Pot rice Korean restaurant in Dalseo, Daegu: Geumdeungeo

This is a place my husband and I went to for a meal recently. I remembered the side dishes being pretty good when I visited once before, so this time I brought along my husband, who loves grilled fish. It was Geumdeungeo Dalseo Branch (금등어 달서구점) in Jincheon-dong, Dalseo, Daegu :) I actually visited this Jincheon branch first, then later went to the location around Deuran-gil in Suseong-gu, and now I was back at the Jincheon branch again, haha. When you find somewhere good after trying it once, you want your husband to try it too, right? 🤣

Geumdeungeo Jincheon Branch hours and parking

• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:30 (last order 20:40)
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Parking: Up to 4 hours free when using the 1st-, 3rd-, or 4th-floor parking lots at Jincheon Mat Town

As you would expect from a popular waiting-list restaurant, there was a spacious, comfortable waiting area. There was even a spot with several games so you would not get bored while waiting. We arrived after 1 p.m., just after the lunch rush, but it was still nearly full. What I especially noticed that day was that it really felt like a moms' favorite, haha. There were lots of middle-aged women who seemed to be there for gatherings or friend groups. Isn't this exactly the kind of place that is great for taking your parents out for a meal? Haha.

Pre-ordered pot-rice set meals and Neopttigi yukjeon

You order at the counter before going in. We ordered two things: the dried yellow corvina pot-rice set with Neopttigi yukjeon, and the Geumdeungeo pot-rice set.

The siraegi doenjang-guk (soybean-paste soup with dried radish greens) is heated right on the induction burner, and it is quietly such a treat.

The refillable side dishes that brought me back

One of the reasons I came back to Geumdeungeo! The side dishes. At a Korean set-meal restaurant, the main dish matters, but I also pay a lot of attention to the banchan (side dishes), haha. Geumdeungeo serves several basic side dishes, and you can refill anything you run short on at the self-service bar. There were lots of choices, from japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) and lotus root to kimchi and seasoned vegetables, so you can go back for whichever side dishes suit your taste while eating.

So personally, I even thought of it as a restaurant known for its side dishes.

The children's tableware was maintained with sterilization, too~~ And of course, there were child-sized chairs ready.

A menu item we tried for the first time this visit: Neopttigi yukjeon (pan-fried beef slices). You could add it to a set for an extra ₩4,000.

It was thicker than we expected and not greasy, so we bought more as an extra side dish. The extra portion was ₩10,000 for three pieces, so it felt like a better deal, haha.

Trying the dried yellow corvina and mackerel pot rice

The dried yellow corvina pot-rice set comes with one whole dried yellow corvina from Beopseongpo, Yeonggwang, cleaned and served whole. When I visited the Jincheon branch before, I ordered the dried yellow corvina and it came with green tea water. I remembered eating it with rice, then pouring the tea water over the rice and eating it that way, so I was quietly hoping for it again this time—but it did not come separately on this visit. Instead, the meal came as pot rice, so we could pour in hot water and finish with sungnyung (scorched-rice tea).

My personal favorite thing on this visit was definitely the pot rice. I have always loved pot rice, haha. The Geumdeungeo pot-rice set uses Norwegian mackerel aged in nuruk salt, then grilled in a wood-fired oven at over 400°C, apparently. You get about half a mackerel per person; it is crispy on the outside and moist inside! Grilled fish is best with rice, after all, and having freshly cooked pot rice alongside it made it feel much more like a proper meal than eating it with plain white rice. Some parts of the set had changed a little since my last visit, but since I am a pot-rice person, I was happy with this too, haha.

And once you finish the rice, you pour water into the pot and make sungnyung, you know? Haha. It may not seem like much, but it is surprisingly delicious as a finish. I actually really liked this kind of pot-rice setup.

Dessert corner and kind service

After your meal, there is also a self-service corner for dessert. There are simple drinks such as coffee, beverages, and sikhye (sweet rice punch), and this time there were even some small seolgi-tteok (steamed rice cakes). Finishing with a cup of coffee and a little rice cake after the meal made everything feel nicely complete, haha. With grilled fish as the main dish, plus pot rice and all the side dishes, it was a very filling meal. Another thing I loved this visit was how kind the staff were! I remembered thinking the Jincheon branch staff were friendly before, and the service was just as good this time. Tasty food matters, of course, but when the staff are kind throughout your meal, it just puts you in an even better mood :)

My husband, who loves grilled fish, was satisfied after trying it with me, and I had come back because I remembered the previous meal—this time too, we had a perfectly nice and satisfying meal. If you love pot rice in particular, it could be a good place to enjoy grilled fish such as mackerel or dried yellow corvina with warm pot rice. Even after 1 p.m. at lunchtime, it was still almost full, so it seems to be a pretty well-known local lunch spot already, haha.

If you love grilled fish, want a neat Korean set-meal-style dining experience, or are looking for somewhere to eat with your parents, it could be worth stopping by. If, like me, you are looking for a place that stays on your mind because the side dishes were good after one visit, Geumdeungeo Jincheon Branch is a nice choice too! I brought my husband this time, and now I am curious what we will try next, haha. Thanks to my grilled-fish-loving husband, I have been going around looking for Korean set-meal restaurants too.

Chuseok gift sets and side dishes to buy

There is also a way to share the delicious mackerel we enjoyed with people you care about: Chuseok gift sets! With Chuseok approaching, they had gift sets ready too. What was especially amazing was seeing a huge number of gift sets already packed up to be sent by courier on one side, haha. It was not just one or two—I could tell they get quite a lot of Chuseok gift-set orders from the sheer pile of packages(?) 🤣

Seeing them in person, it seemed like plenty of people come here when looking into fish gift sets to send family or acquaintances for the holiday. If you are wondering what to get for Chuseok, it could be nice to have a meal at the restaurant and look over the gift sets at the same time :) We bought the last remaining yukjeon, haha.

They also had the side dishes we enjoyed, plus a few extras, arranged almost like a side-dish shop. Lots of moms were buying one or two things to take home too, haha.

You can park on the 1st, 3rd, or 4th floor, so be sure to check and get your parking validated~