Grilled eel set with snow mushroom and rice tea: Cheonsangae Jangeoga

I was looking for a hearty dinner to boost my energy and ended up at Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch.

An easy-to-find eel restaurant between Sagajeong and Myeonmok Stations

It's located between Sagajeong Station and Myeonmok Station, so it wasn't hard to find at all — a restaurant specializing in nourishing eel dishes, serving fresh eel and a carefully put-together table setting.

They also run a weekday lunch special, so if you want to enjoy eel a bit more affordably, this could be a good pick for lunch in Myeonmok-dong.

Inside, the space was spacious and clean, making it a good spot for family meals or gatherings. The staff were friendly too, which made the whole meal feel comfortable.

Ssam vegetables at the self bar, as much as you like

At the self bar you could grab various ssam (wrap) vegetables yourself, so it was easy to get more whenever we ran low.

So what's in the 2- and 3-person sets?

The 2- and 3-person sets come with stone-bowl sushi, oyster jeotgal (salted fermented oysters), and doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) alongside the eel, which made the meal much more filling than eel alone. It also seemed like a good fit for anyone looking for a bar-restaurant near Sagajeong Station where they can eat and drink together.

We ordered the 2-person set that day. Even before the eel arrived, side dishes started filling the table one by one — ssam vegetables, pickled chives and onions, ginger, pickled peppers, marinated perilla leaves, and more, all good pairings for eel.

Eel grilled tableside over Yeoju charcoal

The eel is grilled over domestic Yeoju charcoal, and the heat from the charcoal was really strong.

The eel itself was plump and firm, looking delicious just sitting there. Best of all, a staff member grills it for you directly, so you don't have to worry about the grilling at all and can just eat comfortably. Eel is surprisingly tricky to grill well, so having someone handle it skillfully was great.

Snow mushroom grilled alongside

They also grilled a big snow mushroom together with the eel. Even my partner, who isn't a big mushroom fan, said it was tasty and ate it happily, haha. Grilled over charcoal, the mushroom was soft, moist, and nutty — a great match with the eel.

Eating the eel with the side dishes and ssam vegetables kept it from feeling heavy, so I just kept going.

Stone-bowl sushi and oyster jeotgal served midway

Another fun part of Cheonsangae Jangeoga was the dishes that arrived partway through the meal. Once you're a good ways into the eel, they bring out doenjang jjigae along with stone-bowl sushi you can top with eel, plus oyster jeotgal.

Eel on top of the stone-bowl sushi was great, and pairing it with the slightly spicy oyster jeotgal was another delicious surprise. With a lineup like this, it seemed like a great place to visit in the evening as a bar-restaurant near Sagajeong Station, with a drink on the side.

Potatoes pulled out from the charcoal

They also brought out potatoes that had been tucked in among the charcoal — cooked to a soft, fluffy texture, a real treat. Eating warm potatoes in between bites of eel was surprisingly filling.

Sungnyung, served on request

At the end, we heard they serve sungnyung (scorched rice tea) on request, so we asked for some. The portion was much bigger than expected — we were genuinely surprised, haha.

It was warm and savory, the perfect way to wrap up the meal, and eating a bit of oyster jeotgal alongside it paired the spicy-salty flavor nicely with the sungnyung's nuttiness.

In summary

Overall, this was a place where we could enjoy a generous spread from eel to side dishes to dessert. On weekdays, the lunch special makes it a solid, cost-effective option for anyone looking for lunch in Myeonmok-dong, and in the evening it's a good pick as a bar-restaurant near Sagajeong Station to enjoy eel with a drink.

Having the eel grilled for us made things easy, and the set was so well put together that this is a place I'd want to come back to next time I need a proper nourishing meal.