Korean eel BBQ in Jungnang, Seoul: salt-dipped summer eel, Cheonsangae

Do you guys like grilled eel?? I can't live without it haha. It's been getting hot lately and I've been feeling run down, so I figured I needed some stamina food,, and then I heard there's a great eel place in Seoul near Sagajeong Station, so I rushed over to Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch (천상애장어가 면목사가정점)!

Location and basic info for Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch

Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch is at 370 Myeonmok-ro, Jungnang-gu, Seoul (1st floor), and it's open 11:30-21:30. There's a restroom inside and you can reserve through Naver, but there's no parking.

Here's the exterior.

This Seoul eel restaurant is about a 10-minute walk from Sagajeong Station.

Is the inside good for group gatherings?

The inside of Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch is clean and spacious!! There are seats in the back and even private-room-style spaces, so I think it'd work for a group get-together or company dinner in Sagajeong.

The interior is clean and spacious like this!!

And there are seats in the back plus what looks like private rooms??, so I think it's great for a Sagajeong group dinner!!

How much is the set for 2 at this eel restaurant near Sagajeong Station?

At Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch we ordered the set for 2 at ₩79,000. At lunchtime it's ₩20,000 off, so ₩59,000, which makes it a nice lunch option near Sagajeong Station too.

I love that they have a proper set menu like this. And ₩79,000 for two people eating grilled eel is such good value,,

We had reserved, so the table was already set like this!

You can help yourself to as many extra side dishes as you need, self-service!

Eel and snow mushroom, grilled for you by the staff

Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch serves snow mushroom (seolhwa mushroom) with the eel, and the staff grill all the eel and set it neatly to one side. I'd never eaten snow mushroom with eel before, so I was super excited.

The eel, fresh out!!! And unusually, they give you snow mushroom along with it!

They kindly grill everything for you like this.

The eel at this Sagajeong Station favorite turning golden and delicious!!! Doesn't it look so good,, and the snow mushroom too!!

Once it's all grilled, they set it to one side so it's easy to eat. Then came the stone sushi, salted oysters (eori-gulgeot) and doenjang stew (soybean paste stew)!! A perfect spread!!

How does the eel taste? Delicious even with just salt

The eel at Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch was so good even as plain eel dipped in just salt. First I took a bite with sauce and ginger, and even the raw eel looked high quality, and sure enough it was so delicious ㅜㅜㅜㅜ

I don't have a photo, but plain eel with just salt was so good ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ!! As expected of a Sagajeong Station favorite,,

Eating it in lettuce wraps was so good that I even got a refill of lettuce haha

And with pickled perilla leaves too~

Cultured wild ginseng root and snow mushroom

Cheonsangae Jangeoga also gives you cultured wild ginseng root (sansam baeyangkeun), and I thought it'd be bitter but it really wasn't, so it was nice eaten with the eel!! It felt like double the stamina boost haha

It was my first time trying snow mushroom too, and the texture was tender and springy??? Great texture and delicious haha. The well-cooked parts were crispy!

Salted oysters and stone sushi

Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch turned out to be a salted-oyster place as much as an eel place! The salted oysters weren't fishy and were sooo good. My friend loved them so much they mixed them into their rice lol

A bite of stone sushi topped with the prized eel tail!! (Though apparently the tail doesn't have any special health benefits,,) Grilled eel topped with snow mushroom goes really well together too.

Hovenia tea instead of water, plus nurungji water

At Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch, even the water isn't just water, they serve hovenia tea (heotgenamu-cha)!! It really felt like proper stamina food haha

I normally drink Coke Zero when I eat out, but for some reason that day I felt like skipping it for my health. Oh, and after you finish eating you can ask for sungnyung (scorched rice tea) as a free service, but we were too full so we passed haha

The final highlight: a charcoal potato you can take away

At the end, Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch pulls a potato out of the charcoal for you haha. If you're full they'll pack it up, so don't forget to have the potato! We took ours to go haha

I ate it a while later in the car and it was still warm! I figured a potato is just a potato,, but it was so good. Now I get why the owner said it's best eaten right away. Eaten right then it would've been even hotter and tastier haha. I recommend eating it right away~~

My friend said it was so good that they're already thinking about it again!! I'd been so hot and drained lately, and I came away having really recharged haha. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for an eel place or a stamina meal!

Verdict: pros and cons of Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch

If you're looking for grilled eel in Seoul or need a stamina boost, head to Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok!

• Pros: great grilled eel, felt like a real stamina boost from the eel, mushrooms and cultured wild ginseng root, clean and spacious inside, good service
• Cons: a bit far from my home
• Would I return: yes (I'd go again whenever I want grilled eel)