Evening mackerel vs mackerel pike sets in Yeouido: Hwadeogeuro Gan

Restaurant name: Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang

Location: 408m from Saetgang Station Exit 2

Extra note: basement floor of the Lotte Castle Ivy building

There are so many people working in Yeouido! I'm a Yeouido office worker myself and eat lunch nearby a lot, so I want to recommend a grilled fish Korean restaurant I visited recently~!

Where is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang?

It's a grilled fish restaurant within walking distance of both Yeouido Station and Saetgang Station, which looked like a great Korean restaurant lunch spot for Yeouido office workers!

It was located in the basement floor of the Lotte Castle?? building's commercial area. It might be a bit confusing to find the first time you visit...

The interior looked super clean and spacious, probably because it hadn't been open long, so it seemed like it would be a pleasant meal.

I visited around 7pm and more than half the tables were already filled with people eating. I didn't come at lunchtime but I'd bet it's packed then...

What I ordered and the prices

• Grilled mackerel set ₩13,500
• Grilled Spanish mackerel set ₩16,000

Besides grilled fish, there's also a spicy pork set, kids set, grilled fish sides, and other options beyond the set menus, so keep that in mind.

Unlimited refills at the self-bar

I'm a total tteok (rice cake) person and love tteokbokki, so I was thrilled the self-bar has unlimited tteokbokki refills as a basic side.

If you like sungnyung (scorched rice tea), it's perfect to sip while you wait for your mackerel to come out!!

Right next to the tteokbokki there's a self-bar where you can grab more of the basic side dishes!! Office workers who want a filling lunch should definitely eat Korean food at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang, right?!!

I personally loved that I could use the self-bar without feeling self-conscious!!

So let me try the tteokbokki first. It tasted exactly like the sweet wheat-flour tteok tteokbokki sold in front of school haha. It was so good I refilled it twice... haha

How does the grilled mackerel set taste?

Tadaaa, the mackerel set came out first. All the basic side dishes I saw at the self-bar were served exactly as they were. Personally I thought the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) was the best haha.

Grilled in the wood-fired oven, it looked golden brown and didn't look greasy at all!!

I tasted the grilled mackerel set first. Because it's grilled at high heat in the wood-fired oven, it had that perfect crispy-outside, juicy-inside texture. There was zero fishy smell, and it was well-seasoned with a salty kick that's dangerous with rice... For self-caterers or office workers who rarely get to eat grilled fish, I recommend the mackerel set if you're craving mom's home cooking.

How was the grilled Spanish mackerel set different from the mackerel?

The grilled Spanish mackerel had less oil than the mackerel, so it was cleaner-tasting and the seasoning matched perfectly with rice!!!

You can also get free rice refills, so if you're still hungry, go ahead and refill!!

I used to eat Spanish mackerel often as a drinking snack at street food tents, but dipping it in that wasabi soy sauce here gave it such a savory kick, so good haha.

And a distinctive thing about this grilled mackerel place is that they also give you lettuce for wraps hahahaha. That doenjang (fermented soybean paste) was the best!! Mackerel in lettuce seems like an unbalanced combo but it was actually a surprisingly fresh and tasty pairing haha.

The lotus root had too much sauce, so personally so-so for me.

I had the japchae twice haha.

Overall thoughts

The location near Yeouido Station and Saetgang Station makes it a great lunch spot for Yeouido office workers, and with unlimited self-bar refills available, I highly recommend Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Bansang for anyone wanting a filling lunch or dinner!!!