Gwangsan eel restaurant self-grill with mom, plus dessert nurungji

I went with my mom to Yuil Jangeo, an eel restaurant in Gwangsan, to get some strength back. I've been feeling so drained lately that eel just sounded right — GoGo~

Basic info on Yuil Jangeo in Gwangsan

Address: 343 Donggok-ro, 1st floor, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju / Hours 11:00–21:00 / Last order 20:30 / No break time / Groups, reservations, and takeout available

Yuil Jangeo, a Gwangsan favorite, sits right across from Songjeong Outlet.

Where to park?

Use the dedicated parking lot behind the restaurant.

Interior atmosphere and seating

Overall the interior wasn't flashy, just a clean, comfortable place to eat.

There's more seating in the back beyond the main hall, so it looked great for family meals or larger groups too.

4-seat and 6-seat tables.

They also have private rooms — named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday haha, very simple.

Menu and prices

Live eel for two, ₩29,000 (600g cleaned), ₩4,833 per 100g cleaned (300–350g per serving).

Check out the rest of the menu too.

• Signature freshwater eel 1kg (600g flesh) ₩29,000
• Eel set meal (seasoned grilled eel + fish soup + side dishes) — the seasoned eel comes sliced and served on a hot plate. Lunch special 11am–2pm, ₩15,000
• Eel-packed eel soup ₩9,900
• Table setting: adult (charcoal + side dishes) ₩4,000 / child ₩2,000
• Plain cold noodles ₩8,000 / spicy mixed cold noodles ₩8,000
• Eel tteokgalbi 1 pack ₩2,500 / 3 packs ₩7,000

How do you order?

You take the packaged eel from the fridge like this, pay at the counter first, and they pre-sear it before bringing it to your table. You get a table number and just find your seat.

We got table 9.

Once you sit, they set the basic table spread for you. The cost of the table setting is...

₩4,000 for adults, ₩2,000 for elementary schoolers. They pre-sear the eel, but grilling the rest yourself is on you.

What comes with the table setting

Cold seaweed soup, seasoned perilla leaves, green onion kimchi, kimchi, lettuce wraps, radish pickle.

Self-grilling the pre-seared eel

Once you pay at the counter, the eel is pre-seared and brought to your table.

Yuil Jangeo, a Gwangsan favorite, is run directly by its own eel farm and specializes in self-grilled eel! That means less labor cost and fewer middlemen, so you can eat freshwater eel here at some of the lowest prices in the country.

I ended up burning the whole batch in no time. Is self-grilling really this hard? T_T Guess I really do need someone else to grill for me?

Finally, a properly grilled, intact piece of eel — let's taste it. Yep, still nutty and savory. So good.

Dessert: nurungji

After finishing the eel, I ordered nurungji (scorched rice tea) for dessert.

I always finish eel with nurungji. Nutty, refreshing, warms up your stomach — GOOD~~

Receipt review event

There's also a receipt review event you can join after eating at Yuil Jangeo, a Gwangsan favorite~ Ask the staff for an interim bill (receipt), scan the QR code to reach the review page, then attach proof of the receipt and one photo of the food, and write a review including the keywords 'Gwangju,' 'eel,' and 'restaurant.'

After staff confirmation, you get a free serving of eel tteokgalbi. Don't miss this event :)

Takeout discounts

Raw eel gets a 10% discount, and pre-seared eel a 5% discount, for takeout. Pre-seared eel is priced at ₩6,100 per 100g — keep in mind the weight drops once moisture and fat cook off after searing. Roughly 500g from 1kg of raw eel after pre-searing.

Self-serve bar

If you run low on side dishes, they're all available to grab yourself at the self-serve bar.

Sauces, scissors, and tongs are all there at the self-serve bar too.

Coffee for dessert

After the eel, try a sweet americano — they also have instant mix coffee.