Daejeon gizzard eel grill with cold noodles: Jinppaei

Where is Jinppaei, and is parking available?

Jinppaei (진빼이) is a restaurant specializing in live gizzard eel, live anago, and grilled shellfish in Bongmyeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, near Yuseong Spa Station. The address is 21 Oncheonbuk-ro 13beon-gil, first-floor unit 102.

According to the original post, the hours are Monday through Saturday from 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM the next day, and the restaurant is closed every Sunday. The post also said that two hours of free parking support was available at the Skyview City underground parking lot.

How can you order the gizzard eel?

The gizzard eel was available salt-grilled, sauce-grilled, or stir-fried on a stone plate. The live anago came salt-grilled, stir-fried on a stone plate, or as jjageuri, a thick stew. I was told that the restaurant uses live gizzard eel and anago, cleaning them in-house instead of using frozen products.

The menu also had sets pairing gizzard eel or anago with grilled shellfish, as well as sets combining gizzard eel with daegutang, a pollock soup. The shellfish sets could include scallops, pen shells, tomato spaghetti, stir-fried octopus, and shrimp and abalone grilled in butter. They were worth considering if several people were sharing different dishes.

Side dishes included odengtang, a fish cake soup, and fried eggs with perilla oil. Meal options included bibimmilmyeon, cold milmyeon, odeng ramen, soy sauce egg rice, and fried rice. This time, I ordered two portions of stone-plate stir-fried live gizzard eel.

What came with the meal?

There was plenty of lettuce, perilla leaves, and seasoned chives, which made the gizzard eel easy to eat as ssam, wrapped in leaves. Cucumber, carrot, cherry tomatoes, and quail eggs also came out, along with kimchi, garlic, Cheongyang chili peppers, and ssamjang. Adding garlic and Cheongyang chili gave the chewy gizzard eel a sharper flavor.

When I ordered a bottle of soju, they also gave me a Heotgae stick that day. The basic side dishes and the small extra service made for a pleasant start to the meal.

How did the stone-plate gizzard eel taste and feel?

The gizzard eel was cleaned and placed on the grill right away, and it was still moving on the hot plate. Once cooked, it had a chewy texture that worked well with the spicy, sweet sauce. To my taste, the sauce was more than simply hot; it developed a savory flavor the longer I chewed.

On the stone plate, the gizzard eel and sauce simmered together. I liked that the heat lingered, allowing me to eat everything warm until the end of the meal.

The chewy gizzard eel and sweet-spicy sauce paired well with soju. Eating it with the prepared greens and garlic also gave me more than one way to enjoy it.

What did I eat after the stone-plate stir-fry?

After finishing the gizzard eel, I stir-fried rice in the remaining sauce. The sweet-spicy sauce picked up a smoky flavor from the fire, making it the kind of ending I still wanted even though I was full.

At the end, I had cold milmyeon. After the stone-plate stir-fry and fried rice, my mouth felt a little heavy, but the cool broth and chewy noodles eased that feeling. It was a good finish after eating something hot and spicy.

This visit was satisfying from the stone-plate stir-fry through the fried rice and cold milmyeon. The basic side dishes and small extra service also stayed with me. It was a place I would think of again for drinks with friends, a group dinner, or a late-evening gathering.