Fish restaurant in Incheon: dinner drive, mackerel & radish kimchi bar

Why Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui for dinner after an Incheon drive

Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui (소래산화덕생선구이) is a Korean restaurant that grills fish in an oak-wood clay oven in Manuigol, at the foot of Sorae Mountain. I went for a drive around Incheon with an acquaintance and stopped by Manuigol for dinner. We usually eat meat or Western food when we go out, but that day I was craving proper Korean food. Golden grilled fish with warm rice was exactly what I wanted.

So we ended up here. I was even more excited to hear the fish is grilled in a clay oven fired with oak logs. Once I visited, I was happy to find that you get pot rice and cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) along with the grilled fish.

Location, parking and atmosphere of Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui

The restaurant is at 5 Manuigol-ro 189beon-gil, Namdong-gu, Incheon. It sits at the entrance to Sorae Mountain, so it is a good spot for a meal after hiking. When we arrived, the big sign and red awning caught my eye first. The sign was brightly lit even at night, so it was easy to spot from far away. There was space in front of the restaurant to park cars. It is also a nice place for a filling dinner after a drive around Sorae Mountain.

Inside, I was surprised by how big it was. The tables were spaced generously, and it looked good for eating in a large group. The dining area was spread out under bright lighting, and the mood was comfortable. I saw families, and the place felt lively with people enjoying their meals. Since it specializes in grilled fish, I liked that you eat fish grilled right there in the restaurant. It seemed well suited to Sorae Mountain hikers and families.

Menu and prices at Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui

The clay-oven mackerel set is ₩15,000, the clay-oven flatfish is also ₩15,000, and the grilled hairtail is ₩18,000. The menu offered many kinds of grilled fish. Atka mackerel, baekdae (a type of flatfish) and Spanish mackerel were ₩17,000 each. There is also a mixed grill menu where you can try several kinds of fish, so there was plenty to choose from.

We picked our usual favorites, grilled mackerel and grilled hairtail. Ordering both let us compare the flavor and texture, which was nice.

They also sell a grilled eel set, and the price was decent.

All-you-can-eat eel is ₩33,000 per adult.

Besides eel, they also sell samgyeopsal (pork belly) and more, so it's a good place to enjoy grilled fish, grilled eel and grilled meat all in one go.

What's in the side dish self-serve bar?

The basic side dishes are set out first, and at the self-serve bar you can help yourself to more side dishes, vegetables, fish cake and even tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). The basic spread was already generous, and the self-serve bar has extra side dishes on top of that.

On the way to the self-serve bar, I checked out the dessert coffee and plum tea ahead of time~

Ta-da! This is the self-serve bar, and it's pretty good.

Besides side dishes and vegetables, there's fish cake and tteokbokki too!

Among the side dishes, there was altari (young radish kimchi), so I brought some: sweet, crunchy, refreshing. It was so good that it's the culprit that made me go back for more.

The mackerel and hairtail set spread

The grilled fish set comes with the fish on a huge tray, and each person gets their own pot rice and cheonggukjang. While we were sampling the side dishes, our order arrived and the table quickly filled up. The big tray held golden-grilled mackerel and hairtail.

At grilled fish set meals, you sometimes share one soup, but here it's one cheonggukjang per person, which I liked even more. Several side dishes came too, so it felt like a proper Korean meal. With grilled fish, pot rice and cheonggukjang, it was filling enough without adding any other dishes.

How was the clay-oven mackerel?

The clay-oven mackerel at Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui had golden skin and moist flesh. I tried the mackerel first. Cooked in the clay oven, it was golden from the skin down and looked delicious. When I pulled the flesh apart with chopsticks, the inside was moist and tender.

With one bite, the rich, nutty flavor that mackerel is known for spread through my mouth. The outside was crispy while the inside was soft, and I liked the contrast in texture. Since it's grilled in the oven rather than fried in oil, you can really enjoy the fish's natural flavor. Putting mackerel on top of warm pot rice was a total rice thief (밥도둑, a dish so good you keep eating rice).

How was the hairtail different from the mackerel?

After the mackerel, I tried the grilled hairtail.

The grilled hairtail at Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui tasted milder and cleaner than the mackerel. It came grilled in bite-size pieces with golden grill marks on the surface. When I pulled the flesh apart with chopsticks, it separated softly. If mackerel is rich and nutty, hairtail's charm is its relatively mild, clean flavor. Each fish has its own taste, so it was fun to alternate between them. Eaten with warm rice, the hairtail wasn't strongly seasoned but was still plenty delicious. I thought ordering both fish was a good call.

Pot rice topped with sweet potato and beans

At Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui, the pot rice was just as good as the grilled fish. The rice was mixed with black rice and topped with sweet potato and several kinds of beans. Freshly cooked in the pot, it was glossy and looked delicious. When I took a spoonful, the grains were moist yet sticky.

The big pieces of sweet potato were especially good, sweet and fluffy. The beans added a pleasant chew. It had a nuttier flavor than plain white rice and went well with the grilled fish. It was so good that I felt the pot rice would be plenty delicious on its own.

One cheonggukjang each, and the side dishes

Another dish that impressed me at Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui was the cheonggukjang. It was served in a small earthenware pot, one per person, so we could enjoy it hot. The broth had tofu and vegetables, and its rich, earthy aroma whetted the appetite.

Taking a spoonful of cheonggukjang between bites of grilled fish was a great combination. The side dishes were varied too. There was kimchi, seasoned greens and even lotus root. The well-stocked self-serve bar was convenient, since you can fetch whatever you run short of. Alternating between the grilled fish and side dishes made the meal feel even richer.

Finishing with sungnyung and plum tea

Sungnyung (scorched rice tea) is a lovely way to finish.

And plum tea for the real finish!

Is Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui a good place for group meals?

Sorae-san Hwadeok Saengseon Gui was a satisfying restaurant where you can enjoy plenty of grilled fish and Korean side dishes. The mackerel grilled in the clay oven was nutty and moist, and the hairtail had a mild, appealing flavor. The pot rice with chestnuts and beans was delicious too, and I liked the one-cheonggukjang-per-person setup. Another plus was the well-stocked side dish self-serve bar, where you can take as much as you need. The restaurant is spacious, so it looked fine for family meals or get-togethers with friends. There were celebrity autographs too, so it seems to be already famous?

If you want a hearty Korean grilled fish meal near Manuigol or Sorae Mountain in Incheon, it's worth a visit. Next time I'd like to try other kinds of clay-oven grilled fish.