Suwon Gwonseon-dong braised cutlassfish with aged kimchi: Godeungeo

Why Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda suits a family meal in Gwonseon-dong, Suwon

If you're looking for a spot for a get-together or family meal, listen up~! There's a mackerel restaurant in Gwonseon-dong/Tapdong that's been getting a lot of word-of-mouth. My mom had been recommended it by people around her for a while and wanted to come, so this time I took her and we visited Godeungeo Myeongpumi Doeda!

What surprised me a bit from the moment we arrived was that the place was bigger than I expected.

Even if a place is famous for its food, if there's nowhere to park you end up circling the block a few times and getting worn out before you've even eaten, right? But here the parking space is spacious and the building is big, so even before going in you get the feeling — this must be a serious go-to spot~

Near the entrance there was a pretty waiting area, like a cafeteria. I went almost at closing time on a weekday so I got seated right away, but apparently there's a wait on weekends. You can join the waitlist via CatchTable!

As you walk in you can see mackerel swimming around — you can't even imagine how fresh they are! Showing off freshness like that really builds trust. I'll have to come back once more just to try the mackerel or croaker sashimi.

The dining hall is really spacious too — my mom's jaw dropped the moment we walked in haha. It already looked pretty big from outside, but once inside the tables were generously spaced, so it wasn't noisy or chaotic — a comfortable atmosphere to eat in.

When eating out with family, along with the food itself you look for easy parking, spacious seating, and a menu most people will like — this place nails all of that!

What banchan and self-bar items come with the meal?

Before the main dishes even arrive, the banchan (side dishes) come out first, filling the table like you've walked into a hanjeongsik (full Korean course) restaurant. There's such a variety that the table fills up in no time.

Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and cham-namul (aster greens)! Mom's number-one pick was the cham-namul! It has that tangy-sweet flavor you keep reaching for, and apparently this place has 'beef with sesame seeds' haha — they're generous with sesame seeds and she loved that.

Cucumber muchim (seasoned salad) and cheongpomuk muchim (mung bean jelly salad). For me the cucumber salad was the best. Cucumbers are pricey these days and I was surprised they gave so much. The mung bean jelly salad was tender and nutty too — every single banchan was excellent!

And then there's the self-bar, my family's absolute favorite! It's why you don't have to feel shy about piling banchan on your plate. Being able to eat this much delicious food unlimited — so nice~

Sometimes self-bars only have kimchi and none of the popular banchan like japchae or mung bean jelly, but here every kind of dish was there in generous amounts. Little things like this make you feel the generosity of the place and put you in a good mood!

On top of that, there was even seaweed soup and sungnyung (scorched rice tea). At this rate you could skip the main dish entirely and fill up just refilling banchan and soup haha.

And here's another great surprise! Gochujang bulgogi (spicy pork stir-fry) comes out along with the side dishes! I was like, wait, this comes as a side dish?! And it wasn't tiny bits of meat drowning in sauce either — the meat pieces were genuinely large and thick.

Gochujang bulgogi is also on the main menu, so this seemed like a mini version. Put a piece of it on warm rice and it's spicy-sweet and delicious.

Ordering grilled mackerel and braised cutlassfish together

Finally, the main dishes arrive~ Looking at this, doesn't it put a hanjeongsik restaurant to shame?

Grilled mackerel, 16,000 won

The mackerel came out grilled to a nice golden brown. Just looking at it made me crave rice! A squeeze of lemon juice on top brings out the umami even more.

Pick apart the golden-grilled mackerel flesh a bit with your chopsticks and the moist inside shows — completely tender and clean-tasting. Since it's fresh mackerel rather than salted mackerel, it has a fresh, nutty flavor. If you're used to jaban godeungeo (salted mackerel), this might taste a bit plain — but soy sauce and wasabi are ready in the table drawer, so dip it in and enjoy!

Braised cutlassfish with aged kimchi, 19,000 won per person

Braised cutlassfish can only be ordered for 2 or more people. There were three of us, so we ordered one grilled mackerel and cutlassfish for two.

The cutlassfish pieces were huge and thick, packed in generously. With braised cutlassfish the sauce flavor matters most, and this one wasn't overly spicy or just heavily sweet — it was the kind of flavor that pairs well with rice.

The cutlassfish flesh was super tender and fluffy. Pull off a big juicy piece, dip it lightly in the sauce, and it breaks apart softly in your mouth — genuinely the kind of dish you inhale.

And the braised radish and mugeunji (aged kimchi) were another highlight! The radish was cooked through and sweet, and the aged kimchi tore apart softly, soaked in sauce — an absolute rice thief!

Pull off a bit of cutlassfish, put it on rice, and top it with a spoonful of that sauce-soaked aged kimchi — game over!! No matter how carefully you try to pace yourself, a bowl of rice disappears in no time, magic haha. In the end we ordered another bowl.

A spoonful of seaweed soup and banchan~ Another spoonful with the gochujang bulgogi~ A piece of grilled mackerel on a spoonful of rice~ A spoonful of braised cutlassfish~ And another spoonful with aged kimchi and braised radish! And then it loops right back to the start...

Before I knew it, two bowls of rice were gone, the table was empty, and my stomach was full! A truly hearty and satisfying meal.

There's also a separate restroom, and it was clean. Recommended as a spot for family gatherings! Recommended for the day you think 'I want a proper home-style meal today!' I'd 100% go back.