Uiwang fish grill lunch with a friend: croaker over green tea water

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Baegun Lake Branch: location, parking and hours

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Baegun Lake Branch (화덕으로간고등어 백운호수점) is at 148 Neungan-gil, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi, and it is open from 11:00 to 21:00. Parking is free.

I went to this Baegun Lake restaurant in Uiwang for lunch with a friend who loves Korean food. It's a newly opened place that serves a healthy meal of sea and land as the basic offering, located above Jeongwon Kalguksu, across from Maepsi Nakji. There's a big parking lot in front, so it's easy to come by car, and it's a premium wood-fired fish grill restaurant.

Fish cooked in an oven above 500℃ really is crispy outside and moist inside. They say they use salt that has had its bittern drained for over 10 years to bring out the flavor of the fish. It's easy for all ages to eat, so I'd recommend it for a family meal too.

What are the interior and seating like?

It opens at 11:00 and closes at 21:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00. Inside, true to a new restaurant, there was plenty of seating, and it felt upscale yet comfortable.

Grilled fish is good for you and tastes great, but the smell makes it really hard to cook at home, so I'm so glad a new place has opened where you can eat comfortably and heartily. They also have several baby chairs, so it's perfect for family gatherings.

Menu at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Baegun Lake Branch

The menu is varied: main rice pot sets (solbap jeongsik, a set meal with rice cooked in an individual pot), set menus, add-ons, a kids' menu and more.

• Mackerel rice pot set
• Yeonsu-style oil fish (imyeonsu) rice pot set
• Spanish mackerel rice pot set
• Wood-fired pork rice pot set
• Wood-fired croaker (gulbi) rice pot set
• Barley-soaked croaker (boricgulbi) rice pot set
• Braised mackerel with fernbrake rice pot set
• Roe stew rice pot set
• Boyang set for 2
• Boyang set for 3
• Seasoned cuttlefish salad

The signature wood-fired grilled mackerel, oil fish, Spanish mackerel and hairtail are said to be carefully grilled to bring out their flavor, which makes me even more curious about the taste.

What's at the self-bar?

At the self-bar you can have unlimited doenjang soup, rice refills, namul (seasoned vegetable) side dishes, kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake), japchae and tteokbokki. It isn't just a big spread for the sake of it; the side dishes are the kind you'd see at a neat Korean restaurant, which is another charm.

There's mildly seasoned doenjang soup, and you can refill your rice too.

There are colorful namul dishes, kimchi jeon, japchae and tteokbokki, all unlimited. After I'd brought back my favorites from the self-bar and set up my own table, the hot rice pot arrived. And the rice pot includes sungnyung (scorched rice tea), which every Korean loves. Best!

How I ate the wood-fired croaker and Spanish mackerel

Today's mains were grilled croaker and Spanish mackerel 🎵 🎶 So many fish grill places have opened around here and I've tried them, but I've never seen croaker and Spanish mackerel this big. I can skip omega-3 and all my other supplements today.

The light, non-greasy Spanish mackerel I had with wasabi soy sauce,

and the plump, salty, rice-stealing croaker was a treat and a special dish when I put it over green tea water.

Tofu ssamjang and the basic pork: fine for meat lovers too?

Pork stir-fry (jeyuk) comes out as a basic side dish, so if you like meat more than grilled fish, you can visit without worry. The tofu ssamjang (tofu dipping paste for wraps) wasn't salty, so I could pile it on! I happily wrapped up the basic jeyuk and the Spanish mackerel with it.

Who is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Baegun Lake Branch for?

This is a Baegun Lake restaurant in Uiwang worth visiting if you want to enjoy grilled fish that's hard to make at home, in a filling, tidy, carefully made meal. It suits family meals, office lunches and solo dining too.