Eel restaurant window-seat lunch in Buk-gu, Gwangju: Deokeun Jangeo

Deokeun Jangeo is an eel market-and-grill restaurant at 596 Haseo-ro in Buk-gu, Gwangju. It's open daily 11:00–22:00 with last order at 20:30, has on-site parking, and even has a baby chair.

Today I visited Deokeun Jangeo, a well-known eel restaurant in Gwangju. It's a huge place and the parking lot is really spacious too — you can park right on the ground floor. I went during lunchtime and the parking was already full, so I'd recommend an early opening-run visit. There's definitely a wait.

How ordering works at Deokeun Jangeo, starting at the basement eel market

At Deokeun Jangeo, you choose and pay for your eel at the basement-level seafood counter, then carry it upstairs to the restaurant on the 1st floor to grill it yourself. After eating, you go back down to the basement to pay for the table setting and any extra menu items.

Since parking is on the 1st floor and the market is in the basement, you head down a staircase. At the bottom you'll find the store entrance — note that the entrance and exit are the same door.

The restaurant opens at 11am but the seafood market opens at 10am, so keep that in mind. The market closes at 9pm while the restaurant runs until 10pm.

First-timers can just follow the posted instructions here! First you go to the seafood counter and register your phone number on the tablet.

This is the inside of the seafood counter area — there were so many people. Just know there can be quite a wait, so factor that into your timing if you're coming later. Lots of older customers, but plenty of younger people too. Your number gets called on the screen above; check your assigned number via KakaoTalk after registering on the tablet.

They also sell eel extract on one side — a month's supply goes for ₩88,000. Seemed like it'd make a nice gift for the upcoming holiday too.

Eel sold by weight: about 40,000 won for two adults

The eel is displayed like this, with price tags showing the weight attached. You just pick the amount you want from here. Two of us bought about ₩40,000 worth of eel and ate ourselves completely full. The eel was really fresh and good.

For reference, they also sell packaged eel and holiday gift sets, so keep that in mind if you want to give it as a gift — everyone loves receiving eel! They stay open as normal during the holiday season too, so it'd be great to come with relatives. They also handle shipping right there on the spot for convenience.

Window seats and the basic table setting on the first floor

Once you've chosen and paid for your eel at the seafood counter, you take the elevator up to the restaurant on the 1st floor. There were so many staff members — after confirming our party size, they showed us straight to our assigned table.

This is the basic table setting — served cleanly. Wild chive greens are an absolute must with eel. There were two kinds of kimchi too, both delicious, and it seemed like homemade kimchi rather than imported.

This is the view we got while eating — isn't it amazing? We were seated by the window, so we got to enjoy great food with a great view. There were so many tables, mostly 4-tops with some 8-tops available too — great for family gatherings or get-togethers with friends.

They give you one bottle of water at first, but after that you have to buy more — or use the water purifier at the self-serve bar. Alcohol and drinks can be ordered through the tablet, so don't just grab things from the fridge yourself!

Disposable aprons and a water purifier are set up for convenience, so you don't need to buy bottled water if you don't want to. There's a baby chair too, so it's fine to bring a baby along for dinner.

What the 4,000 won table setting and self-serve bar include

The table setting menu is ₩4,000 per adult. There are also rice/meal dishes worth ordering. Check the alcohol prices too!

There's a self-serve bar in the middle of the dining hall, mostly stocked with vegetables and refills for the basic side dishes. Note that leaving food behind incurs a ₩3,000 environmental charge, so just take what you'll actually eat. I liked that you could have plenty of ssam (wrap) greens.

They also said if you leave a receipt review, you get a free ice cream for dessert — worth participating in!

How the charcoal-grilled eel tastes

Finally, time to grill the eel. The freshness was outstanding right off the bat. Eel really tastes best grilled on a metal grate, and I loved that Deokeun Jangeo lets you do exactly that. They give you plenty of charcoal underneath so it cooks fast, and the fat renders out nicely as it cooks.

Doesn't the cooked eel look so good? Grilled on the grate, all the fat drips away and you're left with just plump, tender eel! It didn't shrink up small or anything even after grilling — the meat stayed plump and it was genuinely delicious. The texture was excellent too.

Eel is delicious on its own, but I really love wrapping it in greens like this. Eel can get a bit much after a while, but wrapping it with plenty of vegetables and ginger cuts through any heaviness and keeps you eating more. Really enjoyed it — Deokeun Jangeo's eel had no fishy smell at all, just nutty and clean flavor. So good!

Eel soup ordered as the meal dish

We also ordered eel soup for our meal. It was thick and the broth was truly the real deal — not murky at all, just clean and rich. The perilla seed powder made it even more savory. My husband loves eel soup and raved about how good Deokeun Jangeo's version is. We polished off a full bowl of rice mixed into the soup!

After a great meal, head back down to the basement to pay for the table setting and any extras. There's coffee and ice cream for sale down there too, worth grabbing.

Is Deokeun Jangeo in Buk-gu, Gwangju worth a visit?

Today's visit was to Deokeun Jangeo, a well-known spot in Buk-gu, Gwangju. It's a large restaurant, great for group gatherings too. Being able to buy eel by exact weight was a big plus. Once you've bought the eel, the table setting itself stays cheap, which I appreciated. The eel was fresh, and the flavor was clean and nutty with no fishy taste at all — really delicious. If you're looking for a great eel restaurant in Gwangju, I genuinely recommend Deokeun Jangeo.