West Suwon grilled Spanish mackerel and cutlassfish: Godeungeo

Fall has arrived, the season for perfectly browned grilled fish. I went with my family for a grilled fish set meal, and it seemed like a fitting place for anyone who loves Korean food, young or old. I visited Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda Suwon Branch (고등어명품이되다 수원점), located in western Suwon.

Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda Suwon Branch: location, hours and parking

• 📍Address: 1731 Seobu-ro, 1F, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• 🕑Hours: Mon–Sun 10:40–22:00 / last order 20:50 / extended closing at 22:00 in summer
• 🚗Parking: available, dedicated lot
• 📌Group-friendly / high chairs / aprons / waiting area / takeout available / separate restrooms / corkage available (fee)

How to get to this grilled fish restaurant in Homaesil, Suwon

It's on the Topdong side, close to Homaesil, and it's a solid spot in western Suwon overall — worth keeping in mind if you're looking for a Korean restaurant nearby.

Around here, the restaurants and their parking are set up like this. Plenty of parking space, so no worries there.

Inside a large Korean restaurant built for whole families

The inside of Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda Suwon Branch is clean, and it's also huge. Tables are set everywhere, and there are a lot of them. Feels well-suited for family meals, work dinners, or group gatherings.

There's a wide-open feel from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Tables range from 4-person to 6-person, plus sofa seating. The seating spacing is generous too, so it's comfortable to eat. In the central hall there's a self-serve bar, and aside from the kitchen with the wood-fired oven, the rest is all seating.

What is on the self-serve side dish bar?

Being so spacious, sitting close to the self-serve bar helps, haha, but since it's in the center, honestly any seat is fine. The self-serve bar is clean and has a good variety of side dishes. Besides the ones served by default, there are extras here, so check it out. The country-of-origin labels are posted at the self-serve bar too.

Seaweed soup, sungnyung (scorched rice tea), various sauces, geotjeori (fresh kimchi), yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), cheongpomuk (mung bean jelly), cucumber kimchi, some fragrant namul I couldn't identify, doraji muchim (bellflower root salad), radish namul, japchae (glass noodles), and sikhye (sweet rice drink). As side dishes ran low, staff kept refilling them right away. There was no japchae for a bit, but when I went back later there was warm, fresh japchae! Eating it warm right away was delicious haha. With so many side dishes to choose from, it's great for picking whatever suits your taste, and sikhye for dessert too (●ˇ∀ˇ●)

There's a fish tank inside the restaurant — mackerel, maybe? You can actually see them! Kind of fascinating. Near the entrance there's an open kitchen where you can see the wood-fired oven, with the grilled fish cooking right in front of you.

The cafeteria-style waiting area is really spacious. Nice to be able to wait comfortably indoors if there's a line. We visited on a weekday, but I'd guess there's waiting on weekends.

As soon as you're seated, they give you a bottle of water. Seating is first-come, sit-anywhere. Ordering is easy with a table-order tablet. There's also a call button if you need it. Plus, the table drawer here has soy sauce, dishes, and other extra sauces neatly arranged — nice touch. We didn't use it, but it's handy if you want to add extras to taste.

What the family ordered, and what it cost

• Grilled Spanish mackerel — ₩18,000
• Grilled cutlassfish — ₩19,000
• Gochujang bulgogi — ₩13,000

The food didn't take long to come out at all — pretty quick. First up were the grilled Spanish mackerel and grilled cutlassfish, served side by side on the same plate, neatly presented. A tidy table setting! That neat presentation is what a Korean restaurant should feel like.

Seaweed soup and rice are included. The seaweed soup is also available at the self-serve bar. It's clean-tasting, not salty at all.

These are the default side dishes: japchae, doraji muchim, a fragrant namul I couldn't name, radish namul, cucumber kimchi, yeolmu kimchi. Beyond these, you can go grab more from the self-serve bar to taste.

And a taster portion of gochujang bulgogi was also served. Getting a bulgogi taste with grilled fish — that's a generous touch. The fish is great, but as someone who loves meat, I was satisfied 🤍

[ Grilled cutlassfish ₩19,000 + grilled Spanish mackerel ₩18,000 ] Big, plump grilled fish laid out side by side. Lemon is also provided, squeezed over the fish — it takes away any fishy smell and brings out the flavor 🍋🍋🍋

Grilled Spanish mackerel, 18,000 won: thick flesh, easy to debone

Grilled Spanish mackerel is clearly bigger and plumper than the cutlassfish. Thick flesh with a clean, mild flavor — that's the charm of Spanish mackerel ( •̀ .̫ •́ )✧ I tried the mackerel instead of the plump godeungeo (chub mackerel) this time. With so much flesh, it's easy to debone and feels like a substantial way to eat fish. I'm a cutlassfish-lover, so I wasn't expecting much from the other grilled fish, but the Spanish mackerel turned out surprisingly delicious 😯

Look at this thick fish flesh. We ate it alongside the side dishes without soy sauce, and there was no fishy taste at all. It's firm and doesn't fall apart. The mild flavor would be good for kids too — just debone it and hand it over. Easy to debone, and the flesh is nice and plump.

Grilled cutlassfish, 19,000 won: flesh so tender it falls apart

Honestly I don't eat grilled fish that often, but I love cutlassfish. Grilled or braised cutlassfish, I love both. This one was also large and thick, easy to eat. The flesh is so soft it practically falls apart, and it tastes amazing. I can confirm this is a legit grilled fish spot in western Suwon.

It's mild too, though a bit saltier than the mackerel. Taking a spoonful of rice with some doraji muchim and the soft, falling-apart fish flesh is honey-sweet. The grilled cutlassfish is so good, sniff 🙄👍🏻

Gochujang bulgogi, 13,000 won: the meat lover's pick at a fish restaurant

When you go out for grilled fish in Suwon as a family, there are fish people and there are meat people... this is the menu for the meat people at a fish restaurant. For kids or adults who find deboning fish tedious, get the gochujang bulgogi, it's amazing. We tried the taster and it was so good we ordered a full portion.

It comes with lettuce leaves for wraps and a bowl of rice. And of course the rice is a multigrain mix with sorghum, which I love. The taster was already generous, but the full gochujang bulgogi portion was surprisingly large too. Very generous serving.

Stir-fried in a sweet-spicy sauce, it's honestly not that spicy at all — leans sweet. Good for kids, and fine even for people who can't handle spice. A flavor everyone can enjoy, so I'd recommend it for family meals. The gochujang bulgogi is addictively sweet. Wrapping it in lettuce makes it even better 👍🏻🙄👍🏻

Is Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda a good spot for a family meal?

With its spacious, comfortable interior, it's well-suited for group and family meals, and you get to enjoy a variety of nicely browned, wood-fired grilled fish depending on your taste. The side dishes are varied and tasty. The taster gochujang bulgogi was also delicious — good enough that we ended up ordering the full dish, haha.

The portions felt generous and filling for a satisfying meal. I'd recommend it for a healthy, tasty meal. Even the gochujang bulgogi for the meat-lovers was delicious. A place anyone, young or old, can eat comfortably at — and honestly, we left really full. Even the sikhye at the end was good. The staff were friendly too, clearing finished plates quickly as they passed by, which made the meal easy.

With its plump, tasty grilled fish, if you're looking for a grilled fish restaurant or a Korean restaurant for a family meal in western Suwon, I'd recommend checking out Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda Suwon Branch.