Millak fish restaurant date lunch, cabbage-wasabi wraps: Hwadeogeuro

I visited Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo (화덕으로간고등어), a Korean restaurant with really good grilled fish near Millak Waterside Park in Gwangalli, Busan~ The fish is grilled in a flash in a 500°C wood-fired oven, so it's crispy outside, moist inside, and really tender and delicious. It showed me that grilled fish can be light and tasty with almost no fishy smell!! The view is so good too, so this is a Gwangalli restaurant I'd like to come back to with my parents.

Where is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Gwangalli Waterside Park Branch, and what are the hours?

The Gwangalli Waterside Park branch is on the 2nd floor at 147 Millaksubyeon-ro, Suyeong-gu, Busan, South Korea. It's open Thursday to Sunday 11:00–21:00 (last order 20:15) and closed every Wednesday. Near Gwangalli Beach and the Millak waterside park, it's a good spot for a hearty meal, a family dinner, a meal with parents, or a group gathering.

• Hours: Thu–Sun 11:00–21:00, last order 20:15
• Closed every Wednesday
• High chairs available
• Kids' menu available
• Takeout and delivery available

Where to park for Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo

If you use the Subyeon Children's Park parking lot, the restaurant covers ₩1,000 per table (extra parking is ₩300 per 10 minutes). I hear traffic and parking around here get crowded during the Saturday drone show, so keep that in mind when you visit.

Dining room with a Gwangan Bridge view

The Gwangalli branch has a cool panoramic view of Gwangan Bridge and the sea, with a clean, warm atmosphere.

The interior and the view are just amazing~ Even from the rooms, the big windows show Gwangan Bridge and the seashore, and in the main hall, the panorama of Gwangan Bridge and the I'Park apartments through the windows was sooo pretty.

The night view must be stunning too. I came in the early afternoon today, but next time I'd like to come in the evening and eat while watching that gorgeous night view.

What's on the banchan self-bar at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo?

The self-bar has a variety of banchan (Korean side dishes) and ssam (wraps) items~ There's crunchy steamed cabbage and plenty of fresh lettuce for wraps~

There were various seasoned vegetables, simple pickles, seaweed stems and kimchi. The altari kimchi (small radish kimchi, I think?) was seriously so good haha. It's a kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) hotspot~

The japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) was perfectly seasoned and so tasty!! Other reviews mentioned braised tofu and tteokbokki, but they weren't out today T_T The banchan lineup seems to change a little from day to day~

There are lots of room-style spaces too, so it seems good for family gatherings and company dinners. There's also a dessert corner where you can have plum tea or coffee~

How does Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo grill its fish?

They say the selected fish is cured at low temperature with their own blended sea salt, then properly aged so it's ready at its tastiest.

Then it's grilled in a flash in a 500°C wood-fired oven, giving fish that's crispy outside and moist inside. Unlike grilling on a regular griddle or pan, the fast cooking at high heat keeps the moisture in the fish while making the outside even more nutty and savory, they say.

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo menu, prices and how to order

You order from a tablet. Besides various grilled fish, there are also pork and soy-sauce marinated crab sets.

It's one set per person (ages 5–7 can order the kids' menu).

It's a grilled fish specialist, but there's also a wood-fired pork set and a soy-marinated crab set, so people who can't eat fish are fine too~ There's even a super cute kids' mackerel set.

• Braised mackerel with bracken set ₩18,000
• Wood-fired yeonggwang gulbi (salted yellow croaker) set ₩21,000
• Wood-fired bori gulbi (barley-aged croaker) set ₩27,000

When you order a set you choose your rice, and you can swap to brown rice or gondeure (thistle) rice. My boyfriend switched to brown rice and I switched to gondeure rice, and the gondeure rice is totally delicious!! After much agonizing, order done~

• Atka mackerel set (임연수구이정식) ₩18,000: tender flesh and nutty skin
• Spanish mackerel set (삼치구이정식) ₩21,000: similar to mackerel but less fishy, with firm, nutty flesh

How did the grilled Atka mackerel and Spanish mackerel sets taste?

The set meal was health itself: neat banchan, wood-fired grilled fish, and healthy brown rice and gondeure rice.

It comes with healthy sides like braised tofu and garlic chive stems, the brown rice and gondeure rice I ordered, seaweed soup full of ocean flavor, and grilled fish that's crispy outside and moist inside, with the grease gone from the wood-fired oven.

The grilled fish is really big haha. It was so big I was genuinely surprised.

Grilled Atka mackerel for the first time

Normally my grandmother would pick out all the bones for me, but today I'm doing it myself haha. It's my first time eating Atka mackerel (I'd only heard its name on variety shows). The bones come out in one smooth pull~ so easy.

It's really moist without much fishy smell... I never knew Atka mackerel could be this good, the flesh is light, moist and delicious!! Even my boyfriend, who doesn't like grilled fish, said it tasted fine and ate it well!

Grilled Spanish mackerel for chicken-breast lovers

I really loved the Spanish mackerel~ Even with chicken I like breast over drumsticks, so this was perfect for me~ It's less fishy than mackerel (?) and the flesh is tightly packed, really nutty and delicious.

Tear off a big piece of the fish, put it on a cabbage wrap with a bit of wasabi, and it's seriously good~

Verdict: a lunch before or after a walk at Gwangalli Waterside Park

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo taught me that grilled fish can be this light and tasty, and it was a really, really delicious, healthy meal~ If you're looking for a hearty meal before or after a walk at the Gwangalli waterside park, or a Gwangalli restaurant to take your parents to, it seems like a good choice~