Suwon grilled fish restaurant with jumbo cutlassfish: Godeungeo

Parking and wait time at Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda in Suwon

The first thing I loved the moment I arrived at Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda Suwon Branch was the parking! As you can see in the photos, the lot is huge, so driving there felt totally stress-free!

Walking inside, an open kitchen came into view right away — overall it had a clean, bright vibe.

Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda is huge, but even with all that space it's always packed, so there's always a wait!

We waited about 15 minutes before we could get in.

And then, on our way in, an aquarium caught my eye! It's usually really hard to see live mackerel, right? But at Godeungeo, you can actually watch mackerel swimming around in a tank — seeing them in person really gave me the sense that this place specializes in fish.

The restaurant is so spacious that the dining area was also set up quite roomily.

Ordering grilled mackerel and grilled cutlassfish

Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda serves not just typical grilled and braised fish, but also mackerel sashimi, croaker sashimi, and mackerel sushi — after seeing the aquarium, I had a lot of confidence in the mackerel sashimi! We ordered grilled mackerel, grilled cutlassfish, and an extra grilled cutlassfish that day.

What's on the self-bar: side dishes and soy sauce

While waiting for our order, I checked out the self-bar — it was really clean and well organized!

The first round of side dishes is served, and once they run low you can grab more yourself at the self-bar, so you don't have to keep asking staff for refills — you can just freely take more of whatever you like. Loved that!

Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda uses single-use soy sauce, wasabi, and individual soy sauce dishes — it really seemed like they care a lot about hygiene.

You just mix fresh wasabi into the soy sauce like this to make the dipping sauce 🤍

While waiting, the side dishes came out first, so I tried them — every single one was delicious! I loved the seasoned doraji (bellflower root), the cucumber, and the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), but the sample of jeyuk bokkeum (spicy pork stir-fry) was an absolute treat!

Nobody dislikes jeyuk bokkeum, right?! Getting to enjoy delicious pork stir-fry at a grilled fish restaurant really got my appetite going right from the start haha.

How big is the grilled cutlassfish?

Finally, the grilled mackerel and grilled cutlassfish arrived. The moment I saw the cutlassfish, I was genuinely shocked by the size. The grilled cutlassfish was so long and thick it looked extra-large — if you love cutlassfish like I do, the sight alone would satisfy you!

My husband's way of eating mackerel = pile a big chunk of mackerel onto a bowl of white rice and dig in

The grilled cutlassfish was truly as delicious as it looked, and the flesh was so tender.

Snacking on the pork stir-fry now and then made it even better..! We ended up ordering an extra bowl of rice each haha.

Sungnyung, sikhye and coffee to finish

I felt like I was about to burst, but I couldn't resist the nutty sungnyung. And finally, sikhye to finish it all off 🥂 Even dessert was so satisfying.

On the way out, I noticed they even have a cafeteria corner, so Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda takes care of your closing coffee too — pure bliss ✨

Is this Suwon grilled fish restaurant worth it?

• The restaurant is really large, yet it's still well managed.
• The lot is spacious, so it was easy to visit by car.
• Seeing mackerel swimming in the aquarium made it feel fresher.
• The menu was varied — grilled mackerel, grilled cutlassfish, braised fish, mackerel sashimi, and more.
• The side dishes were all delicious overall, and the self-bar was convenient to use.
• The sample pork stir-fry was a surprisingly great treat.
• The grilled cutlassfish was extra-large sized.
• Sikhye and sungnyung were on offer too, making the end of the meal satisfying.