Hwaseong Korean restaurant for grilled mackerel and pork: Hwadamga

Visit date: September 6, 2026

A full meal of grilled fish and spicy pork in Bongdam: Hwadamga

Hours are 11:00–22:00, with a break from 15:00–17:00; last order is at 21:30. Parking is available in front of the restaurant.

The sky was seriously incredible. The weather that day was amazing,, on a day like this you absolutely have to get out haha. Actually, I took this on the way out after we’d eaten.

There was a drinks refrigerator as soon as we came in. The restaurant is really spacious. Each table is divided up almost like partitions, so you can enjoy your meal privately haha.

Every table had one of those things that sucks up smoke(?) that you use when grilling meat haha. You can grill meat here too! There was also a tablet at every table. Ordering by tablet is so convenient these days haha. Oh, and there was sesame oil and gochujang (Korean red chili paste), too haha. I’ll explain that later haha.

The wall décor was interesting, so I took a photo haha.

Ordering the grilled mackerel and spicy pork set meals

Such an AI-looking menu. I brought it over from the Naver business listing haha. Hwadamga’s Korean beef stone-plate spread is apparently really famous too haha. I debated it, then decided on the set meals haha. Wait, I’m only noticing now that you can upgrade the barley rice to stone-pot rice for ₩2,000? I didn’t even know it came with barley rice to begin with—what a shame ㅠ.

• Oven-grilled mackerel set meal: ₩16,000
• Fire-grilled spicy pork set meal: ₩16,000
• Mul-naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles in broth): ₩7,000
• Total: ₩39,000

There’s a huge kitchen on one side, and the self-serve bar is all here too!!

A generous self-serve bar with side dishes, wraps, and rice

The self-serve bar is seriously killer haha. There are so many kinds of side dishes too!

There’s also a separate area for lettuce, perilla leaves, and all kinds of sauces! I really liked that it was completely separate from the self-serve bar haha.

So many side dishes I love: fresh seasoned vegetables, young-radish kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts, stir-fried mushrooms, bok choy, bracken fern, and more. The self-serve bar power is unreal. There was also a spot to scoop up japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) and miyeok-guk (seaweed soup). Wait, they give you japchae..? And there was meat in the seaweed soup—actual meat.

I photographed every side dish because I wanted to show you. The young-radish kimchi and perilla leaves were insanely good. I love white kimchi, so that was completely welcome. There was bracken fern and stir-fried zucchini too haha.

You can have unlimited refills of rice too haha. People with big appetites should eat here haha. I’ll take white rice though haha.

A big container of white rice like this haha. The rice at the self-serve bar looked so good. They must use good rice haha.

They had side-dish bowls ready, plus trays and tableware for babies! Sauce bowls too!!!! I could just take whatever I wanted haha.

Well-seasoned mackerel and fire-scented spicy pork

Ta-da, I set everything out at the table like this haha. The spicy pork was already out haha. Hahaha, I added some japchae too haha. And the oven-grilled mackerel arrived!!!!

My beloved spicy pork arrived too haha. Ah, this spicy pork was really delicious haha.

Is this gang-doenjang (thick soybean paste dip)? It seemed like tofu mixed with doenjang, and I’m not sure what that greens dish was. Both were insanely delicious haha.

Wasabi and sauce for dipping the grilled mackerel came too haha. This is tuna rice haha. I don’t like barley rice, so I brought white rice haha~

Anyway, the table was completely full. So many side dishes, right? It was almost like we’d come to a hansik (Korean set-meal) restaurant hahaha. Totally my style ㅠ I love spreading out tons of side dishes and eating ㅠ.

Plump mackerel flesh haha. It was grilled so beautifully, wasn’t it?

I decided to try the spicy pork wrapped in lettuce haha. I added young-radish kimchi too. The pork seasoning was totally my style; sweet with what felt like a fire-grilled aroma—the exact flavor we love!!!!!! The fat-to-meat ratio was perfect too~!

Time to pull apart the mackerel. Wow, the fish was already seasoned all the way through, so it was so good even without wasabi or sauce. Seriously so, so good. It was piping hot, and I like mackerel that’s already well seasoned. I don’t like grilled fish when it’s too bland. Firmly.

I’m a young-radish-kimchi fanatic haha. Mackerel over white rice with young-radish kimchi, yum haha. Hahaha, it’s heaven, really haha. The mackerel flesh was unbelievably soft and moist ㅠ.

I decided to put a little gang-doenjang over rice and mix it up,,,, aaaaaahㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ it was ridiculously delicious ㅠ.

Mul-naengmyeon and bibimbap with the remaining side dishes

Mul-naengmyeon packed with slushy ice arrived. The naengmyeon here was good. It definitely felt like a side dish, though hahaha. Maybe steamed egg would have paired better, but it was nice as a little palate cleanser haha. You know that exact naengmyeon flavor we all picture? With extra tanginess and chill, haha.

After eating until we were bursting, I decided to mix the remaining side dishes into bibimbap,,,, You remember the sesame oil and gochujang on the table earlier? That’s just a cheat-code combination. The color was insane ㅠ Ah~~~~~~ have a bite. Ah, I love bracken fern and bok choy, so I was happy they had both at the self-serve bar. With bean sprouts too, it was basically a sign from God telling me to mix up rice ㅠ.

Private rooms and dessert drinks for a family meal

I took a photo on the way to the restroom! There are lots of private rooms like this too!! I think it would be great to come with family. I wanted to photograph inside a room, but every room had guests, so there wasn’t a single empty one.

I really think this would be great with family because they have high chairs perfectly stocked! From wraps to side dishes, everything is at the self-serve bar, so I think my mom and dad would especially love it!! Also, grilled fish is hard to eat at home, so I really like having grilled fish when I’m out haha.

Next to the self-serve bar, there was also an area for coffee and drinks. It was nice that the seating was divided like this—it felt like a completely different space haha.

There were lots of people, so there weren’t many drinks left haha. Hahaha. There was coffee and juice too haha.

The juice was ridiculously good hahaha. I like that they take care of dessert like this haha.

As I was leaving, I saw all this Suyangmi rice. That must be why the rice was so good. I should have paid ₩2,000 extra to upgrade to stone-pot rice, silly me—I’m so sad!! When I come back with my parents, I have to get it.

It looked like this side hadn’t opened yet, but the dining hall over here was this spacious too. It’s much bigger than I expected. Anyway, delicious meal complete!!!!!!!

Things to remember about Hwadamga

• Great for coming with family! There are private rooms for a more private meal.
• There are high chairs too! Not only floor high chairs, but ones that sit on a chair as well—I thought our chubby little one would like sitting in one haha.
• It was so nice that rice, wrap vegetables, and soup were all stocked at the self-serve bar.
• Both the grilled mackerel set meal and spicy pork were so delicious that I’m ordering these again next time.
• Note that you can upgrade barley rice to stone-pot rice for ₩2,000 extra!
• They also had a stone-plate grill where you cook seafood and meat together, and that looked so delicious too ㅠ.
• Oh, you need to order one menu item per person to use the self-serve bar!!!!!!