft and moist. The flesh wasn't thin at all but plump, which I loved. That signature eel nuttiness spread gently through my mouth,

and with rice I understood why it's called a stamina food, haha. Dip it lightly in the eel sauce, add a spoonful of rice, and I wondered how a lunch could possibly be more satisfying.

Is an eel set too much for an office-worker lunch in Yeouido?

Daedong Jangeo Yeouido has a separate lunch set, so enjoying eel felt less burdensome than expected. Eel often has the image of something you eat in the evening with a drink or on a special day.

If you work in Yeouido, I think it's a place you'll remember when you want something a little special for lunch near the office.

With the restaurant set up in rooms, it looked good for eating with your team and also fine for hosting clients or guests. Instead of the usual baekban (set meal) or gukbap (soup with rice), it's the "today I'm really taking care of my body" kind of office lunch, haha.

Finishing with eel soup in a earthenware pot

If you've had eel, you have to finish properly. We also tried the eel soup at Daedong Jangeo Yeouido. It came bubbling in a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot), and the broth felt rich from the start.

There was quite a bit of eel inside too, and eating it with rice made it even more filling.

Adding the eel soup gave a much bigger feeling of having had a proper meal than the grilled eel alone.

Nutty grilled eel first, then a warm broth to finish! Personally I really liked this combination, haha.

Overall: is Daedong Jangeo Yeouido worth another visit?

I was quite satisfied with Daedong Jangeo Yeouido overall. From the first-floor hotel location to the clean, upscale atmosphere and the private rooms, it was comfortable throughout the meal.

Above all, the eel was thick and meaty and delicious, and I liked that the lunch eel set meal is so filling. Adding the eel soup too, I felt like I'd really taken care of my body, haha.

If you're looking for a slightly special office lunch in Yeouido, or a place for a meal with your parents or a family dinner out, Daedong Jangeo Yeouido is worth a visit. Next time I'd like to come in the evening instead of lunch and slowly try the grilled eel along with other dishes :) A good one to remember when you're craving eel in Yeouido! I had a great meal :)