Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo: Grilled Fish by Baegun Lake

Hello! Today I visited a newly opened grilled fish restaurant near Baegun Lake in Uiwang. Grilled fish is one of my favorite meals, but cooking it at home can leave a strong smell, and in hot weather it is especially hard to grill fish indoors. When I heard that a grilled fish place called “Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo” (화덕으로 간 고등어) had opened near Baegun Lake, I went right away. I live in Anyang, and I heard one had also opened there recently, but I went to the Baegun Lake branch with my mom to make it feel like more of an outing. It turned out to be a good choice because you can stop by a pretty cafe afterward, and it is also close to Time Villas.

The restaurant is located in the part of Baegun Lake where there are many restaurants. It is definitely more convenient to visit by car. Parking was fairly easy, with plenty of space, and there was also someone managing the parking area and guiding cars, so it did not feel inconvenient. 📍 Hours 11:00–21:00 Last order: 20:20 Break time on weekdays only: 15:00–17:00 📍 Parking Parking is available in front of the restaurant.

The inside was quite spacious. Maybe because it is newly opened, the chairs and tables all looked clean and comfortable. There seemed to be many family visitors too, and baby chairs were available.

Boyang set for two (sea eel, gireum gajami flatfish, mackerel, and braised fish)

I ordered the boyang set for two. It is a set that comes with both grilled fish and braised fish as the main dishes. The portion and value felt reasonable, and since I was there with my mom, the word “boyang,” meaning nourishing or restorative, caught my attention.

Once you order, they set the table like this right away. Side dishes and napa cabbage doenjang soup are served first. In addition to the side dishes brought to the table, there are more side dishes at the self-service bar, so you can comfortably help yourself.

At the self-service bar, there were several more side dishes in addition to the basic ones, including pickles, salad, muk, and jeon. What I liked was that a staff member kept managing the self-service bar. When food ran out, they refilled it quickly, and I noticed that they kept the area clean and organized. I always like seeing a self-service bar being managed this well.

The tteokbokki and japchae were seriously tasty. Since there were items like kimchi jeon and tteokbokki, I think children would enjoy coming here too.

The rice here is served as sotbap, Korean pot rice. I moved the rice and soup into the small dishes they provided and started eating. For two people, the meal came with grilled fish and braised fish, so the portion felt really generous.

The grilled fish selection included easy-to-like choices: gajami flatfish, mackerel, and eel. The braised fish was mackerel. Since there was already grilled mackerel, I wondered if the braised dish might be a different fish, but it was also mackerel. Maybe because the fish was grilled in a hwadeok oven, it looked extra golden and nicely browned. I really liked being able to enjoy fish that is hard to grill at home. The braised mackerel was better than I expected. It was braised with gosari, and eating that together with the mackerel felt a little different in a good way. It was not too salty, and the sauce had a slightly sweet and spicy flavor that seemed easy for many people to enjoy.

The eel was salty-savory and delicious when dipped in the sauce. They provide the eel sauce separately. The gajami was full of roe. Overall, the fish was not too salty and had a nice nutty flavor. Personally, I liked the gajami the most. It was fairly large, about the size of an adult man’s palm, and the big gajami was excellent. Eel is always good whenever you eat it. There were a few tiny bones, but nothing major. I enjoyed it with the sauce.

This is how the sotbap is served. Freshly cooked pot rice with grilled fish is hard to resist. After scooping out the rice and adding water to the pot, the golden nurungji was ready around the end of the meal. I also like eating grilled fish with rice in warm water, so I ate the leftover fish with the nurungji too. As expected, it was really good, especially with the braised mackerel. I know Baegun Lake has many good Korean restaurants, but this was the first place I had seen there serving this kind of grilled fish set meal. I visited on a weekday afternoon, and it was almost full. It may have been because it was vacation season, but it still felt like a sign that the place is popular. There are also many pretty cafes nearby, so if you are looking for a place to eat around Baegun Lake, I highly recommend Hwadeogeuro Gan Godeungeo. #BaegunLakeRestaurants #BaegunLakeKoreanFood #BaegunLakeGrilledFish #BaegunLakeSotbap #UiwangGrilledFish #BaegunLakeMackerel #UiwangFishRestaurant #BaegunLakeBoyangMeal #UiwangBoyangMeal #BaegunLakeEel