Yuseong Oncheon Station bar for charcoal-grilled hagfish: Jinppaei

Where is Jinppaei, and how far is it from Yuseong Oncheon Station?

Today's a solo drinking day in Daejeon. My trip's almost wrapping up. My accommodation was near Yuseong Oncheon Station, so I picked a spot nearby for drinks. Here's my review of Jinppaei, a hagfish restaurant in Daejeon.

Jinppaei

Open daily 18:00–02:00, closed every Sunday. Both group reservations and regular bookings are possible.

I showed up right around opening at 6pm, and by 7pm the place was already packed with no empty seats haha.

There were conger eel and hagfish right at the entrance. Jinppaei specializes in live hagfish and live conger eel, but hagfish seemed to be the more popular pick haha.

The interior was done up in a pojangmacha (street-tent bar) style. It's the kind of vibe that makes drinking taste better just by sitting there lol. In a place like this the soju just flows like water. I grabbed a seat.

Jinppaei menu and prices: hagfish, conger eel and soju

Here's the menu board at Jinppaei, a hagfish spot in Daejeon. You can order à la carte, but the set menus are popular too. They also sell pig's tail and grilled pork trotter as specialty items.

• Live hagfish, salted grill — ₩17,000 per serving
• Seasoned grill — ₩18,000 per serving
• Grilled pork trotter — ₩12,000
• Soju — 2 bottles for ₩10,000

They're also running their own review event. If you like corn cheese, it might be worth joining.

What free side dishes come with drinks at Jinppaei?

Free side dishes

The free side dishes were set out first. They look unremarkable, but every single one is built for drinking lol. Light dishes that pair perfectly with alcohol. The seasoned vegetables are great wrapped up with the hagfish.

Dried anchovies came out too — fine plain or dipped in gochujang (red chili paste). Salty and perfect as a drinking snack. And I tried sea squirt pickles for the first time lol — the sea squirt aroma fills your mouth, and one bite calls for a shot of soju.

Nice touch drinking Rin, the local Daejeon soju brand.

House soup

What's this?? I asked the owner and it turns out it's just the free house soup lol. Served boiling hot, rich and amazing. With cheongyang chili peppers and bean sprouts, it's spicy, refreshing, and clean-tasting. One bowl of this and you're good for a whole bottle of soju!!

Charcoal-grilled live hagfish: half salted, half seasoned

In goes the hagfish, still wriggling and alive. Both servings get grilled on charcoal first, then half gets seasoned afterward. Live hagfish is just the best.

Even in the photo you can tell how fresh the hagfish is, right?? The visuals are insane.

The owner prepped the hagfish himself. All I had to do was sit and wait.

Oh!! A hovenia stick

I was touched by the thoughtful gesture of handing out hovenia (oriental raisin tree) sticks to help with hangovers while drinking.

How to grill hagfish over charcoal without burning it

Grilling it inside a lunch-box tin seems to keep the hagfish from burning. Half gets taken away to be seasoned, and the rest just needs a little more time on the charcoal to finish. If you keep it too close to the coals it'll burn, so it's best cooked gently off to the side.

The seasoned version's visuals are no joke lol. You just want to shove it straight in your mouth lol.

Hagfish has this chewy yet tender texture. So savory and delicious. Eating it after a while makes it taste even better lol. Live hagfish has a seriously unbeatable texture.

Once the salted grill was nearly finished, we put the seasoned one on too. The sauce burns more easily, so keep it off to the side and check it often while grilling.

The seasoning adds a spicy, savory depth that's absolutely incredible. Personally, I'm voting for seasoned over salted lol. Genuinely so good, and the kind of flavor that calls for more soju.

Is Jinppaei's grilled pork trotter worth ordering?

Grilled pork trotter

I love pork trotter so I ordered it as a drinking snack — if you like a chewy texture, it's a decent specialty item. That said, the bones are big so the actual meat portion is on the small side; I'd honestly recommend ordering an extra serving of pig's tail or hagfish instead.

The owner was friendly too, which made the place even better. That's my review of Jinppaei, a hagfish spot in Daejeon, done. If you want to feel a bit of Busan vibes in Daejeon, Jinppaei's the place lol.