Yeouido Korean restaurant dinner: mackerel set with bossam add-on
In short
Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido is a Korean grilled fish restaurant on the basement floor of the Lotte Castle Ivy building, 408m from Saetgang Station Exit 2 in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. Dining alone at 7:30pm, the writer ordered the wood-fired grilled mackerel set for 13,500 won, added bossam (boiled pork) for 10,500 won, and helped themselves to japchae and tteokbokki at the self bar. The mackerel arrived golden with almost no bones, and the soy dipping sauce served alongside changed the flavor completely.
Good to know
- Location
- B1, Units 142–143, 86 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul (408m from Saetgang Station Exit 2, in the Lotte Castle Ivy building)
- Hours
- Daily 11:00–21:00 (last order 20:20)
- Break time
- 15:00–17:00 (no break on weekends and holidays)
- Wood-fired grill sets
- Grilled mackerel 13,500 won · Grilled pork 13,500 won · Atka mackerel 15,500 won · Spanish mackerel 16,500 won · Hairtail 19,500 won · Dried yellow croaker 20,500 won
- Spicy seasoned grills
- Spicy mackerel 15,500 won · Spicy atka mackerel 17,500 won · Spicy Spanish mackerel 18,500 won · Spicy hairtail 22,000 won
- Other specialties
- Mokpo braised black hairtail 16,500 won · Fish roe stew set 13,500 won · Handmade tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) set 12,500 won · Pork jowl bossam set 13,500 won · Gorgonzola pizza 14,900 won
- Kids' menu
- Grilled mackerel set 9,000 won · Tteokgalbi set (1 piece) 9,000 won
- Ordered that day
- Wood-fired grilled mackerel set 13,500 won + bossam add-on 10,500 won
- Self bar
- Tteokbokki, nurungji (scorched rice) and more; basic side dishes come with every set
- Price reference
- ₩500 ≈ $0.4 · ₩13,500 ≈ $9.7 · ₩10,500 ≈ $7.6 (2026-09-20)
as written by the visitor on Sep 19, 2026
I'm a self-confessed godchinja (고친자 — someone crazy about mackerel).
How much do I mean it? When my parents came up to Seoul, I took them to a mackerel restaurant. That's how obsessed I am. So this mackerel maniac ran straight to Yeouido's mackerel specialist, "Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido."
Where is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido, and when is it open?
Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido is at B1, 86 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 408m from Exit 2 of Saetgang Station. It's open daily 11:00–21:00 (last order 20:20), with a break time of 15:00–17:00, though there's no break on weekends and holidays.
I actually worked near Saetgang Station for about two years, and I'd never seen this place before — turns out it's a new spot that just opened. Why wasn't it here when I worked there... if this Korean restaurant near Saetgang Station had existed, I would've gone at least once a week.
It's on B1 of the Lotte Castle Ivy building. First things first though — I really needed the bathroom...
To find it, go down to B1 and head toward the inside past Gayang Kalguksu — that's where Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido is!
I visited at 7:30pm, and at that hour there seemed to be families out for dinner as well as groups from nearby Yeouido offices having a work dinner.
What's on the menu at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido, and how much does it cost?
Signature wood-fired grill sets: 500°C fire, crisp outside and juicy inside
- Grilled mackerel ₩13,500 · Grilled pork ₩13,500
- Atka mackerel ₩15,500 · Spanish mackerel ₩16,500
- Hairtail ₩19,500 · Dried yellow croaker ₩20,500
Spicy seasoned grills with the house sauce
- Spicy mackerel ₩15,500 · Spicy atka mackerel ₩17,500
- Spicy Spanish mackerel ₩18,500 · Spicy hairtail ₩22,000
Other specialties and the kids' menu
- Mokpo braised black hairtail ₩16,500 (whole domestic black hairtail, spicy braised)
- Fish roe stew set ₩13,500 (spicy and refreshing with freshwater shrimp)
- Handmade tteokgalbi set ₩12,500 · Pork belly bossam set ₩13,500
- Gorgonzola pizza ₩14,900 (served with honey)
- Kids' grilled mackerel set ₩9,000 · Kids' tteokgalbi set (1 piece) ₩9,000
What can you take from the self bar?
At the Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido self bar you can grab tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and nurungji (scorched rice) first — the basic side dishes are already included in the set, so no need to serve those yourself. As soon as they brought my water and mentioned the self bar, I charged straight for it!
While browsing the self bar, I asked a staff member and they confirmed the basic banchan come with the set already, so no need to plate those. But tteokbokki and nurungji are self-serve. I skipped the nurungji for now, planning to eat it after the meal.
So... modestly... I only took a small portion, just enough japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) to try.
And then my favorite — sure, I ate my fill of tteokbokki recently, but I still can't resist! To keep my blood-tteokbokki levels topped up, I grabbed some too.
As for the taste... it's like that ₩500 portion of tteokbokki they'd sell you outside school — does that land? (Man, I want to go back to school...) I watched some shorts while waiting for the food, haha.
How did the wood-fired grilled mackerel set taste?
Ta-da... my grilled mackerel set (₩13,500) and the bossam I added (₩10,500) arrived!
Looks so good..! Mr. Mackerel! Let's see that glow! Oh man, it's got it going on..!
Ms. Bossam! Show me that shine! Wow, so tender-looking!
Let's eat well~!
Wow... the mackerel is so golden-brown, there's no way this isn't delicious.
Gently... into the flesh...
The lettuce is arranged like a flower decoration, ㅇ.ㅇ
There was soy sauce, so I dipped it in — chop chop...
I heard there could be bones, so I did what my teammates roughly do...
Huh? But I barely see any bones. Let me just try it~
Wow... it's so savory. A blue-backed fish! When I was little my mom used to say, "You have to eat mackerel! Blue-backed fish are good for your brain!"... turns out she was right?
Mackerel is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, making it a representative blue-backed fish that's good for cardiovascular health and brain development.
And then I dipped it in soy sauce... huh? Wow... the soy sauce flavor... it's a mind-blowing kind of good. Dipping the mackerel in it changes the flavor by, like, 1800 degrees.
Just piling the fish flesh generously onto the rice like this... (mom, I miss you...ㅠ)
Eating the mackerel together with the rice that came with the set, I somehow ended up finishing this much...;;
Was the 10,500 won bossam add-on worth it?
Now it was time to try the next contender — the bossam!
I hold a first-class certification in bossam appraisal, you know? (Just kidding... sorry!) Usually with delivery bossam, you get those tough, hard pieces, right? (If you know, you know — anyone who's ordered a lot of bossam delivery while living alone gets it.) But this was so tender... genuinely delicious!
Honestly, if you don't wrap this in a lettuce leaf, it should be a crime... life imprisonment. So I immediately started wrapping!
Wrapping got my hands a bit wet, and just as I reached for a tissue... wow... I really appreciated that little touch of thoughtfulness.
To speed things up... I inhaled two pieces at a time...
If you cleanse your palate slightly with sliced onion, you can keep inhaling infinitely! haha
What is this soup, I wonder...?
Hmm..... (downing it in one go)
And this is basically the aftermath of... the mackerel.
Then at the register I noticed something interesting... what's this? A staff member showed me how it works — oh wow...! You swipe your hand like this, and with a zzzt, a toothpick pops out!
Who is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido best for?
It felt like I'd gone solo to Norway and grilled a whole mackerel over an open fire. Living alone, I can't really grill fish like mackerel because of the smell — but sometimes you really need real fish! You need some blue-backed fish for brain development!
If you're a Korean food lover like me, and you're looking for a great Korean restaurant for lunch in Yeouido, go for it! Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang Yeouido..!
Where it is
B1 142, 143, 86 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 영등포구 국제금융로 86 지하 1층 비 142, 143호
