Daegu Korean restaurant with curtained group seating: Geumdeungeo

Deulan-gil near Suseongmot has plenty of large restaurants that are great for taking your parents to. With so much space, they can easily seat big groups, and parking is usually a breeze too. Geumdeungeo, the Korean restaurant on Deulan-gil I visited this time, truly deserves the word 'premium' — it's pure high-end Korean dining, and I'd strongly recommend it as a family gathering spot for special occasions with the elders in tow.

Where is Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch, and where do you park?

Geumdeungeo Deulanguil Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of a 4-story building. There's an elevator, so it's easy to get up there.

Parking for this Suseongmot restaurant is available under the ground-floor pilotis, and if that's full, there's a parking tower. Geumdeungeo covers 90 minutes of parking, so you can eat at a leisurely pace and still get free parking support. Parking is usually the first worry when planning a group meal on Deulan-gil, but Geumdeungeo makes it easy to visit whether you're a big group or just a few people.

Booking the 5pm first slot after break time, plus the waiting zone

Geumdeungeo has a break time, so I booked the 5pm first slot right after it ended. I arrived about 10 minutes early and waited briefly in the waiting zone. It was nice that they have a dedicated waiting space.

The moment the elevator doors opened, the interior came into view! It's an open kitchen, so you can watch the mackerel being grilled in real time.

What does the name Geumdeungeo mean?

I wondered what 'Geumdeungeo' meant — turns out it's a combination of 'geum' from nuruk salt (누룩소금) and 'deungeo,' meaning mackerel. I always thought too much salt was bad because of excess sodium, but apparently eating good-quality salt in moderation actually helps keep blood vessels healthy. That's the whole point of nuruk salt! When you order the grilled mackerel at Geumdeungeo, it comes with nuruk salt on the side — dip the fish in it, and that's the 'Geumdeungeo' experience!

Group seating at Geumdeungeo that turns private with a divider curtain

The interior of Geumdeungeo was surprisingly spacious, with plenty of standard 4-person tables, and further inside there was room to seat larger groups too. Pulling down the curtain dividers shown above lets you dine privately. If you're looking for a group gathering spot on Deulan-gil, Geumdeungeo near Suseongmot seems perfect.

The place was genuinely huge, haha. Walking a full loop around it was actually kind of tiring, haha. The ceilings were so high too — that's when it hit me: ah, this is what a premium restaurant looks like.

Geumdeungeo menu and prices

The signature dish is, of course, the wood-fired grilled mackerel — ₩19,000 per person. There's also a spicy stir-fried pork set, priced at ₩20,000 per person. The three of us ordered mackerel for two and pork for one. Adding cockle salad costs ₩9,000, but the standard side dishes seemed generous enough that we skipped it.

This Deulan-gil restaurant also sells its own handmade side dishes made in-house. I was surprised to find such good-quality banchan at pretty reasonable prices.

Additional orders are placed through the kiosk. The base order is at the counter, haha.

Small plates and bowls come pre-set at the table. I liked that the utensils were individually wrapped.

The set table delivered by a serving robot

A cute serving robot brings out the side dishes, haha. A staff member helps set them on the table. Neat rows of tidy Korean side dishes lining up in perfect order... so beautiful!!!

Every single one of Geumdeungeo's side dishes was clean-tasting and delicious. In particular, the Gijang seaweed with anchovy sauce dressing was sweet and tangy, which really got the appetite going.

Fluffy, well-cooked rice comes out per person too.

Wood-fired mackerel for two and Swiss chard soup

Enter Geumdeungeo (nuruk salt + mackerel)!! Since we ordered two portions, two mouthwatering, wood-fire-grilled mackerel arrive, with nuruk salt portioned out on either side. Two beautifully golden-brown mackerel, haha.

The Swiss chard soup that comes alongside should be brought to a boil, then turned down to heat level 3; once you flip the hourglass timer for one full cycle, turn off the heat and dig in. It had a deep, savory flavor I really enjoyed.

Dipping the plump, tender mackerel flesh in the nuruk salt felt like getting a protein boost from head to toe! Blue-backed fish for the win, bb. The nuruk salt wasn't salty at all — if anything, it seemed to bring out the umami of the mackerel even more.

The spicy stir-fried pork was sweet and delicious too, and even though we only ordered one portion, the amount was pretty generous. Wrapping it in the seaweed served alongside made for an amazing combo.

Geumdeungeo's self-serve bar: every side dish refillable

Every side dish served at Geumdeungeo can be refilled at the self-serve bar. Once there's a self-serve bar like this, I just can't help myself, ha ha, my inner glutton takes over.

We went back for a bit more of the Gijang seaweed, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), and lotus root salad that we liked so much, haha.

The three of us cleared everything!!

On our way out, we had a nutty iced coffee and apricot juice ~~ Even dessert was perfect. Geumdeungeo, the family gathering spot on Deulan-gil! If you're tired of the same old Korean restaurants, I highly recommend this premium Korean restaurant.