Sea-view eel lunch with 10% discount in Gwangyang: Deokeun Jangeo

Hi everyone~ it's Harper. Hey there!

Maybe it's the changing weather, but my energy's been totally bottoming out lately. When that happens, you know what I crave? A proper bowl of boyangsik (Korean health-boosting food). My mom also said she wanted to recharge, so we headed to 'Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch,' a place that's had great word of mouth in Jungma-dong for a while now.

Spoiler alert: this place was so good that even I, someone who doesn't usually eat eel much, couldn't put my chopsticks down! The wide-open sea view, the wild lunch discount, and eel that was fresh through and through... I was so satisfied I knew I had to write it all up in detail on the blog.

Hours and What We Paid

• Opens at 11:00 AM
• Closes at 9:30 PM
• Break time 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• No break time on weekends and holidays‼️
• ✔️938g of eel, ₩55,720 (paid ₩50,150 with the 10% lunch discount)
• ✔️Table setting fee: ₩4,000 per adult

🅿️ Even a Rookie Driver Would Be Impressed by This Parking Lot

The first thing that impressed me the moment we arrived was, without a doubt, the parking lot. If you're not the most confident driver, or you're traveling as a family, tight parking can stress you out before you even walk in the door.

Here, the entire ground floor of the building is an open piloti structure, plus there's a huge dedicated outdoor lot on top of that. All my parking worries melted away, and I pulled in with total peace of mind before heading to the entrance.

🐟 The First-Floor Market System & a Fantastic Lunch Discount Tip!

Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch runs on a butcher-shop-style system where you pick out your eel yourself at the first-floor market, then head up to the second floor to grill it.

Walking into the first floor, I saw carefully prepared eel neatly packaged and displayed. Each pack had the exact weight and price tag attached, which really built trust — I could check the quality with my own eyes and choose according to my budget 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

And here's the tip you absolutely need to remember: the 10% lunch discount!

We picked a plump 938g eel since it was two adults eating generously. It was originally ₩55,720, but with the 10% lunch discount, we ended up paying just ₩50,150!

Getting such a substantial eel for around 50,000 won felt like a win right from the start. Hehe haha

From actually eating it, I'd say around 350g per adult is a good, satisfying, filling amount.

Besides grilling eel, the market also sells eel extract, eel soup, eel tteokgalbi (eel patties), and wild garlic leaves. Great to grab as gifts or to take home after your meal, haha.

After paying on the first floor, we waited a bit and then were guided up to the second-floor dining room.

🌊 The Second-Floor Dining Room With a View of Yi Sun-sin Bridge

The moment we got up to the second floor, I was floored again by the sheer size of the place.

Even though the place is really spacious and comfortable, it was already buzzing with customers, true to its reputation as a Gwangyang favorite.

On one side there's a nicely set up private room too, which seemed perfect for a parents' 60th birthday gathering, a family meal out, or a company dinner.

And above all, the view through the windows was just a work of art!

Through the full-length windows, you get the cool blue Gwangyang sea, the majestic Yi Sun-sin Bridge, and even a view of POSCO all at once... Being able to grill eel while gazing out at an actual sea view like that felt like such a luxury, I couldn't help but be amazed. Somehow the view alone makes the food taste twice as good.

Every table had a tablet for ordering, which was really convenient. The table setting fee on the second floor is ₩4,000 per adult, and while we focused purely on the grilled eel itself, the tablet also lets you easily order eel soup, eel tteokgalbi, cold noodles (mul-naengmyeon or bibim-naengmyeon), flying fish roe rice balls, and scorched rice soup, among other dishes.

On the table, they'd thoughtfully set out paper cups, soju glasses, beer glasses, wet wipes, pink salt, and teriyaki eel sauce.

The aprons were disposable, which felt hygienic, and there were high chairs well placed for babies, so families with young kids should be able to eat comfortably too.

🥬 Charcoal Firepower and a Self-Serve Bar Bursting With Freshness

Finally the charcoal arrived, and wow... my jaw dropped at the size and amount of the coal. Out of every eel restaurant I've been to, I've never seen a place pile on such big chunks of charcoal so generously. With that much firepower, you could feel the heat radiating off the grill, and the eel cooked in no time at all‼️‼️‼️ Grilling eel at home means grease splattering everywhere and a whole hassle, but grilling over strong charcoal that renders out the fat like this made my mouth water just watching.

The basic side dishes were neatly set: lettuce for wraps, pickled onion, pickled perilla leaves, wild garlic leaves, kimchi, and pickled radish.

And the self-serve bar set up on one side of the restaurant was truly the real deal. These days vegetable prices are through the roof, so at plenty of places you feel awkward asking for more lettuce or wild garlic leaves — but here, every single vegetable looked like it had just been picked from the field! My mom really loves wild garlic leaves and lettuce wraps, and thanks to the neatly maintained self-serve bar, she got to help herself as much as she wanted without any hesitation.

💡 Foolproof Tips for Grilling Eel Perfectly

I tried grilling following the eel-grilling tips posted on the table.

• Cut the long eel in half with scissors, then place it skin-side down on the charcoal first.
• Grill the skin side for about 30 seconds, then lift it slightly with tongs so it doesn't stick to the grill.
• Sprinkle on an appropriate amount of the pink salt provided on the table.
• Once the skin turns golden, flip it over and grill the white flesh side until golden too.

Once both sides are cooked, cut it into bite-sized pieces, stand them up in a row, and grill the cut edges evenly too — and it's done!

😋 The Ultimate Crispy-Outside, Juicy-Inside: Thick-Fleshed Yeongam Japonica Freshwater Eel

The moment I put a piece of the golden-grilled eel in my mouth... ah, I couldn't help but sigh in amazement!

Turns out this restaurant directly runs its own Japonica-species freshwater eel farm in Yeongam County, Jeollanam-do, so they get supplied with fresh eel right away. Maybe that's why the flesh was so thick and substantial, with real bite to it. The savory flavor unique to freshwater eel combined with just the right amount of fat showed off the essence of 'crispy outside, tender inside.' I don't usually enjoy eating eel much because of tiny bones, but the prep here was so meticulous and thorough that I didn't hit a single bone — I was genuinely touched.

It's delicious dipped straight into the special teriyaki sauce with a bit of sharp shredded ginger on top,

and wrapped in fresh wild garlic leaves or pickled onion, all the greasiness disappears and only the savory umami flavor bursts through. My mom, who's pretty picky, kept eating and saying, 'This place's eel is really, really good' — and seeing her enjoy it that much made me feel like taking her here was 200% worth it.

☕ Perfectly Friendly Service and a Café-Like Finish

After finishing our meal full and content, enjoying the sea view out the window, the staff thoughtfully removed the charcoal first and refilled napkins without us even asking, which kept my mood great right to the end. On the way out, we finished things off cleanly with a cup of coffee — the perfect ending to a weekend lunch!

• 🔸A huge parking lot
• 🔸A jaw-dropping sea view of Yi Sun-sin Bridge
• 🔸An honest 10% lunch discount
• 🔸And top-quality Japonica freshwater eel on top of it all!

If you're looking for a boyangsik restaurant in Jungma-dong, Gwangyang to take your parents to, or a foolproof family dining spot, I genuinely recommend 'Deokeun Jangeo Gwangyang Branch' with confidence. I'm already planning to come back with my mom the next time my energy runs low, haha.