Anyang Korean restaurant, spicy pork set: Hwaddeugeuro Gan Godeungeo

For a hearty weekend brunch, I was craving grilled fish and spicy stir-fried pork, so we went to Hwaddeugeuro Gan Godeungeo Bisan Branch nearby. The building is new, so the parking area was spacious and well laid out. Even around the Pyeongchon academy district, parking is such a struggle, so being able to park comfortably feels like a huge advantage~ I can see why lots of families come here, and why people bring their parents, too.

Hwaddeugeuro Gan Godeungeo Bisan Branch

Grilled mackerel and spicy pork set meals

Here is the menu at Hwaddeugeuro Gan Godeungeo. Prices were reasonably set from the ₩10,000 to ₩20,000 range. We ordered grilled mackerel and the spicy pork set meal. Looking at the menu, it seemed like grilled mackerel was a must-order at every table. With mackerel in the restaurant's name, it really was delicious.

Maybe because we went at weekend lunchtime, there were so many guests. I would recommend making a reservation.

You can choose either white rice or brown rice, depending on your preference.

A self-serve bar with side dishes and bibimbap

Hwaddeugeuro Gan Godeungeo Bisan Branch has a self-serve bar like this.

There was refreshing chonggak kimchi (young-radish kimchi), delicious without any overly fermented smell, crunchy mild cucumber kimchi salad, and tangy bellflower-root salad.

Corn salad and cheongpomuk salad—two things that simply cannot taste bad.

They bring side dishes to your table at first, then you can refill anything you run out of yourself. There were plenty of small sharing plates and regular plates, just in case.

And the absolute best part was the bibimbap (mixed rice) station. Zucchini, bean sprouts, seasoned shredded radish, sesame oil, and gochujang (red chili paste). With just those, you can polish off a whole bowl of rice, right?~

And without ordering extra rice, you could scoop more here and make yourself bibimbap. White rice was set out for it. White rice is the way to go with bibimbap.

There was also tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), and sungnyung (scorched-rice tea), all things children love. Hwaddeugeuro Gan Godeungeo Bisan Branch lets you finish your meal perfectly, right to the end.

Next time, I should try the nourishing two-person set meal, too.

Crisp and moist oven-grilled mackerel

The grilled mackerel set arrived quickly. It came with spinach doenjang-guk (soybean-paste soup) as the standard soup. It was not heavily seasoned and had a lovely doenjang flavor, so I thought it would be a soup adults would really enjoy. It was tasty because it was not too salty.

We also brought back more side dishes to eat.

Perhaps because it was cooked in the oven, the mackerel skin was crisp while the flesh was soft and moist. It was nicely seasoned and went so well with a bowl of white rice. It was so tender that even people with sensitive teeth could eat it easily.

Sweet-spicy pork and a sungnyung finish

Next came the spicy pork set meal. Sweet and spicy pork is just impossible not to like.

It had the kind of flavor you might get at a driver's restaurant. It made me think this was a restaurant with truly good cooking. There were ssam (lettuce wraps) at the self-serve bar too, so we could wrap up as much as we wanted.

And then the bibimbap. Even with only vegetables in it, it was so good that I kept reaching for it. The magic of it—you keep eating even when you're full..

You absolutely have to finish with sungnyung. It made me feel pleasantly full, and I naturally thought, wow, I ate really well. They also gave us plenty of parking time, so we were able to leave at our leisure. I think I'll come back when I want a filling, home-style meal.