New Bongdam hanjeongsik restaurant with 17 side dishes: Hwadamga

Today I went to Bongdam, which honestly isn't somewhere I visit often! I was looking around for good restaurants nearby and stumbled onto a really delicious hanjeongsik (Korean set-meal) place 👀 It's only been open for less than two months — a brand-new, still-warm restaurant called Hwadamga. Here's my review!😀

Where is Hwadamga, and is there parking?

📍 Hwadamga is in a standalone building, 100m past Wau Middle School and Wau High School in Bongdam!

🅿️ Since it's a standalone building, there's plenty of parking space ready!

Inside Hwadamga: tables and the private room

With wood tones and plant decor, it has an antique feel, but since it just opened, the interior is very clean. Most of the seating is 4-person tables with high partitions, so it seemed great for eating privately!

If you want even more privacy, I'd also recommend using the room. Since it seats 6, it seemed good for families.

What's on the 17-item self-serve side dish bar?

Hwadamga's salad bar has 15 side dishes, plus japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and meat patties in the back, for 17 total. When you order a set, all the sides are self-serve.

I genuinely almost fell over when I saw the salad bar‼️ 15 different side dishes 🫢 And that's not even counting the japchae and meat patties in the back, which brings it to a full 17 sides! At this point, isn't this basically a Korean buffet? I only took what I could actually eat, since taking everything would've left me stuffed with leftovers!

And if you're eating grilled meat, you'll need the lettuce wraps too — they're kept fresh in the fridge!

What we ordered at Hwadamga and what it cost

A lot of the other customers were eating meat, but we wanted a proper, well-put-together set meal!

• Wood-fired mackerel set … ₩16,000
• Wood-fired atka mackerel set … ₩20,000
• Charcoal-grilled pork set … ₩16,000
• Sujanghyangmi hotpot rice … ₩2,000

Barley rice comes standard, and you can add hotpot rice if you'd like to switch!

When the food came out, the table was completely full~~ Now this is a real feast✨

When you order a set, you have to bring all the side dishes yourself! There was even sesame oil, so mixing the barley rice with various namul (seasoned vegetables) and a drizzle of sesame oil for bibimbap would've been delicious too 👍 But there was so much to eat, so let's start with the fish!

Wood-fired mackerel set, 16,000 won

I feel like I've been eating a lot of grilled fish lately, but this wood-fired mackerel was no joke! Mackerel is known for being fatty~~ and it was so rich and savory!!

Wood-fired atka mackerel set, 20,000 won

Atka mackerel with its clean, mild flavor is a classic in fish set meals and also one of my favorites ㅠ It was grilled cleanly with lots of flesh, and it all went straight into my mouth hahaha

Flame-grilled pork set, 16,000 won

Can't skip the grilled pork!! With grilled pork, you can basically finish a whole bowl no problem. The taste is great, but eaten with the side dishes, it really disappears fast 🥄

Suhyangmi hotpot rice, a 2,000-won add-on

Barley rice comes standard, but I added one order of hotpot rice because I wanted that crispy scorched rice. They cook it with sujanghyangmi rice in particular, and the grains stay nice and firm~~ Pouring hot water over the warm hotpot rice makes it so savory, there's nothing like it haha

Doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew)

This doenjang jjigae has shiitake mushrooms in it, so there's a lingering shiitake aroma at the finish!

Miyeokguk (seaweed soup)

The miyeokguk is also available at the self-serve bar, and you really must try it!! 😋✨ It was so good! I think I refilled it twice haha

Dessert drinks and the verdict on Hwadamga

Finally, coffee, peach juice, and mango juice are all provided!! It's rare to find a place with this many side dishes, and the value for money was really great too!! It's a spot that parents would especially enjoy visiting. I really recommend it as a Bongdam restaurant!! haha