Mala kaoyu with three self-bar sauces and cucumber salad in Daejeon

Today I'm introducing a restaurant in Dunsan-dong called Bantiannyao Kaoyu❕ I'd seen people waiting in line here and really wanted to check it out, and I finally made it🥺 I'd never tried kaoyu before either, so I went in with high expectations!!🔥

[Dunsan-dong, Daejeon] Bantiannyao Kaoyu

Bantiannyao Kaoyu location and hours

• 📍Location: 13 Dunsan-ro 31beon-gil, Seo-gu, Daejeon, 2nd floor, unit 1, South Korea
• ⏰Hours: Daily 11:00–22:30
• 🅿️Parking: Dedicated lot behind the restaurant / nearby public parking

Bantiannyao Kaoyu is located near Galleria!! Go up to the 2nd floor of the building with Gong Cha, across from Zara😊

Clean, tidy look from the outside!!✨

The inside is pretty spacious!! There are private rooms and lots of tables, so it seems great for gatherings or large groups👍🏻

How do you order kaoyu here?

Once you sit down, the menu is laid out like this〰️

First, you choose which kaoyu you want. It's not on the menu board, but apparently they just released garlic mala kaoyu as a new item!!! Garlic mala kaoyu — the name alone means no Korean could dislike it🤍

Next, you choose the fish. We wanted to try sea bass, but were told only ningbo fish was available that day😢

After that, you choose your toppings, then sides or drinks!!

Write a Naver review and get cucumber salad, verify an Instagram follow and get a cotton tofu topping, subscribe to Bantiannyao Kaoyu's YouTube and get 2 pieces of cream sweet and sour pork. So many perks to grab!!! Don't miss out, make sure to try them🤍

The ₩2,000 per person self bar and sauce combos

For just ₩2,000 per person, you get all-you-can-eat access to the self bar, which has rice, soft drinks, snacks, and a sauce bar😊

First, the most important part — the sauce bar!!! There's a wide variety, so you can mix and match to your taste>,< There are even sauce tips written out so you can experiment with combos👍🏻

I made three sauces: Bantiannyao secret sauce, savory peanut sauce, and garlic sauce>,<

You can get rice here too, and even rice paper — though I honestly forgot about the rice paper until I noticed it on the way out,,,😩

Soft drinks and ice cream are also all-you-can-eat!!! There's so much to enjoy, so I really recommend using the self bar🤍 Especially the drinks and sauces — those are essential, so extra recommend,,✨

Mala kaoyu ₩43,000 — how's the ningbo fish?

🌟Mala kaoyu (₩43,000)

The huge ningbo fish arrives!! It was so big I just kept staring in awe😖 Kaoyu is a Chinese-style dish where grilled freshwater fish is simmered in spicy sauce👍🏻 There are three spice levels — mild (Jin Ramen), medium (Shin Ramen), and spicy (Buldak) — but if you don't say anything, you get medium➿

We debated which topping to add and, wanting variety, ordered the vegetable-mushroom mixed topping!!

They plate the boneless parts on top like this, and told us the fish underneath has more bones, so eat carefully😊

You can tell just by looking that the flesh is super tender. (The flesh they plated on top was even better dipped back into the hot broth>,<) Since it's a freshwater fish, there was a slight muddy smell, but the mala seasoning covers it up quite a bit!!

I tried dipping the fish into the sauces. Personally, the savory peanut sauce and garlic sauce were amazing🥺 That savoriness went so well with the mala sauce,, The Bantiannyao secret sauce didn't add much since it's mala kaoyu anyway — mala plus mala…!

What's in the vegetable-mushroom mixed topping

After eating for a while, we added in the vegetable-mushroom mixed topping we'd ordered!!

There's a huge variety of ingredients — napa cabbage, enoki mushroom, wood ear mushroom, oyster mushroom, lotus root, panda glass noodles, tofu, and meatballs, among others!! If you want variety, order the mixed topping; if you want a specific vegetable only, ordering it à la carte is better➿ I'm a glass noodle lover, so the panda glass noodles were amazing,,

As it keeps simmering, the seasoning gets a bit stronger — if that happens, just ask for more broth and they'll top it up❕

Review-event cucumber salad and ice cream for dessert

This is the cucumber salad we got from the review event — with such a rich dish, the fresh cucumber cuts through the greasiness nicely!! But the sauce is Chinese soy sauce-based, so it has a bit of a funky, pungent smell — if you're not into that, maybe skip it,,👀

To finish, ice cream included with the self bar!! Great way to end with a cool dessert🩷

Daejeon's first kaoyu restaurant!! It's a less common dish, which makes it even more appealing✨ If you love fish and mala, you'll probably be super satisfied!!!!!! If you're curious about kaoyu, I recommend Bantiannyao Kaoyu🤍🤍