Magok eel restaurant for a summer boost: perilla pickles, Jangsuchon

On a hot summer day we needed some proper stamina food, so we headed to Balsan in Magok for the grilled eel my husband had been singing about for ages. Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel (장수촌 풍천장어) is a great Magok pick for team dinners! It's close to Balsan Station, the eel quality is good, and it's the kind of place you'd bring your parents or come back to whenever you need a body boost. Highly recommended grilled eel in Balsan, Magok!!!

Where is Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel, and is there parking?

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel is on the 2nd floor of a building near Balsan Station, and parking is available, so it works well for group gatherings in Balsan too. The sign proudly says freshwater eel shipped direct from the source, and when we paid, the owner clearly seemed proud of it too!!

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel atmosphere: good for a team dinner?

The restaurant is huge, clean and brightly decorated the moment you walk in. The window seats on the 2nd floor feel open and airy, and the staff are friendly, so it's a good Magok spot for a family meal or a team dinner. Even on a weekday, several office groups were already there!!

Where does the eel at Jangsuchon come from?

A certificate of origin hangs on the wall guaranteeing that the restaurant buys only 100% domestic freshwater eel raised in the Jeolla provinces, through direct-trade agreements. Seeing that, I felt reassured!!

On top of that, side dish refills are self-service so there's no pressure, and the self-serve corner is kept clean. That's Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel, a Magok team-dinner favorite.

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel menu

On the menu, the single-item mains are just two: salt-grilled eel and beef short rib meat!! There's also grilled abalone and grilled king prawns, plus seasonal items like steamed scallops, grilled scallops and steamed oysters. After the grilled eel you can order meals like jangchu-tang (eel soup), cockle bibimbap, jjageuri kimchi stew or perilla oksimi (rice-cake dumpling soup), haha. For lunch they also sell an eel rice bowl!

What does the free mini jangchu-tang (eel soup) taste like?

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel uses a serving robot, so you just take the first round of dishes off it. Every time I see one, it's so cute and amazing, haha.

The mini jangchu-tang comes with the basic table setting!!!! It was my first time trying it, and it tasted even better than chueo-tang (loach soup), so we ended up scraping the bowls clean before the grilled eel even arrived, lol. It's seriously rich and nutty, and goes really well with the dried radish greens and bracken.

Do you grill the salt-grilled eel yourself?

Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel carefully selects fresh eel and pre-grills it over charcoal before serving, and the staff grill the first round for you. The grill is powerful, so everything cooked quickly.

Since a staff member grilled the first round, we ate in comfort, haha. They flip a whole row at once, what a skill~~ The salted eel is getting nicely crisp, hahaha.

Eel size and flavor

The eel here is big too: one is about right for two women to split in half!! Crisp outside, moist inside, with that rich flavor of pungcheon eel. It's been so long that it tasted like honey 🐷🐷

Best pairing: grilled eel with pickled perilla leaves

Our favorite was grilled eel with pickled perilla leaves (kkaennip-jeolim). We ate them, then fetched more from the self-serve bar and ate even more, lol. It's the winning combo, so be sure to eat it this way!!

We ended up adding a 500g half eel

We're a couple who always pay for more when something's good, and at the end we finally added half an eel, 500g. Happy ending~~✌️✌️ That's how delicious it was, and we were very satisfied with this Balsan eel restaurant, Jangsuchon Pungcheon Eel!!!

• Hours: daily 11:00–22:00
• Last order: 21:00