Bongdam grilled mackerel set with sujanghyangmi rice, self-serve sides

Hwaseong Bongdam restaurant 'Hwadamga' Location: 58 Nangnaegi-gil, Bongdam-eup, Hyohaeng-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00 (break time 15:00–17:00)

Today I'm introducing Hwadamga, a wood-fired grilled fish restaurant in Bongdam, Hwaseong. Crispy-outside, moist-inside fish grilled over a wood fire, plus a table groaning under a 12-side-dish spread that satisfied the whole family — I think this place would be great for taking your parents out too 😉 Here's my post on the generously loaded table at Hwadamga^^

Location and parking at Hwadamga

It's located as a standalone building near Bongdam Xi apartments in Hwaseong, so the space is spacious and there's plenty of parking available 👍

The exterior is clean from the outside, so it's great for hosting guests, and above all, I think your parents would be satisfied too. Let's go in with high expectations^^

Inside the restaurant, room seating that's comfortable with kids

The kitchen you see right when you walk in looked clean and well-managed at a glance, which made me trust the place even more 👍

Further inside there are private rooms, which would work great for anniversaries or gatherings on special occasions 👍

Even outside the rooms, every seat has a private feel to it, so I could comfortably eat with the kids^^

There's omija (schisandra berry) and mango drinks to sip while eating, and even dessert coffee afterward — no need to go to a café separately 😉

What's on the self-serve side dish bar

At the self-serve bar in the middle of the restaurant, you scoop out however much of each side dish you want beforehand^^ Personally I was really satisfied with the warm, countryside-grandma-style side dishes and namul (seasoned vegetables), and there were kid-friendly options like stir-fried anchovies and seaweed stem, so it was great for feeding the children 👍

They're thorough about tracking the origin of ingredients too, so I'm officially a regular candidate now ✌️ All the meat is domestic, so I need to try the meat dishes next time. And hearing that sujanghyangmi (a premium rice variety) is served, I can't help but get my hopes up 😉

Menu information

The wood-fired grilled fish options include dried yellow croaker, grilled mackerel, hairtail, and atka mackerel, and there's even a kids' pork cutlet, so there's plenty of choice. If you're into meat, the pork stir-fry or boiled pork sets would be good too haha. Any main dish you feel is missing can be added à la carte, so let's eat generously 😆 Adding the sujanghyangmi hotpot rice for ₩2,000 gets you even better rice. This one's a must 👌

The Korean beef and Korean pork sets served in the evening looked so appetizing I hesitated for a moment haha, but since I came for the grilled fish, I saved the meat for next time ㅋ

• Mackerel set for two (+rice upgrade)
• Grilled pork belly stir-fry set

What we ordered

We brought over small portions of the side dishes we planned to eat!! Tasting them one by one — wow, these alone could finish off a bowl of rice, they were that good 👍 (I ended up refilling once more, it was that kind of taste haha)

Finally the mackerel and pork stir-fry we ordered arrived, and the soybean paste stew included in the set had a savory flavor and was packed with ingredients, making for a hearty meal^^

Ta-da 👏👏👏👏 Sujanghyangmi is famous for its subtle fragrance, shine, and chewy texture, so it's one of my favorite rices! As expected, it was cooked into fluffy, glossy rice with a natural sweetness, so it went well with any side dish 😍

Wood-fired grilled fish

Grilled over a wood fire, all the excess oil was gone, leaving only moistness — this was the real deal 👍 The mackerel was also huge, so the portion was quite substantial.

With such plump flesh, dipping it into the special soy sauce ㅜㅜㅜㅜ a familiar taste is scary, the moist mackerel flesh was so sweet and tender 😉 It ranked among the best mackerel I've ever had^^

The best way to eat mackerel is piled right on top of hot white rice for a bite ㅋㅋㅋㅋ The seasoning was just right, not too salty, so it went down really easily ㅋㅋ

Grilled pork belly stir-fry set

Since we didn't add the hotpot rice for this set, the standard barley-mixed rice was great for mixing with the pork stir-fry 🙏 Grilled directly over the flame, it had a distinct smoky flavor, slightly sweet and not spicy at all, so my 4th-grade son ate it up really well ㅋ

Wrapping it with the leafy greens from the self-serve bar, the pork stir-fry — the eternal soul food of Korean men — comes in unlimited portions ㅋ

The finish was, of course, nurungji (scorched rice) 😉 Eating it with the leftover side dishes, its intense savory flavor kept me eating even when I was already full, right up to bursting point 🙏 (Since it's sujanghyangmi, even the nurungji was delicious ㅋ)

Final thoughts

In a spacious, pleasant space, every single side dish was genuinely delicious, and the wood-fired grilled fish is the kind of flavor you keep thinking about, so I'm planning to bring my parents again soon 😍 Since Yungneung and Geolleung royal tombs are nearby in Bongdam, Hwaseong, stopping by after a fall walk with the kids would be well worth it^^ Highly recommend it~~~