Jeju set-menu restaurant by Iho Tewoo Beach: Hwadeogeuro Gan

Near Jeju Airport, at the beautiful sunset spot Iho Tewoo Beach, a wood-fired fish grill restaurant called Hwadeogeuro Gan has opened its Iho Tewoo branch.

Parking and the ocean view at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang, Iho Tewoo

You can park 4 cars in front of the shop, and there's also a parking lot behind the building.

Walking into this Jeju wood-fired fish grill restaurant, the first thing that catches your eye is a gorgeous ocean view.

The place is spacious with lots of tables, great for a big family or group meal, and since it's a set-menu format, solo dining works fine too.

You can see the big wood-fired oven right in the kitchen. It grills at over 500 degrees, giving you fish that's light yet moist.

What is on the menu and how to order

Grilled mackerel is the base offering, but there's also atka mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and hairtail-fish among the grilled fish options. There are set menus beyond fish too — hangover fish stew, spicy pork, and hand-made tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patties) — so a group can pick according to taste.

Ordering a bansang (table set) combo — like mackerel set with pork, or mackerel set with pizza — gets you more variety for better value. Since each order of a set comes with a free rice bowl, big eaters can eat plenty.

Every table has a kiosk, so ordering and payment are easy.

Self-serve banchan bar and fried eggs

The self-serve bar has neatly arranged banchan (side dishes) and wrap greens.

There are eggs, a frying pan, salt and oil set up so you can make your own fried egg to add to the meal.

Somehow a fried egg made at a restaurant tastes even nuttier and more delicious than one made at home haha.

There's a big photo of actor Choi Jong-won hanging in the restaurant — the owner must have some connection with him haha.

The cold water they gave us had lemon in it, which does a great job cutting the fishy taste.

Wood-fired spicy pork set, 14,800 won: smoky pork on a cast-iron plate

We ordered the wood-fired mackerel set and the wood-fired spicy pork set.

#WoodFiredSpicyPorkSet (₩14,800) is a sweet-and-spicy pork set grilled in a 500-degree oven.

Braised lotus root, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), kkakdugi (radish kimchi), and seaweed salad were all seasoned lightly and tasty. With Chuseok coming up, the japchae side felt extra welcome.

The pork comes out on a cast-iron plate, so it stays warm from first bite to last, which I really liked.

A bean sprout soup comes alongside — it's mild enough that even kids would eat it happily.

Wood-fired mackerel set, 13,800 won: the crisp-skinned signature dish

#WoodFiredMackerelSet (₩13,800) is Hwadeogeuro Gan's signature menu — grilled mackerel that's crispy on the outside and moist inside thanks to the wood-fired oven.

I'd been so curious about this grilled mackerel ever since watching Lee Young-ja and Park Se-ri rave over it on the show Nam-gyeoseo Mwohage ("What's the point of leftovers")!

Grilling it in the wood-fired oven really does give it a crispy outside without burning the inside — it's well cooked through. It's great wrapped with rice in the accompanying wrap greens, and even eaten on its own the mackerel isn't over-seasoned, so it tastes light and nutty.

The pork has a gochujang (red pepper paste) pork feel, but the wood-fired grilling gives it a smoky char, and the sauce is seriously good with rice.

The meat wasn't tough at all — it was tender, so even though I'd already had pork for lunch and worried a bit, I ended up enjoying it a lot.

A self-serve bar that includes dessert

The self-serve bar had shine muscat grapes and nurungji (scorched rice snack), so we got to enjoy dessert too.

Grilling fish at home means dealing with the hassle of getting rid of the smell afterward, so it's not something you can easily do casually — but at Hwadeogeuro Gan, you can enjoy a good-value, mess-free grilled fish set meal. If you're looking for a wood-fired fish grill restaurant near Jeju Airport, come try the smoky grilled fish at the Iho Tewoo branch of Hwadeogeuro Gan.

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Jeju Iho Tewoo Branch: hours, address, parking

• Address: 106 Tewoo Haean-ro, 1st floor, Jeju-si, Jeju-do
• Hours: 10:00–22:00 (10:00–20:00 during Chuseok holiday)
• Closed: Wednesdays