Grilled fish sets near Guil Station, Gwangmyeong: Todam Hwadok

Todam Hwadok Saengseongui (토담화덕생선구이)

Walking to Todam Hwadok, a Gwangmyeong fish grill, from Guil Station

I was craving home-style Korean food lately and went looking for somewhere to go, which led me to Todam Hwadok Saengseongui! Guil Station is closer than Cheolsan, so getting off there and walking along the Anyangcheon stream wasn't a bad way to get there either.

I love grilled fish but grilling it myself at home means a lot of smell and annoying cleanup haha. So when I'm craving grilled fish, I usually just go find a good place to eat it instead.

It's up on the 3rd floor once you go up.

The interior is spacious, so it seems good for group gatherings too.

This time I was looking for good grilled fish in Gwangmyeong and ended up visiting Todam Hwadok Saengseongui. The name itself promises clay-oven grilled fish, so I went in with high expectations, and I was satisfied because it wasn't just the fish — the banchan and hotpot rice were also good overall :)

Ordering both the mackerel set and the boribulgui set

What we ordered was the mackerel set and the boribulgui (dried yellow croaker) set! Both are fish I love, so it was too hard to pick just one, and we ordered each and shared.

Clay-oven roasted sweet potato comes out as dessert

And what unexpectedly stuck with me was the clay-oven roasted sweet potato. I knew they grilled the fish in the clay oven, but they roast the sweet potato in it too! I was already full from the fish and hotpot rice, but the sweet potato was so sweet and delicious that I kept eating it anyway haha. The inside was soft and sweet, perfect for wrapping up the meal. Using the clay oven for more than just the fish gave the place its own little bit of charm.

Self-serve banchan bar: refill as much as you want

One thing I personally loved about Todam Hwadok Saengseongui was the banchan (side dishes). Good grilled fish matters, but at a Korean restaurant the banchan really has to be good too! Here, every single side dish that came out was tasty, to the point I could've eaten just banchan with rice and skipped the fish haha.

What I liked even more was that you can refill the banchan buffet-style yourself. If there was one I liked among the first round of side dishes, I could just go grab more when it ran low. No need to flag down a staff member to ask for more — I could take as much of my favorite banchan as I wanted, which was really convenient. Getting a hearty meal with a variety of side dishes rather than just the grilled fish alone makes this a solid pick for anyone looking for good Korean food in Gwangmyeong.

The nabak kimchi (watery radish kimchi) and mul kimchi (water kimchi) were pure art. I kept reaching for them like I was hypnotized.

How the boribulgui set tastes: fish that keeps the rice going

The boribulgui set we also ordered was delicious! The salty, savory flavor unique to boribulgui paired with the hotpot rice meant the rice just kept disappearing haha. If mackerel is moist and nutty, boribulgui is a little saltier and makes you crave rice — the two had clearly different charms.

So if you're visiting with two or more people, I'd recommend ordering the mackerel set and the boribulgui set separately and sharing. Alternating between the two was more enjoyable than sticking to just one fish. They also gave us green tea separately to pour over the rice, which was a really nice touch.

The mackerel set: golden and crisp outside, moist inside

The mackerel set! Can you see the sheen on it? Here, they don't just grill the fish on a regular griddle — it's cooked in the clay oven, apparently. Maybe that's why the mackerel skin was so nicely golden and crisp while the flesh inside stayed moist — it was really delicious. The mackerel itself had soft flesh, and eaten with rice it was true rice-thief material... haha.

Grilled fish can easily end up too dry on the outside or dry and crumbly inside if it's not cooked right, but the clay-oven cooking here gave it a good texture both outside and in. If you've been looking for good grilled fish in Cheolsan and you like mackerel, this is worth trying.

Hotpot rice instead of a plain bowl of rice

The rice also won me over! Instead of plain steamed rice, it comes as hotpot rice, and the rice itself was genuinely delicious. Freshly cooked, steaming hotpot rice topped with a piece of clay-oven grilled mackerel is a combination that's hard to mess up... haha. The salty boribulgui also paired really well with the warm hotpot rice.

I'm the type who loves a restaurant with good rice, and here it wasn't just the fish that was good — the rice and banchan fit together well as a whole, which made it even more satisfying. The cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) was also deep and rich, and it went really well with everything.

Is Todam Hwadok worth a visit in Gwangmyeong?

Both the mackerel set and the boribulgui set I tried this time were satisfying, and above all, the fish grilled in the clay oven was delicious. On top of that, the tasty banchan comes buffet-style so you can take as much as you want, and the rice comes as hotpot rice, so I left having had a really hearty meal. And that sweet clay-oven sweet potato at the end — total satisfaction!

If you're craving grilled fish and looking for a good spot in Gwangmyeong, or looking for Korean food in Gwangmyeong with lots of home-style side dishes, this should suit you well. Especially if you're after good grilled fish near Cheolsan, the mackerel set or boribulgui set are both worth trying :) From the fish to the hotpot rice, banchan, and even the sweet potato, everything was so good that I'd want to come back to Todam Hwadok Saengseongui next time I'm craving grilled fish!