Clay-oven hairtail dinner in Sintanjin, Daejeon: Hwadeogeuro Gan

I went with my kid to try the grilled hairtail at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo, a well-known spot in Sintanjin, Daejeon. This is a record of trying the 500℃ clay-oven grilled fish, the varied self-bar, and even the bibimbap corner in person.

What is dinner with a child like at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch?

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch is a clay-oven grilled fish restaurant at 490 Sintanjin-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon. It's open 10:00–21:00 and has a large parking lot right in front. There's also a baby chair, so it wasn't hard to find seating even with a young child in tow.

When eating out with a kid in Daejeon, I tend to pay as much attention to how varied the side dishes are as to the menu itself. Since my child is still young, I look for places with familiar things like fish and rice, so this time I went to Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch. As the name suggests, this place grills its fish in a clay oven. Above all, the barley gulbi and hairtail I tried that day were so much bigger than expected that I couldn't help taking pictures.

The 500℃ clay oven right by the entrance

Walking further into the restaurant, a large clay oven sat off to one side. There was a separate space set up for grilling the fish, and the whole restaurant had a clean, neatly arranged wood-tone atmosphere.

Wooden partitions between the tables kept us reasonably separated from neighboring seats, and it wasn't too uncomfortable sitting there and eating with a kid.

Self-bar banchan and the bibimbap corner

At Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch, side dishes are self-serve — you take as much as you need from the self-bar. There were several kinds of Korean banchan (side dishes) ready to go, from seasoned vegetables to kimchi, seasoned dishes, salads, and pancakes.

After sitting down, the first thing I checked out was the self-bar.

What especially caught my eye was the bibimbap corner. Bibimbap bowls and several seasoned vegetables were set out, so you could pile rice with whatever vegetables you liked and mix it up yourself.

That day, I actually brought over small portions of spinach namul, bean sprouts, and spicy radish salad — all good with rice. Being able to add all these side dishes rather than just eating the grilled fish alone made for a much more varied meal.

This kind of setup is quietly convenient when eating with a kid. Adults can pair the fish with vegetables, while kids can pick out rice or familiar side dishes to eat.

How big is the clay-oven grilled hairtail?

What we ordered that day was clay-oven grilled hairtail and barley gulbi. The moment the fish arrived, my first thought was, that's way bigger than I expected. The hairtail alone nearly filled a whole plate, and the barley gulbi also had generous, meaty portions — plenty even for one person.

The hairtail's skin especially caught my eye first. Grilled in the clay oven, the surface had browned nicely, and up close the skin was crisply cooked. Splitting the flesh with chopsticks showed it wasn't just large on the outside — the meat inside was thick, too. The skin had a savory grilled flavor first, and the flesh, rather than being dry, was moist and tender. The hairtail's characteristic clean-yet-oily savoriness made it great to put on top of rice. The seasoning was also mild enough to eat with rice without feeling heavy, so I ended up eating mostly just fish and rice rather than reaching for a lot of extra side dishes.

Barley gulbi tastes best eaten with rice

The barley gulbi was also quite sizable. If you were picturing one small dried corvina, the size alone would be a surprise. The flesh was fairly thick, so there was fun in picking it apart with chopsticks.

The barley gulbi had a saltier, deeper umami flavor than the hairtail. With its characteristic aged-fish aroma and savory taste, it went much better eaten with rice than on its own. Eating it alongside the green tea that came with it kept it from feeling too salty, which was nice.

Putting a bite of the barley gulbi's flesh over warm rice, the saltiness mixed with the plainness of the rice and balanced out naturally. Adding a little of the vegetables or kimchi I'd brought over as side dishes made for a pretty satisfying meal. And that day, my kid also ate fish and rice together. Since the fish was so large, it was easy to set aside enough flesh for the adults and still have separate portions ready for the kid.

Eating dinner together with a young child

What was great about this visit was that eating with a kid wasn't difficult at all. We visited with a young child, and a baby chair was available, so I could sit the kid down and eat comfortably.

My older kid also sat separately and ate on their own. Looking at the photos, you can see the traces of a plate filled with fish and rice from that day. Being able to pair the grilled fish that kids love with a variety of seasoned vegetable side dishes made mealtime enjoyable. (Ate the stir-fried potatoes and seasoned bean sprouts happily.)

To finish the meal, sungnyung (scorched rice tea) was also brought out. It was a nice, savory way to end after eating rice. Rather than the meal ending with just grilled fish and rice, being able to complete the meal according to your own taste — from side dishes to bibimbap to sungnyung — felt like the defining feature of this place.

Verdict after eating at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch

The hairtail I ate that day was, above all, memorable for its size. The skin, grilled in the clay oven, was browned nicely, and picking apart the flesh showed it was tender inside — good for eating with rice. On top of that, being able to grab extra vegetables and side dishes from the self-bar made for a fairly varied meal overall. Especially when eating out with a kid, it can be awkward when there's only one menu item to feed them, so having rice and a range of side dishes available was genuinely convenient in practice.