Hwaseong weekend lunch with kids for wood-fired hairtail set: Hwadamga

Last weekend I went with my husband and child for a family meal at Hwadamga, and it was a great choice.

This place has also been recommended as one of the best grilled fish restaurants in Bongdam.

The sky was so clear when we visited. It's gotten cooler lately, feels like autumn has arrived haha. Once inside, you can see the kitchen where the fish is grilled.

Suhyangmi hot-pot rice and business hours

The hot-pot rice at Bongdam favorite Hwadamga is delicious — apparently they use suhyangmi rice from Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, and they even sell the rice directly. As for hours, the restaurant is open daily from 11am to 10pm, with a break time from 3pm to 5pm, and last order is at 9:30pm.

Browsing the menu: grilled fish, meat, and seafood

The lunch crowd had really piled in that day, so the tables were still full of dishes and we had to wait a bit. Luckily the owner cleared things quickly haha. Once seated, you order through the tablet at the table.

I ordered the wood-fired hairtail set for ₩21,000, and my husband got the wood-fired mackerel set for ₩16,000. There were also kid-friendly dishes, so it seemed perfect for a family outing. The boiled pork (suyuk), dried yellow corvina (bori-gulbi), and stir-fried pork all looked delicious too — great for sharing if you come in a group. The hot-pot rice was ₩2,000 extra. They also had Korean pork (hanwoo) and seafood on the menu. For sides and extras, there was a wide range — stone-plate jjapaguri, steamed egg, cold buckwheat noodles, and more.

On top of that, the drinks menu had a really wide variety too. It seems like a great spot for a drink with friends or family gatherings. We just went with a light Zero Coke haha.

A well-stocked self-serve bar

Heading over to the self-serve bar, one side had seaweed soup and japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) ready.

Behind that were wild greens and various other side dishes — I thought they'd work great mixed into rice as a bibimbap. But the basic side dishes that came with our meal were just the right amount, so we didn't end up using the bar much.

At this Bongdam favorite, you can grab lettuce wraps to go with the grilled fish too — perfect for making ssambap (rice wrapped in greens), right? Haha. They give you a snail miso wrap sauce, which was delicious wrapped around rice. There's also a stir-fried pork set on the menu that would pair well with it.

The drinks had actually run out because there were so many guests that day, but there was omija (schisandra berry) juice and mango juice to drink.

Back at the table, I took a spoonful of the seaweed soup first and it was genuinely delicious haha. Nothing beats this for postpartum recovery.

Enjoying a family meal with hairtail and mackerel

After the wait, true to Bongdam grilled-fish-restaurant form, the hairtail and mackerel arrived. Grilled in the wood-fired oven true to the restaurant's name, you can just tell it's crispy outside and tender inside from the look of it.

The doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) that came with the meal at Hwadamga also had deep flavor. It would go through a bowl of rice in no time.

My partner said the mackerel, with its thick flesh, was more delicious, but I love hairtail so much haha — I ate to my heart's content.

My hand kept reaching for the japchae, and the seasoned greens next to it kept going with the rice too haha.

They give you soy sauce for dipping the mackerel, but it's delicious even plain — savory and just salty enough. Pick the bones out of the hairtail carefully and it's a total rice thief, haha.

A look at the seating inside

When we first arrived, we were seated close to the counter. The seats had backrests, so we ate comfortably.

Seats are arranged on either side of the self-serve bar — it looked good for 2 or 3 people as well as larger groups. I also liked that the tables had plenty of space between them.

If you want more privacy, there's also room seating available, making it a great spot for a family meal. We fell for the food and decided to come back to Hwadamga, a favorite grilled fish restaurant in Bongdam. Looking around, there were plenty of other families with kids eating there too.

Location: 58 Nangnaegi-gil, Bongdam-eup, Hyohaeng-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor