Daebudo monkfish stew restaurant with roe fried rice: Haemokjeong

I went to a boneless monkfish stew spot! Haemokjeong in Daebudo

On a Daebudo day trip, I stopped by Haemokjeong for lunch! I've been to Daebudo a few times, but I can't just keep eating grandma's kalguksu (noodle soup) every time, haha.

I was torn between the seafood stew and the seafood rib stew, but on Tank Boy's pick, we ordered the boneless monkfish stew :)

Finding Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch and booking on Naver

Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch is at 97 Sangdong-ro, Danwon-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi, 1st floor, and Naver reservation is available, so we walked in with no waiting. The clean exterior made it look like it had newly opened.

Since Naver reservation was available, I booked ahead, and surprisingly a lot of people were coming with reservations too. It had a real family-restaurant vibe.

There was also a lunch special discount, so there were more menu options to choose from, haha (weekdays only, discount from 11–15:00!)

What's on the menu at Haemokjeong

Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch has a wide menu — monkfish stew, seafood stew, seafood rib stew, octopus, fried rice, and more. There were so many options I really had a hard time deciding what to eat 🤔

I guess there's a reason so many families come here. With such a wide variety of menu items, there's something to match everyone's taste, haha.

Hours, parking and reservations at Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch

• Hours: Mon–Sat 11:00–22:00
• Closed every Monday
• No break time
• Last order 21:00
• Parking: Available (in front of the restaurant)
• Waiting: None / Reservation: Yes (Naver reservation)

Inside Haemokjeong: seating and the side dishes

Once you step inside Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch, it's clean and has surprisingly plenty of spacious seating.

Individually wrapped spoons and chopsticks put my mind at ease — that hygienic feeling, haha. Really nice.

And the gas burner on the table was really spotless too! Feels like the owner takes really good care of things, haha. Looked brand new!👍👍👍

While waiting for the boneless monkfish stew, the basic side dishes came out: braised potatoes, chive salad, white kimchi, pickled peppers(?), and a glass noodle salad.

Honestly the seaweed soup wasn't really my style, haha... (well, that's just a matter of taste)

Is this the glass noodle salad...? Haha anyway, that tangy mustard sauce tasted like a jellyfish salad! Surprisingly the kind of thing you keep wanting to eat more of, haha...

The white kimchi was really tasty too, haha. The sign says the sides are self-serve, but if you grab the empty dish, the owner refills it for you, haha.

Boneless monkfish stew for two at 35,000 won: how does it taste?

Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch's boneless monkfish stew for two costs ₩35,000. Finally, here it is — ⭐️the boneless monkfish stew (for 2)⭐️

Just my honest take while eating the monkfish stew — it kind of tasted like a seafood tteokbokki (spicy rice cake stew)? The sweet-and-spicy sauce was really good! Not quite the classic grandma-style taste, but more of a slightly modernized version, haha. Which means — it's delicious.

There were tteokbokki rice cakes mixed in too, and they really went well with it.

The visuals were amazing too... I don't like minari (water dropwort) so I gave mine to Tank Boy, haha. It comes already cooked, but since it's served on a hot plate, once it cools down you can just turn on the burner and heat it right back up — that was really nice.

Since it's boneless, you don't have to pick out any bones, which I loved!!!! The monkfish was so plump and the roe was so plentiful too...!!!

Can you tell this blogger's passion...? Haha, I really took so many photos.

Self-serve fried rice with flying fish roe

At Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch, while eating the monkfish stew, you can add fried rice and cook it yourself right on the hot plate. This is the K-dessert fried rice I've wanted to eat again ever since last time~~~ I saw the fried rice item on the menu and added a self-fried rice to finish the meal off properly!!

You just fry it up yourself. We added the sauce ourselves and seasoned it to taste, haha. With a bit of experience, even a casual job turned out delicious fried rice!

If the fried rice at the end isn't good, it's such a letdown... but Haemokjeong's fried rice was great from the sauce alone, so I was completely satisfied eating it.

There was flying fish roe in it, popping with every bite — so good... ㅠㅠ I want to eat it again!!!

Eating that plump monkfish meat together with it — how could it not be delicious? Drool~~~

Fried it up pretty well, right? Haha. One bowl felt like two servings... it's really a generous portion!!

The secret hidden in Haemokjeong's chairs

The chairs at Haemokjeong Daebudo Branch have a storage compartment built in. I just casually cleared the table and happened to discover the chairs' secret, haha.

All the chairs had a compartment, so I thought it might be for storing clothes and tried to open it, but it wouldn't open~?

So I looked around and found that the opening was actually on the other side, haha. But I only discovered this after finishing the meal. Ate well, thanks!❣️