Wood-fired eel, oily flounder set near Baegun Lake, Uiwang

It was such nice autumn weather for a day out, so I went to check out a delicious Korean set-meal restaurant near Baegun Lake — Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo, Uiwang Baegun Lake branch! My husband and I ate so well that I wanted to write it up.

Location and hours of Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Baegun Lake Branch

• Address: 148 Neungan-gil, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do
• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 20:20

Is parking easy?

There's a large parking lot right in front of the restaurant, so parking was easy.

Weekday lunch atmosphere and group seating

I was surprised the moment I walked in — since it was a weekday Monday lunch, I figured there wouldn't be many customers, but it was actually pretty packed.

Since the place opened not long ago, the interior was really clean and the tables spacious enough to eat comfortably.

Besides the regular 4-seat tables, there was seating for 8 or more, so it's really good for group gatherings — a lot of extended families were dining together.

By the window you could see lush green plants outside, and the view was really nice too. It's exactly the kind of space parents would love, so I'm planning to come back again this Chuseok.

I also noticed a wood-fired oven off to one side of the restaurant. True to the name 'fish grilled over a wood fire,' they were hard at work grilling there.

Menu board and what we ordered

We ordered the boyang 2-person set with pot rice included, ₩45,000, plus a Zero Coke for ₩2,000.

Review event

They currently have a Naver receipt review event running — leave a review and get one free drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

How's the self-serve side dish bar?

The biggest strength of Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo is the quality of the self-serve bar — better than a Korean set-meal buffet, honestly.

The variety of side dishes was really impressive too — cucumber with chili, bean sprouts, pickled vegetables, seokbakji (radish kimchi), leafy greens for wraps, acorn jelly, lotus root salad, macaroni salad, jeon (savory pancakes), tteokbokki, japchae, and more — over 10 dishes with unlimited refills.

They weren't just there for show either — every side dish was properly seasoned and tasted clean and homemade, like something your mom made. Thanks to that, digestion was easy afterward too.

Taste test review

We kept telling each other how good it was the whole meal — a genuinely great Korean set-meal restaurant. Let me introduce what we ate.

Side dishes

On top of the basic side dishes you get, you can also grab more from the self-serve bar — and since the food was so good, we kept going back for more. With the side dishes alone, the table looked like a birthday spread.

Boyang 2-person set with pot rice, ₩45,000

Can you see the quality of the fish? Since it's grilled in a wood-fired oven, the excess fat is really rendered off and the fish is delicious. We got to eat three different kinds — domestic sea eel, oily flounder, and Norwegian mackerel.

My husband and I aren't big fans of fish, but we were both impressed the whole time we ate. Because it's cooked in a wood-fired oven, the smoky flavor was evenly soaked into the whole fish, so every part was delicious no matter where you ate from.

Seasonal braised fish

On top of the grilled fish, this 2-person set also comes with a braised fish dish. Just grilled fish alone might get a little repetitive, but this spicy braise was the real kicker.

Turned out to be braised mackerel, and there was no fishy smell at all. The well-simmered radish and bracken fern were so good we didn't leave a single vegetable behind.

Mackerel is a fatty fish, so it can taste greasy if not grilled well — but when we zoomed in on the photo, you can see how nicely browned it is. The skin was super crispy while the flesh stayed moist — genuinely delicious.

And can you believe they grill you a whole eel at this price point? The eel was as plump and satisfying as at a dedicated eel specialty restaurant — with a dab of wasabi on top, it was fantastic.

With well-simmered napa cabbage doenjang soup and the moist, glutinous pot rice, it's a flavor no Korean could dislike. Finish the pot rice and follow it with sungnyung (scorched rice tea) for the perfect meal! It sat so easy on our stomachs and tasted so good that we're planning to bring our parents back for Chuseok.

Why it's a great spot for a meal with parents

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo is a genuine Uiwang Baegun Lake favorite. Since it opened recently, the interior is clean and upscale, and the view of the green plants outside the window is a nice bonus.

On top of that, the side dishes, grilled fish, and braised fish were all delicious without exception, which made the whole meal a pleasure. They don't seem to use much seasoning either, so our stomachs felt fine after eating — a perfect place to go with parents. I'd give it a full 100 for wanting to return :)