Gwangju eel BBQ, first-time date & 80-car lot: Deokeun Jangeo

Today I went to eat eel with my boyfriend!! I had passed Deokeun Jangeo in Buk-gu, Gwangju, a few times, so we finally came.

Deokeun Jangeo Main Branch: location, hours and parking

Deokeun Jangeo Main Branch (더큰장어 본점) is at 596 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, on the first floor, and it is open daily 11:00–22:00 (last order 20:30). It has its own parking lot that fits up to 80 cars at once.

Everything is clearly signposted from the parking lot down to the entrance, which I loved so much.

Just follow the signs like this and you end up at the place where you buy the eel.

How does Deokeun Jangeo work? Is there a wait?

Deokeun Jangeo Main Branch is a direct-sales shop, so you pick and buy your eel yourself, then head upstairs to grill and eat it. If there's a wait, put your name down, and when your turn comes, choose your eel, buy it and go up. We went a bit after dinner time and only one team was ahead of us, so we barely waited.

Table fee and how payment works

The table fee at Deokeun Jangeo is ₩4,000 for adults and ₩2,000 for preschoolers. You pay the table fee and any extra menu items on your way out after eating. Since it's charcoal grilling, there's a lot of smoke, so the elderly and newborns should be careful!!

I liked that you can choose exactly which eel you want, and the price was cheaper than I expected, so it felt easy to eat without worrying about the bill.

The self-bar and basic setup

One of the things I liked most at Deokeun Jangeo Main Branch was the self-bar! As you eat, you sometimes want more side dishes or more wrap greens, and with the self-bar you can just go grab them.

Once we got upstairs, the charcoal and basic side dishes were already set. You take a basket to pick up vegetables, and it would be nice to bring some salad-type things too.

Is it okay if it's your first time grilling eel?

The tables at Deokeun Jangeo have instructions on how to grill eel. It was our first time eating eel together and we were like, how do we grill this?, but it's all explained right there, so we just read it and followed along haha

There were several dessert-type options too, but we ordered cold noodles (mul-naengmyeon) and one bowl of rice.

How was the charcoal-grilled eel?

Grilled over charcoal, the eel had a smoky aroma and was rich and delicious. My boyfriend grilled it so it wasn't overcooked, which made the texture great, and it never got heavy, so I kept eating. I usually only see him grilling meat, but today he was busily grilling eel 🐯 thank you for grilling it so well~~~~~~~

The cold noodles came out quickly just as we were eating, and we enjoyed them together!! I recommend eating the eel with the cold noodles.

I love wrapping everything, so I made lots of wraps with the vegetables I brought from the self-bar.

The eel wasn't fishy at all and was super plump, so we both ate really well haha

Restroom gargle, review ice cream and coffee

The restroom at Deokeun Jangeo Main Branch even has gargle, so it would be great to gargle once before you leave 🫪

When you pay after eating, you get a receipt, and if you write a Naver review you get one ice cream per person, so we wrote reviews and had one each for dessert.

You can also have coffee, so if you skip the ice cream, coffee would be a nice choice too.

Deokeun Jangeo Main Branch in Gwangju was a good pick for when you're craving eel. It's a tasty, filling meal. Recommended for anyone looking for an eel restaurant in Gwangju!!🐟