Cheonan sashimi restaurant, Friday flounder and dab platter: Donghae

As the weather turned cooler I got a craving for sashimi, so I went looking for good spots in Dujeong-dong and found Donghae Bada Hoetjip 🐟 — it has its own parking lot and specializes in seasonal raw fish, so I decided to check it out.

Where is Donghae Bada Hoetjip in Dujeong-dong, and what are the hours?

Donghae Bada Hoetjip is at 1F, 5-11 Neulpureun 6-gil, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, and it's open daily from 11:30 to 22:00. There's a private parking lot for customers.

• By bus — take bus 14 and get off at the stop; it's about a 3-minute walk from there
• By car — about 8 minutes from Dujeong Station

It's right near the Dujeong Segwang & Rich Villa apartments, across from Baekseok-dong Manghyang Bibim Guksu, so you can spot it straight from the main road :) I'd walk past it after work and always see it packed with people, so I'd been curious about it for a while — this time I finally got to find out ✨

What is Donghae Bada Hoetjip like on a Friday evening?

Walking inside, the place was pretty packed — I guess because it was Friday evening! There were couples, families, and groups clearly there for a work dinner, all eating away 👀

There were private rooms and reserved seats already set up. I'd heard the sashimi here was fresh and delicious, and with all the buzz in the room, I was already excited before the food even arrived 🐟🤍

The order: sashimi platter and seafood stew for two, 110,000 won

There was so much on the menu I had a hard time choosing, so we went with the sashimi platter + seafood stew set for 2 (₩110,000) 😉

The banchan spread and what comes on the sashimi platter

While I was still browsing the kiosk to see what else there was, they'd already brought out the banchan and the sashimi platter haha. The banchan lineup was salad, jeon (pan-fried fritters), grilled fish, silkworm pupae, bossam (boiled pork wrap), and seaweed soup :) I actually went back and forth for a while between the seafood stew and the seafood hot pot — in the end I thought, let's go spicy today! — and picked the stew. Having the seaweed soup on the side to go with it was a nice touch too 🤭

Look at this sashimi platter........ flounder, dab, mideoh (croaker), and even tuna — such a nice variety to try a bit of everything 🐟 Being a seasonal-sashimi specialist, they even had mideoh on hand, and the flounder was firm and subtly sweet — really good haha (note: this is how the platter was composed on the day I visited; the fish can change day to day depending on the season)

What goes into the seafood stew at Donghae Bada Hoetjip

Partway through the sashimi, they brought out the seafood stew we'd ordered. It was loaded with octopus, squid, conch, abalone, roe, milt, small octopus, blue crab and more — really generous 🤍

Everything was already prepped into bite-sized pieces so we could just eat without any hassle ✨ The seasoning was nice and spicy too — I thought it'd be perfect for fried rice afterward, but by then... our stomachs were already at capacity 🥹

Private rooms and high chairs: is Donghae Bada Hoetjip good for groups?

On the way out after paying, I noticed there were several private rooms. They had baby chairs ready and the spaces were separated, which seemed ideal for family gatherings or work dinners with a bigger group haha.

There were sea squirts and sea cucumbers in the tank by the entrance! Why did we only come as two..... If we'd come with about 4 people, we could've had sashimi plus added on extra seafood and tried all sorts of fresh things..... It was a little disappointing to walk out without getting to try them 🥹🥹

The verdict on Donghae Bada Hoetjip

If you're looking for a clean, parking-friendly spot in Dujeong-dong, this seems like a solid choice for a work dinner or family gathering too :) With everything from seafood stew to seafood hot pot to sashimi on the menu, it's great for a group where everyone can pick what they like haha. Next time I want to come back with a few more people and try the seafood platter and seafood hot pot we missed out on this time 🤭