Goyang grilled fish restaurant with seasonal fish platters: Min Cook

If you love grilled fish, you want to experience a proper platter of seasonal fish at least once, right? This time, I visited Min Cook Apbadang Seongsa in Seongsa-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang. Even the name has a whiff of the sea about it—"badang" means sea in Jeju and some other regions.

More than anything, I went in excited because a Japanese-cuisine master who has handled fish for over 30 years selects seasonal fish and lays it out as a full meal. We ordered the seasonal grilled fish set for two! To give away the ending: it is somewhere I would love to bring my fish-loving mom back to.

What are the exterior and parking like?

We arrived around sunset, and the large, brightly lit sign made it easy to spot even from a distance. It is a standalone restaurant, so it stands out, and there is ample parking in front of and behind the building, making it convenient to visit by car.

It is easy to reach not only from Seongsa-dong but also from Wondang, Hwajeong, Wonheung and Samsong. Its location also works well with a visit to Goyang IKEA, Hanyang CC or Goyang CC, so it seemed like a solid place for a hearty meal after a round of golf.

A spacious interior for family and group meals

Once inside, the restaurant was much larger than I expected. The wood-toned interior and generous spacing between tables create a comfortable atmosphere for family meals! It also seems well suited to family gatherings, work dinners and group meetups in Seongsa-dong. Each table has an ordering tablet, which made it easy to take our time looking through the menu.

Fish selections that change with the seasons

The fun of Min Cook Apbadang is exactly what its name suggests: the fish selection changes with the seasons! They choose the best fish of the moment—flounder, wild cod, cutlassfish, sea bream, Spanish mackerel and more—and arrange them on one platter. Rather than eating the same grilled fish every day, getting to enjoy fish at its seasonal peak felt like this restaurant's biggest appeal.

They also offer a weekday lunch special from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., so keep that in mind if you are looking for a good-value lunch in Seongsa-dong. They sell tasty oils and side dishes too, so it could be nice to pick some up after the meal for the whole family to enjoy.

Ordering the seasonal grilled fish set for two

We ordered the seasonal grilled fish set for two. When it arrived, it was not just fish on its own; there were plenty of side dishes and wrap vegetables too, and it felt like receiving a proper home-style spread. There was such a variety of banchan (Korean side dishes): a bite of fish, a bite of side dish, another bite of fish, then a different side dish.... Our chopsticks never got a break.

Help yourself to banchan at the self-service bar

One feature I really liked was the self-service bar. You can help yourself to the various side dishes, so there is no need to feel shy about topping up the ones you like whenever they run low. Grilled fish needs the right pairing of rice and side dishes, and the variety of seasoned greens and vegetable dishes made the meal feel much more abundant. Packaged side dishes, salted seafood and sikhye (sweet rice drink) were also available for purchase, so you can take home anything you enjoyed after the meal.

A generous spread from the basic side dishes onward

Even the neatly arranged basic side dishes make the table feel wonderfully full. There were plenty of fish-friendly choices, including seasoned greens, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) and kimchi, making it fun to pick and choose!

Cabbage buckwheat pancake with salted cutlassfish innards

The cabbage buckwheat pancake was chewy and nutty, while the savory soybean-paste soup and springy japchae made every side dish tempting. Especially, wrapping crisp cabbage around richly savory galchi sokjeot (salted cutlassfish innards) made for a truly special bite.

A griddle full of seasonal grilled fish

The moment I saw the huge griddle filled with seasonal grilled fish, I automatically said, “Wow, this is the real deal!” There was not just one kind of fish; we could taste several, which made it especially fun for two people to choose according to their preferences.

The outside was beautifully browned while the flesh stayed moist, falling away gently at the touch of chopsticks. Each fish had a slightly different texture and flavor, so comparing them was part of the fun. The skin in particular was nutty and crisp, while the flesh was mild and juicy—exactly the kind of flavor that calls for rice! The grilling lets the fish itself shine, so it was delicious enough without strong seasoning.

Crisp skin and moist fish flesh

When I lifted it with my chopsticks, it was so enormous that for a moment I could not tell whether it was grilled fish or a giant cracker, haha. The crisp texture and nutty flavor kept drawing me back, and alternating it with the moist fish flesh made the textural contrast even better.

Grilled fish is surprisingly fussy to make at home, from the smell to cleaning and cleanup. Being able to try several kinds of perfectly grilled fish all at once is bound to make it a very satisfying meal out.

Hot pot rice delivered by a serving robot

A hot bowl of rice is what completes a meal, of course. It was also fun to watch the serving robot bring the pot rice right to our table. A serving robot with a traditional grilled-fish spread—what an unexpectedly fun pairing, haha. Put a piece of moist fish on hot rice and you hardly need any other side dishes. As we sampled the many banchan and seasonal fish one by one, the table was clean before we knew it.

Plenty of fish in a vegetable wrap

Load fresh wrap vegetables with hot rice and plenty of tender picked fish! Add a little ssamjang (savory soybean dipping paste), take one big bite, and the mild and nutty flavors come together so deliciously.

Finishing with sikhye

To finish the meal, a cold, gently sweet cup of sikhye! It neatly clears away the nutty richness of the grilled fish lingering in your mouth. With dessert taken care of too, the hearty spread was properly complete.

What impressed me about Min Cook Apbadang was that it is not simply a place to grill one kind of fish; it specializes in seasonal fish dishes, letting you enjoy a range of fish at their best each season. Its philosophy that good ingredients make the best cook, along with its selection of seasonal fish and the know-how of a master with more than 30 years of fish experience, suited the food perfectly.

There may be a wait on weekends and public holidays, so booking ahead would make for a more comfortable visit. The seasonal grilled fish set for two at Min Cook Apbadang let us enjoy a full range of fish alongside plentiful side dishes. It was an evening that really reminded me that, with grilled fish, who grills it and how they do it matters. Next time, I want to return when the season changes and see what other fish make it onto the platter!