Bongdam Korean restaurant with beef seaweed soup side bar: Hwadamga

Hwadamga

These days the weather is finally getting nicer now that summer is passing. With weather this good, you can't just stay home every weekend!!! A delicious new Korean restaurant opened up in Bongdam, Hwaseong, so I visited with my kid for weekend lunch. Parking in front was spacious too, so it was easy to get to. And the name itself — Hwadamga (화담가), meaning a warm place where stories linger!! I love it so much~

Hwadamga's menu: set meals, pot rice and seafood BBQ sets

Hwadamga's menu is divided into grilled fish sets and meat sets. Looking at the menu, you could pick a set with grilled fish — dried yellow croaker set, grilled mackerel set, grilled hairtail set — or a set with meat — wood-fired pork set, traditional boiled pork set.

Even without ordering a set, you can add à la carte dishes too, worth keeping in mind. And you can also order hotpot rice, cold noodles, and kimchi stew~!!

There's also a Korean beef sirloin seafood set and a Korean pork belly seafood set where you can grill meat together with seafood!!

Is Hwadamga good with kids? Private room and baby chairs

Hwadamga has a separate room, and with sofa seating and baby chairs prepared, it was easy for a family gathering with kids. The interior is newly opened, so it was very clean, spacious and nice. In particular, having a separate room seemed great for family gatherings or work dinners too. It was also good to bring a kid since the seating is sofa-style and baby chairs are all ready.

What comes with the mackerel set and wood-fired pork set

We ordered the mackerel set and the pork set, and when you order a set menu, besides the mackerel and pork, doenjang stew, snail lettuce wraps, and barley rice come out prepared like this — and the side dishes and veggies for mixing into the barley rice you bring yourself from the self-serve bar.

Self-serve bar: meatballs, japchae and beef seaweed soup

Hwadamga's self-serve bar had things kids love — meatballs (dongarang-ttaeng) and japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), and even beef seaweed soup. And looking at the self-serve bar, there really was a wide, evenly varied selection of veggies prepared. Especially great for bringing kids — the self-serve bar had meatballs, japchae and seaweed soup that kids love so much, my kid could eat well and get full just on these!! Besides that, lettuce wraps were also well prepared along with salad at the bar.

There were veggies ready to eat with the barley rice like this, and the seaweed soup was even made with beef, but since we had our own doenjang stew, we gave the seaweed soup just to the kid. My kid ate it so well~!!

We also brought back a plate piled high with side dishes, and filled our kid's rice with seaweed soup and sides too. It looks like a lot, but our kid really finished it all, seemed to enjoy it so much~!! We ate the side dishes really well too. From salted seafood to doraji (bellflower root), perilla leaves — every single side dish was delicious.

Mixing the barley rice and eating the plump grilled mackerel

Fill barley rice with a generous amount of veggies from the self-serve bar, add a spoon of sesame oil, mix it up, and that alone becomes a full meal. We also brought back plenty of veggies just for mixing into the barley rice. Add veggies to the barley rice as much as suits your taste.

And adding a spoon of sesame oil and mixing it well makes it so delicious~!! You could eat just this rice alone and it'd still be great. But what we ordered was the mackerel set and pork set, so of course there was mackerel and pork too!! The mackerel especially had such plump flesh, so delicious. My kid usually likes fish too, and ate it well.

The snail lettuce wraps came as a basic side dish too, so eating them with lettuce, and eating the pork with lettuce too, was delicious~!! The pork was exactly the flavor I like. With mackerel there too, it was easy for the kid to eat and I ate really well myself. So glad a delicious Korean restaurant like this opened up nearby.

Dessert at Hwadamga: peach tea, plum tea and coffee

But it doesn't end here~!!! There are drink desserts. Peach tea, plum tea, and coffee, so have whichever suits your taste. I finished the meal with an iced coffee for dessert, and it was truly a 100% satisfying meal. Hwadamga, a Bongdam restaurant great for family gatherings with kids~~!! I definitely recommend coming to eat here!!