Hagye-dong eel restaurant in Seoul: 104,000 won family set, Cheonsanga

We were looking for somewhere to have a family dinner around Hagae and ended up at Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch! Grilling eel takes a while and needs constant attention so it doesn't burn, so I prefer places where staff grill it for you — and here, the staff grilled the eel from start to finish until it was ready to eat, so we could just relax and enjoy it.

There were three of us, so we ordered the basic 3-person set, large, 3 eels. It's not just eel — you also get stone-bowl sushi, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), deodeok pickle, and rice-scorch tea, so it made for a really filling family meal haha.

Where is Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch, and what are its hours?

Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch is located at 1F #102, 67 Hangeulbiseok-ro 1-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul, and is open daily from 11:30 to 22:00. Last order is at 21:10.

• Address: 1F #102, 67 Hangeulbiseok-ro 1-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Sun 11:30 – 22:00
• Last order: 21:10
• Other: Group seating available / reservations / takeout / Wi-Fi / high chairs / free parking in front of the restaurant

By the way, Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch reportedly runs with no break time on weekends and holidays. The location was great too — it's about 600m from Hagae Station Exit 2 and close to the back of Jungnye Homeplus. There's parking right in front, which was convenient for driving over as a family like we did.

Inside Cheonsanga Jangeoga: the dining room and self-service corner

From the outside, Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch already had that clean, Korean-restaurant feel, and the inside was done up in an overall wood tone!

There were quite a lot of tables, stretching all the way to the back, so it looked good not just for family dinners but for larger groups too. Each table had its own ventilation system, and the grilling area was fairly spacious. Since staff manage the grilling instead of you doing it yourself, you don't have to keep watching the grill the whole meal, which was especially convenient~

There was also a self-service corner on one side. As you can see in the photo, various vegetables like lettuce and perilla leaves were laid out, so you could grab as much as you wanted if you ran low. I like wrapping all sorts of things with vegetables when eating eel, so it was nice to be able to grab extras throughout the meal haha.

What comes in the 104,000 won 3-person set with 3 large eels

We ordered the basic 3-person set, large, 3 eels for ₩104,000. Here's what came with it.

• 3 large eels
• Stone-bowl sushi
• Doenjang jjigae
• Choice of oyster jeotgal or deodeok pickle
• 1 serving of rice-scorch tea

We chose deodeok pickle instead of the oyster jeotgal.

After ordering, they first set out the basic side dishes and wrap vegetables, then put the eel on the grill. When the eel first arrived, it was quite large and thick, looking really appetizing~

Freshwater eel grilled at your table by the staff

Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch reportedly uses domestic Japonica freshwater eel. They laid it out lengthwise over the charcoal and the staff grilled it, flipping it themselves. At first the eel is cooked stretched out whole, and once it's cooked enough, they cut it into bite-sized pieces one by one.

Once cut up, there was quite a lot of it, and watching the eel turn golden brown over the charcoal made me want to dig in right away haha. As you can see in the photo, the surface of the eel turned glossy golden brown while the flesh inside stayed white and plump.

Eel can easily end up burnt on the outside or dry inside if it's not grilled well, but the staff kept flipping and cutting it while watching its condition. Right before serving, they cut it into bite-sized pieces standing up and grilled the sides evenly too, so the outside was slightly crispy while the inside stayed soft!

There was no off-putting fishy smell, and the flesh was plump enough that it wasn't dry when chewed. It's delicious on its own, but eel is always more fun eaten with different things, right? Haha.

I ate some just dipped lightly in salt to taste the eel plain, and sometimes topped it with shredded ginger or onion, or wrapped it with side dishes in lettuce and perilla leaves. Pairing the eel with ginger or deodeok pickle like in the photo helped cut through the richness in between bites, which made it easy to keep eating.

Deodeok pickle instead of oyster jeotgal: the most memorable side

And surprisingly, what turned out to be really delicious that day was the deodeok pickle. With the basic set, you can choose between oyster jeotgal and deodeok pickle, and we picked the deodeok pickle. Since it's a side dish, I didn't expect much, but the seasoning had soaked in well and the deodeok's distinctive texture and aroma really came through — it was genuinely delicious!!

Not just me but my family also enjoyed it, and putting a bit of deodeok pickle on a piece of eel made for a great combo. As shown in the photo, it was delicious wrapped with lettuce or perilla leaves along with the eel, and it was also good just eaten on its own like a regular side dish — I kept reaching for it haha. Of all the side dishes that day, the deodeok pickle was personally the most memorable to me.

I also put eel on lettuce or perilla leaves from the self-serve bar and combined it with ginger, onion, and pickles to my taste. The eel itself was plump, so even one piece made for a fairly hearty wrap~

As shown in the photos, wrapping eel with kimchi and shredded ginger in perilla leaves, or eel with deodeok pickle in lettuce, gave a slightly different flavor each time. Since eel is a rich, fatty food, I liked pairing it generously with vegetables like this.

The doenjang jjigae that comes with the set

The set also came with doenjang jjigae. When you eat eel continuously, you start craving warm soup, and a spoonful of doenjang jjigae in between went really well with it.

As you can see in the photo, it had tofu and vegetables in it, and the broth was fairly rich. Eating doenjang jjigae with rice in between bites of eel really made it feel like a proper meal.

Stone-bowl sushi with the grilled eel

The stone-bowl sushi served alongside was also good with the eel. Placing a well-grilled piece of eel on a small ball of rice let you enjoy it like eel sushi!

It felt much heartier with rice than eating eel alone. You can add a bit of ginger or seasoning to taste, and I also topped mine with deodeok pickle sometimes.

Finishing the meal with toasted-rice tea

Near the end of the meal, we also had rice-scorch tea. It doesn't come automatically from the start — you request it by pressing the complimentary rice-scorch button on the tabletop order screen, and it's provided once.

It comes out warm in a small bowl, and after eating a hearty meal of eel, finishing with warm rice-scorch tea felt easy on the stomach. Saving one piece of eel to eat with the rice-scorch tea worked surprisingly well too haha.

Is Cheonsanga Jangeoga worth it for a family dinner?

If you're looking for somewhere in Hagae-dong to eat with your parents, Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagae Branch was a good choice with its set meal. The staff grilled the eel from start to finish, which made things easy, and beyond the thick eel, we could also enjoy wrap vegetables, stone-bowl sushi, doenjang jjigae, deodeok pickle, and rice-scorch tea at the end — a really filling meal overall.

The eel was delicious, but honestly the deodeok pickle turned out to be surprisingly good, and I kept reaching for it haha. Eating it in between bites of eel refreshed my palate, and the combination worked really well.

The restaurant is spacious, with group seating and high chairs available, plus free parking in front, so it seemed like a good option for visiting with parents or finding a place for a family dinner. If you're looking for eel in Nowon or craving a hearty energy-boosting meal in Hagae-dong, it might be worth a visit~