Whole grilled mackerel from a Master Chef's open kitchen: Min Cook

For weekend lunch today I wanted something clean and simple, so I went looking for good restaurants around Hwajeong Station and found an amazing!!!!! grilled fish place haha

It's called Min Cook Misoyaki (민쿡 미소야끼), and it looks like it's run by the same people as the famous Min Cook Dasima near Hwajeong Station? It felt like I hadn't had properly grilled fish in a long time, so I was pretty happy. Let me write up a review~!

Location and hours of Min Cook Misoyaki

• Location: 256m from Hwajeong Station Exit 1
• Parking: Not available
• Hours: Mon–Sat (closed Sundays) 11:00–21:00
• Break time 15:00–16:00 / Last order 14:30, 20:30
• Signature menu: grilled fish (mackerel, sablefish, etc.), rice bowls (salmon bowl, tuna bowl, etc.)

The 'Master Chef of Korea' sign out front

Grilled fish that's still good even cold... I have to admit it!

Right out front, boldly displayed... Master Chef of Korea. Seeing this really made me trust the place. Am I really allowed to try a master chef's food this easily?

Bar-style seating and interior atmosphere

The building sits on the first floor of the Min Cook Dasima building near Hwajeong Station! I visited around 1pm on a Saturday. Some people had already finished eating, and others were still eating~

Since it's a Japanese-style restaurant, the interior is set up bar-style with a few seats arranged around it. And in the middle of it all, the head chef (?) wearing a headband totally nailed the restaurant's concept hahaha

There's soy sauce set out in front to go with the fish!

Knives are displayed on the wall next to the entrance. This too must be the master chef's pride.

A cute little detail with the light bulbs.

Menu and how to order

The menu is posted right outside the restaurant~ Most of it is grilled fish and fish rice bowls. Fish dishes are so hard to get right... at home it always ends up smelling so fishy. Since this is a master chef's restaurant, I was curious what would be different! Prices are in the mid to high ₩10,000s!

Order by QR code! Pay after you're done eating!

We ordered

• Extra-large whole miso-grilled mackerel
• Raw salmon rice bowl

(You can also order the grilled fish as a half portion!)

Basic side dishes: salad and pre-meal porridge

These are the standard side dishes that come with grilled fish. You get a salad and a pre-meal porridge together. The salad comes with what looks like a radish dressing, and the porridge feels like a light egg porridge!

Extra-large miso-grilled mackerel from the open-kitchen oven

Our fish, cooking away in the big oven. Thanks to the open kitchen, I could watch the whole cooking process right in front of me! The kitchen looked really clean too haha

Wow~ I was impressed by the fish's color the moment I saw it. It's grilled with miso, and maybe that's why it looked even more appetizing? And a whole fish... definitely filling.

Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze the lemon. They give you lemon to squeeze on for something this simple~ up to your taste ^^

How was the raw salmon rice bowl (sake-don)?

Next up, the raw salmon rice bowl (sake-don). Such a lovely color, so appetizing. How could you not eat this???

I tried it and... it's really soft and just melts in your mouth! Overall the fish had zero fishy smell and great quality!! (Apparently both the mackerel and the salmon are from Norway, and they say it's tastier than domestic fish...)

Oil glistening all over.

Emeeeeeeergency!!!!!!!!! A rice thief has appeared. I finished all my rice. Empty bowl!!! Such a good meal ㅜㅜ

Once again, Master Chef... thank you for the meal...

Grilled fish near Hwajeong Station — would I go back?

I've shared my review of Min Cook Misoyaki, and you might think it's just an ordinary grilled fish restaurant, but honestly once you try it, the quality is good enough to make you feel like you had a really good meal. Other customers were having shrimp tempura alongside their meal, so I do want to try that next time haha

Crispy on the outside, pale and tender on the inside, and the mackerel flesh was nice and plump. Thanks again for the great meal!!