Grilled fish restaurant near Daecheong Dam, easy parking: Hwadeogeuro

I went to Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch, which sits on the road toward Daecheong Dam. We ordered two grilled mackerel sets at ₩16,000 each, and since it's cooked in a clay oven, the skin was crispy and the flesh inside stayed moist. Best of all, the parking space was wide so it was really convenient, and I could load up on side dishes and bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables) from the self-bar too — came away with a really satisfying meal!

Where is Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch, and what are its hours?

• 490 Sintanjin-ro, Jena-dong 102-ho, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, South Korea
• Mon–Fri 10:00–21:00 (break 15:30–17:00 / last order 20:20)
• Sat–Sun 10:00–21:00 (last order 20:20)

Parking on the road to Daecheong Dam

Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch is located on the road toward Daecheong Dam, and since the restaurant sits right along the street, it was easy to drive in.

The parking space was also pretty wide, so I felt at ease from the moment I parked. If you're looking for a Sintanjin restaurant you can drive to, this kind of thing feels like a real plus.

How big is the dining room?

Walking in, the restaurant was more spacious than I'd expected from outside.

There were quite a lot of tables and the gaps between seats weren't cramped, so it was comfortable to eat, and baby chairs were set up separately too.

Overall it was on the clean side, so it seemed like a good spot to bring parents or come for a family meal. There are also nourishing set menus, so it's a great place to eat with parents!

What's on the menu, from mackerel to hairtail?

Here's the menu board at Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo Sintanjin Branch.

• Grilled mackerel set ₩16,000
• Clay-oven Atka mackerel set ₩20,000
• Grilled Spanish mackerel set ₩22,000
• Grilled hairtail set ₩24,000
• Braised mackerel with bracken set ₩18,000
• Clay-oven pork set ₩16,000
• Seasoned crab set ₩28,000

We ordered two grilled mackerel sets, but since there are also braised mackerel and pork-type dishes, it seemed like a good spot to split orders if a fish person and a meat person come together.

You can choose between brown rice and white rice, so I went with brown rice!

The clay oven inside the restaurant

One thing that stood out a bit was that there's a separate clay oven inside the restaurant.

And there was someone stationed in front of it specifically to grill the fish. As soon as an order came in, they'd grill it right away, which felt a bit different from a typical grilled fish restaurant.

Maybe that's why the mackerel came out grilled to a nice golden brown. Because it was cooked in the clay oven, the skin was crispy while the flesh inside was soft and moist.

It was seasoned just right so it went well with plain white rice, and they also brought out lettuce so we could wrap the mackerel flesh in it — that was really tasty.

The soup that came standard was doenjang-guk (soybean paste soup), and it wasn't too salty.

What the self-bar offers: tteokbokki, pork cutlet, japchae, bibimbap

At first they bring you the basic side dishes, and if you want more you just help yourself from the self-bar!

There was tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), pork cutlet, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) and various other side dishes,

and I especially liked that there was a separate bibimbap corner. Rice and vegetables like zucchini, bean sprouts and radish namul (seasoned vegetable side dish) were all set up, plus sesame oil and gochujang (chili paste), so you could make your own bibimbap. There was a good variety of namul.

This radish kimchi in particular was so, so good that I refilled it several times.

Finished off with sungnyung (warm scorched-rice tea) to settle the stomach.

Is it a good spot to bring parents and kids?

Eating here this time, the food was on the clean side, but what stuck with me the most was the easy parking, the fish being grilled right in the clay oven inside the store, and the self-bar. The restaurant is spacious and baby chairs were ready, so it seemed good for a family meal, and since there are pork and braised dishes besides grilled fish, it looked easy to order even if the group's tastes differ.

If you're looking for a Sintanjin restaurant to stop by on the way to Daecheong Dam, or a Sintanjin grilled fish spot with easy parking, this is a place worth trying once.