Bucheon eel restaurant for hosting guests: Gochang Pungcheon Eel

What is Gochang Pungcheon Eel near Sangdong Station in Bucheon?

Gochang Pungcheon Eel (고창풍천장어) is an eel grill restaurant near Sangdong Station in Bucheon that has been open since 2003. For its 20th anniversary, they tore everything out and remodeled. I heard it was a good place to bring a guest, with nice interiors, a grilling service and tasty food at a low price, so I went to see for myself.

The interior is so classy and clean that I wondered if this was a brand-new eel spot near Sangdong Station... but no, it has been running since 2003 and just remodeled for the 20th anniversary. After more than 20 years in business, I had no doubts about the taste or the service.

There are outdoor seats too. The chairs, the lighting and the rest of the interior look so upscale.

Reserved-seat service and seating at Gochang Pungcheon Eel

I reserved ahead, and when we arrived there was a card with our name and a message on the reserved seat. I couldn't help but be touched that they take care of even small things like this. It seems like a great place to bring an honored guest.

The inside has private rooms and 4-person tables, so company dinners and family gatherings in Bucheon looked completely doable. (There were indeed a lot of families and groups of friends.)

Gochang Pungcheon Eel menu and prices

Grilled eel at Gochang Pungcheon Eel is ₩35,000 per portion (300–310g). Looking at the fancy menu on the table, there is more than grilled eel: eel rice bowl, eel soup, cold noodles, bibim guksu (spicy mixed noodles), nurungji-tang (scorched rice soup), pot rice and more.

They say they use only selected premium Japonica freshwater eel raised for 20 months or less, and serve the grilled eel over binchotan charcoal made at 1,200 degrees. These days even pork belly runs about ₩15,000–18,000 per portion (150–180g), so is it for real that this eel is ₩35,000 for 300–310g?

I wanted to try a bit of everything, so I ordered salt-grilled eel, eel soup and eel pot rice. The attention to detail here was amazing. Even the spoons and chopsticks come individually wrapped.

Included fried eel bones and side dishes

Fried eel bones come as a default at Gochang Pungcheon Eel. They were crunchy and nutty, great for getting your appetite going. After we ordered, the basic side dishes and sauce came out, along with ginger, which you can't skip with grilled eel.

The sauce wasn't too salty and had real depth, and wow!! This green onion kimchi. They said it's made with Jindo green onions, and the seasoning was great and it was fermented just enough that I didn't miss regular kimchi at all. I refilled it several times, but that's a secret. haha

Perilla leaf doenjang (soybean paste) salad, delicious wrapped around eel

Pickled perilla leaves, a perfect match for eel

And white kimchi that tidies up the flavor of the eel!! With sides this neat, they also brought lettuce wraps and seasoned garlic chives.

The garlic chive salad wasn't too sweet or too sour, so it was tasty without getting in the way of the eel.

Oh!! I almost forgot the eel porridge served before the meal. It was my first time having eel porridge, and it tasted of eel without being fishy, and it was so soft and delicious. It disappeared in a flash.

Is the salt-grilled eel cooked for you with the grilling service?

Yes, Gochang Pungcheon Eel gives the eel a first light grilling in the kitchen, and then a staff member finishes it over charcoal at your table as a grilling service. Finally!! The eel we'd been waiting for came out, big and plump and looking so delicious.

The first grilling was just right!! No wonder they've kept the place going for over 20 years. Then the charcoal came in... can you see it? You can tell at a glance that it's good charcoal, not ordinary barbecue-restaurant charcoal. And with the grilling service, an expert grills this precious eel to perfection.

While the tasty salt-grilled eel was cooking, another staff member brought steamed egg, which is also included by default... Eel at ₩35,000 with a classy interior, good eel, a grilling service, AND steamed egg? Boss, is it okay to be this generous? The steamed egg was soft and not salty, so delicious there's no need to say more.

The salt-grilled eel is cooking up so nicely.

The tail came out and I ate it before I could even take a photo. First I put ginger in the basic sauce and ate the tail. Wow!! Crispy outside, moist inside, the eel meat was so clean-tasting and delicious.

Even while I was eating the tail, the eel kept grilling away.

With a grilling service this perfect, what more is there to explain? If you're hopeless at grilling eel (like me, clumsy hands!), go book Gochang Pungcheon Eel right now! haha

Getting ready to eat the eel they grilled so nicely for us.

Side dish combinations that go well with salt-grilled eel

This time I try the eel with the perilla leaf doenjang salad. How can a side dish go so well with eel? Eel is delicious on its own, but paired with tasty sides the flavor doubles.

Delicious with perilla leaf,

delicious with white kimchi too... there's not a weak spot in this lineup. Eat the eel, then finish with a bite of green onion kimchi!! It can't possibly taste bad.

Since every side dish goes so well with eel, refills are a must. Don't worry if you run short, because you can help yourself at the self-service bar without any pressure.

What does the eel soup at Gochang Pungcheon Eel taste like?

The eel soup at Gochang Pungcheon Eel is said to be simmered for 12 hours, and it wasn't harsh like chueo-tang (loach soup); the broth was clean. It arrived while we were enjoying the salt-grilled eel.

It was my first time trying eel soup, and I wondered if it would taste like chueo-tang (loach soup)... but it isn't harsh like that. The broth is clean, packed with perilla leaves and dried radish greens, so it tastes mild and nutty. It goes so well with the salt-grilled eel. I'd absolutely recommend the eel soup here too.

Eel pot rice: wrap it in seaweed with wasabi

The eel pot rice at Gochang Pungcheon Eel comes with seaweed and wasabi, and they told us it's tasty if you wrap it in the seaweed and add a little wasabi. I hadn't tried it before, so I was even more excited.

I opened the eel pot rice full of anticipation... what is this sight? It's full of eel! Is it okay to be this generous? When I carefully lifted away all that eel, I could see rice nicely coated in the sauce underneath.

First I scooped out some eel and rice to taste. I worried it might be a bit salty, but that was needless. The seasoning wasn't salty or harsh, with a refined sweet-salty flavor. The rice was sticky and chewy, and the eel melted in my mouth.

Salt-grilled eel, eel soup and eel pot rice, every single one delicious. Boss, is that allowed? Now I eat it the way the boss recommended. Rice on the seaweed, eel on top, finished with wasabi!! The taste is heavenly. haha It was my first time having eel pot rice and it's so good.

Is Gochang Pungcheon Eel near Sangdong Station worth going back to?

We were so happy with the interior, service and food that as we paid and left we said to each other, "Let's come again next time!!" heh As for my verdict, a photo of our emptied table says it all. hahaha We really wiped the table out.

Gochang Pungcheon Eel is a second-generation eel restaurant!! If you're eating eel in Bucheon, I absolutely recommend this eel restaurant near Sangdong Station, with an interior, service and taste that are all spot on. Before the real summer heat arrives, recharge your energy with eel at Gochang Pungcheon Eel!!