Siheung Korean restaurant with easy parking: Seolak Chueotang

I came to hang out at Mulwang Reservoir in Mokgam-dong. While looking for a good Korean restaurant nearby, I found this chueotang (loach soup) spot in Mokgam-dong. It's a chueotang place, but they also do grilled fish cooked at high heat until all the fat drips away, leaving just clean, savory flavor.

Where is Seolak Chueotang by Mulwang Reservoir in Siheung?

Seolak Chueotang Hwadeok Saenggeongui Mulwang Reservoir Main Branch sits in the restaurant row you reach by turning down the alley next to Mulwang Reservoir. It's a fairly big cluster of restaurants, but this one is close to the entrance, so it's easy to find.

Abalone chueotang with two whole abalones and stone-pot rice

Seolak Chueotang has two main menu categories: chueotang (regular / mud snail / abalone) and wood-fired grilled fish. Makes sense, since it's a chueotang restaurant. Every set menu comes with stone-pot rice, and freshly cooked rice in a stone pot is just perfection, haha.

I was torn between mud snail chueotang and abalone chueotang, but since I'd never had the abalone version, I went with that. Chueotang itself is already considered a health food, and this one comes with two whole abalones. They were simmered so thoroughly that the meat just popped right out. The tongs and scissors they gave me made it easy to cut into bite-sized pieces.

Even cooked, the abalone was big enough to slice into fairly thick pieces, so the chewy-yet-tender texture really came through.

The chueotang itself was thick, dense, and savory, packed with siraegi (dried radish greens) to fish out and eat too. The rich broth tasted like the real deal, so I didn't leave a single drop. So deeply savory, I loved it.

I scooped some rice from the stone pot into the soup — no water added, just the chueotang straight in. That makes a soupy chueotang rice that's so good, haha. With broth this rich, there's no way I'm diluting it with water.

Inside Seolak Chueotang: open kitchen and a whole wood-fired mackerel

The Mulwang Reservoir Main Branch is a standalone building, and the first floor has floor-to-ceiling windows with a nice open view outside.

Tables are set for a minimum of four people, so whether you're dining solo or with a group, you get plenty of room.

The open kitchen gives off a confident, hygienic vibe. Even though grilled fish is a main item here, there was zero fishy smell. What's more, unlike other places, ordering mackerel here at Mulwang Reservoir gets you a whole fish — most places cut it in half. A whole mackerel, grilled golden brown, means you get to eat more, and more deliciously and healthily too.

What's on the self-bar at Seolak Chueotang?

For extra side dishes, help yourself at the self-bar~ Disposable aprons are also provided.

The old reliable at every chueotang restaurant counter~ kkwabaegi (twisted donuts) and nurungji (scorched rice) snacks, haha. Dessert drinks are also available.

Parking, directions and group dining at Seolak Chueotang in Mokgam-dong

If you follow your navigation, you'll pass Mulwang Reservoir and turn off into an alley — Seolak Chueotang sits right at the entrance of that alley.

There's a wide space both in front of and beside the restaurant, and someone directing parking, so even with a lot of people and cars around, parking wasn't difficult.

This place was featured on the TV show Saengsaeng Jeongbotong, but it was already popular before that ever happened, haha. Still, if you live nearby, stop by on a weekend drive. The outdoor view is great, the food is great, and it's perfect for enjoying autumn.