Goyang Japanese restaurant for miso black cod: Min Cook Misoyaki

I visited Min Cook Misoyaki (민쿡 미소야끼), a great spot near Hwajeong Station for proper Japanese-style rice bowls and grilled fish. I heard it carries the know-how of Min Cook Dasima, which has been loved in Hwajeong for a long time, so I went in with confidence!

Min Cook Misoyaki location and hours

It is on the first floor at 37 Hwasin-ro 260beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Hours are daily from 11:00 to 21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 16:00; last orders are from 14:30 to 20:30.

Inside Min Cook Misoyaki near Hwajeong Station

Walking in, it felt compact and tidy, with mostly bar tables and tables for two.

The interior suits Japanese food so well—just the right atmosphere for a glass of sake ><!

Soy sauce was set out on the table, and ordering by QR code was easy.

Grilled fish and rice-bowl menu

Looking over the menu, there was a wide range of Japanese-style dishes, from grilled fish and rice bowls to tonkatsu (Japanese breaded pork cutlet).

You can choose a regular bowl of rice or a large one, so pick what suits you! We ordered the miso-grilled black cod and the large Wando flatfish sashimi rice bowl, choosing regular rice for both.

After ordering and waiting a little, egg porridge arrived first. Along with the salad included with the black cod, we also got pickled mustard greens and danmuji (yellow pickled radish) as sides.

The soy-sauce dish was shaped like a fish, which was so cute, and the tableware had an overall Japanese feel that went beautifully with the food. The egg porridge was hot, so let it cool a little before eating!

The pickled mustard greens got my appetite going little by little.

Miso-grilled black cod and flatfish sashimi rice bowl set

Once we had finished the porridge, the mains appeared! A neat, pretty Japanese-style spread that would suit a date spot, too.

I wanted to fit all the food in the shot, so I asked my husband to take this photo from his side: the miso-grilled black cod. It came with fish, rice, miso soup, and salad. The fish was generously sized, golden-grilled, glossy, and looked wonderfully moist.

The cute bird held a lemon—it was a lemon squeezer! We squeezed lemon over one side for freshness and decided to try the other side as-is.

The flesh flaked apart moistly with just a touch of the chopsticks, yet it was cooked so the black cod's distinctive chewy texture was still beautifully intact.

Over rice, the miso aroma came through, with a pleasantly salty flavor that was great both as a rice companion and with a glass of sake! Since the fish was rich, adding a little wasabi made the flavor really come alive. This is the kind of Hwajeong Station restaurant that makes you think, I should have chosen the larg~e rice.

The salad came with onion dressing like at Min Cook, and it was so good that even people who dislike vegetables would keep eating it! The miso soup was clean-tasting, not overpowering.

Next came the stunning Wando flatfish sashimi rice bowl! It was piled generously with Wando flatfish sashimi, including the fin, plus fresh vegetables, seaweed, flying-fish roe, radish sprouts, and more toppings. A piece of sweet rolled omelet was a thoughtful touch, too!

Before adding rice and mixing it up, I dipped the sashimi in soy sauce and ate it with rice—it was heavenly, like kaisendon (Japanese seafood rice bowl).

There was no rice underneath, only lots of vegetables, so I could eat it feeling like I was somehow being healthy. Then I added rice and chojang (sweet-and-tangy red chili sauce), gave it a good mix, and properly dug in.

A big spoonful brought together fresh sashimi and crisp vegetables so, so deliciously. Maybe because we ordered the large size, sashimi kept appearing no matter how much we ate—one or two pieces in every spoonful for a wonderfully luxurious bowl haha. The rich flavor of the flatfish fin was excellent, too.

The grilled fish came easily away from the bone, so it was easy for my husband to eat. The sashimi rice bowl had sliced garlic as its key touch, and its gentle sharpness made us keep going back for more.

To finish, we had the sweet rolled omelet~ It was soft and gently sweet, perfect for ending the meal. Misoyaki, a restaurant near Hwajeong Station, had a different atmosphere and flavor from the usual grilled-fish places I had tried (p). It is where I discovered the pairing of fish and miso. Recommended if you want a neat Japanese-style meal!

A great restaurant for sake