Bucheon grilled eel near Sangdong Station: Gochang Pungcheon Eel

Maybe I’ve been running low on energy lately, because I’d been craving eel for days~ haha. So, to recharge my stamina and enjoy a nice drink too, I visited Gochang Pungcheon Eel (고창풍천장어), a great grilled-eel spot near Sangdong Station.

Gochang Pungcheon Eel, close to Sangdong Station

Gochang Pungcheon Eel has carried on its reputation as a Bucheon eel restaurant near Sangdong Station for two generations, since 2003. It is a three-minute walk from exits 7 and 8 of Sangdong Station on Subway Line 7, on the road behind Save Zone and on the first floor of Gukcheon Building.

Parking is free for two hours in the building garage on floors 2 through 5.

It has been around for a long time, but a recent remodel has made the interior very neat, with a comfortable atmosphere for dinner and drinks. I visited after making a reservation on a weekday evening, and there were so many guests that not a single indoor table was open. There are outdoor terrace tables too.

This is also a Sangdong Station restaurant with private rooms for up to 10 people, making it easy for gatherings and company dinners. The entire venue can be rented for groups of 30 or more.

Side dishes and a salt-grilled eel order

We made a Naver reservation before visiting. We were shown to a table neatly set with banchan (Korean side dishes), including pickled perilla leaves, green-onion kimchi, aged kimchi, ginger, pickled radish wraps, fried eel bones, chili peppers, garlic, wrap vegetables, ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), and sauce.

Here is the Gochang Pungcheon Eel menu. You can order eel grilled with salt, gochujang (red chili paste), or soy sauce, plus sides such as eel soup, eel pot rice, doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), and cold noodles. We ordered two servings of salt-grilled eel and soju.

First, a porridge appetizer arrived after we ordered.

Freshly dressed chive salad and steamed egg also came out.

For grilling the eel deliciously and adding fragrance, they use top-grade binchotan charcoal.

Plump freshwater eel grilled for you from start to finish

Two servings of salt-grilled eel, at ₩35,000 each, arrived. For Gochang Pungcheon Eel’s two-serving order, you get two plump, par-grilled freshwater eels, each with about 300–310g net weight after cleaning.

A staff member showed us the whole eels we had ordered, then took them back to cut them into easy-to-eat pieces and grill them over charcoal. They grill everything through to the end, so you can just wait comfortably.

Once the eel hit the grill, it became a generous full spread of grilled eel at Gochang Pungcheon Eel.

They cooked it to just the right doneness for great texture and flavor. Eel really is best when a professional grills it.

They handed us the fully cooked tail first to try, and unlike at other eel places, even the tail was wonderfully plump and meaty~

Dipped in sauce and eaten with ginger, it was crisp on the outside and moist and tender within—so good~

They moved the fully cooked body pieces to one side of the grill so they would not burn; you can grill them longer if you prefer. The body was thick too, absolutely packed with flesh.

Eating it in all sorts of combinations with the side dishes was insanely delicious~ One piece of eel, one drink—the soju went down very, very easily, haha.

I made a proper ssam (leaf wrap) and took a big mouthful. I also loved that there was such a variety of wrap vegetables.

Eel soup with a Naver reservation

Then came the eel soup included through the Naver reservation service. There are coupons available when you reserve through Naver, so I recommend making a reservation before you go if possible~

Gochang Pungcheon Eel’s eel soup was wonderfully rich, savory, and full of umami. It would be so good with a bowl of rice mixed in and topped with green-onion kimchi, but we had a second stop planned, so I held back, hehe.

It had been a while since I properly recharged with delicious grilled eel and eel soup—and finished off a good round of drinks.

At Gochang Pungcheon Eel, a Bucheon Sangdong grilled-eel restaurant, you can enjoy plump, high-quality premium Japanese eel grilled over charcoal with tableside grilling service in a clean atmosphere. With private rooms and full-venue rental available, I recommend it for Sangdong Station gatherings and company dinners.