Hwajeong Station fish grill: pre-concert toothfish & salmon, Min Cook

Why stop at Min Cook Misoyaki in Hwajeong before a concert?

On the day of the Weekend concert, before getting off at Daehwa Station, I stopped by Min Cook Misoyaki (민쿡 미소야끼), a Japanese-style grilled fish spot at Hwajeong Station. Today is concert day!

Min Cook Misoyaki specializes in rice bowls and Japanese-style grilled fish, and I hear it's run by a master of Korean-Japanese cuisine. It carries on the know-how of Mincook Dasima (민쿡다시마), a century-shop-designated restaurant loved at Hwajeong Station for 25 years, and you can try it downstairs at Min Cook Misoyaki!

Min Cook Misoyaki opening hours and parking

Min Cook Misoyaki is open 11:00-21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 16:30. For parking, use Hwajeong E-Mart and tell the counter your car number after the meal, and they cover 1 hour. After that it's ₩1,000 per 10 minutes, and I hear you can combine it with a mart receipt.

The main menu is premium rice bowls. The signature grilled fish, a hearty meal in itself, is the textbook crispy-outside, juicy-inside!! There's a whole range of fish dishes made in different ways by the Japanese-cuisine master!

Inside Min Cook Misoyaki: atmosphere and bar seating

Let's go in~~

The inside of Min Cook Misoyaki feels as cozy as a Japanese izakaya (pub), haha

The interior was clean and nice! I'll sit at the bar table. Spoons, chopsticks and soy sauce are on the table in front of you, and they bring the water to you.

Side dishes served with grilled fish

When you order grilled fish at Min Cook Misoyaki, cabbage salad and egg porridge come as side dishes, haha. The fish-shaped dish is for soy sauce, and the pickled radish and white kimchi were in great shape too. Have the egg porridge as an appetizer!

Crunchy cabbage salad topped with sunrise tomatoes!!

Why order both the miso toothfish and the special salmon bowl?

I ordered the miso-grilled toothfish (mero) single and one special raw salmon rice bowl!!! I wanted salmon and I wanted toothfish, so I got both, haha. It was my first meal after 5 pm, so I was hungry too.

The toothfish normally comes with its own bowl of rice, but I deliberately skipped one bowl!! Just so you know.

How was the special raw salmon rice bowl?

I ordered the raw salmon bowl as the special, hahaha. The special has better quality.

Look at the color of that well-aged salmon, hehehe. Looks delicious, right?

Salmon that's bright pinkish-red with clear white lines is fresh and good.

It's generously topped with radish sprouts, plus wasabi and ginger. The miso soup can be refilled too~~

The miso soup was delicious, I took a big sip of the broth.

Miso-grilled toothfish: texture and seasoning

The toothfish!!!!

The toothfish at Min Cook Misoyaki had springy, juicy flesh and was so, so good.

It was grilled seasoned with miso sauce, so the saltiness was just right!! And the flesh was really chewy!!! That signature toothfish chewiness is so good. Min Cook Misoyaki is a grilled fish hotspot 💌😇❤️

Amazing solo meal, I'm telling you, hahaha

It was really delicious

Springy, chewy flesh 🫶🏻➿➿

Raw salmon rice bowl with white kimchi

Now a bite of the raw salmon bowl too, aaah- White rice with soy sauce, onion, salmon, wasabi and radish sprouts, all in one big bite, and then with white kimchi on the side it was seriously good. The white kimchi at Min Cook Misoyaki is secretly the real star.

The salmon had no fishy smell at all and was so fresh, and the pieces were big, so the texture was great.

Raw salmon bowl plus grilled toothfish, a perfect combo, haha

Is Min Cook Misoyaki good for a solo meal or office lunch near Hwajeong Station?

I ate well and was full. I strongly recommend Min Cook Misoyaki as an office lunch or solo meal next to Hwajeong Station, so do try it!!

I guess this is a knife they used for cooking fish at Min Cook, haha. Fish dishes? Min Cook!! Well fed, and now off to the concert. This was actually my first and last meal of the day, but it was so good and I stayed full all day><

If you want raw salmon bowl or grilled toothfish near Hwajeong Station, come to Min Cook Misoyaki, haha. There's also another Min Cook upstairs that I hear sells sushi and tonkatsu (pork cutlet), and it's apparently very popular. If I get the chance, I'll try it next time.