Gangnam Station restaurant with a 12-seat group table: Moa Gangnam

How hard is it to book Moa Gangnam near Gangnam Station?

Moa Gangnam is a fusion Korean restaurant on Teheran-ro 5-gil near Gangnam Station. Honestly, this place was really hard to book... I tried through Naver Reservation but every slot was already full, so I set an alarm for cancellations, and dramatically(?) snagged the first evening seating at 5pm. That's how I ended up at Moa Gangnam!!

They call it fusion Korean food, and honestly around Gangnam Station most options are either franchises or Western food, so a fusion Korean spot felt like a great alternative when you can't decide — no wonder people flock here lol. Even at the very first seating, people were already lining up out front... wow...!

The group table for up to 12, made for engagement gatherings

The group table, ready for gatherings

On the Sunday evening I visited, most of the tables really were mid-engagement-dinner lolol. I've been to a few places known as good spots for these gatherings, but I'd never seen this many happening at once haha. There's a table in the middle that can seat a solid 12, which seems to be exactly why it's so good for group get-togethers.

Plenty of people were there for gatherings, but the window seats were full of what looked like dates too — I couldn't help but think the owner must be raking it in lol. And honestly, the food was really good, especially for Gangnam Station standards(?) lolol.

What to order from Moa Gangnam's fusion Korean menu

Moa Gangnam's signature dishes are apparently the abalone mushroom butter pot rice, perilla oil salted seafood pasta, and doenjang arancini!!! We ordered the abalone mushroom butter pot rice, gondre cream sujebi, and grilled scallop and endive bites!!

Gondre cream sujebi (hand-torn dough soup) with perilla powder and cheese

The first dish was gondre cream sujebi~~~ sujebi dumplings dropped into a cream base, topped generously with perilla powder and grated cheese on top, and the nutty aroma just filled the air.

The cream sauce simmered with the gondre (mountain greens) had a slightly bluish cream color that looked really appetizing!! The gondre braised in the cream was so soft it had a clean, mild flavor, and there was shrimp in the cream sujebi too — the combination felt unique~

The gondre was stir-fried on high heat so it had a deep aroma, and it blended so well into the sujebi's cream that it was rich and nutty, almost like a soup!!

This shows the sujebi soaked in the cream sauce, which had a slightly sweet edge to it, so it didn't feel too heavy like traditional Korean food — it had exactly that fusion Korean vibe that's great for sharing with friends your age. Very satisfying!!

Abalone mushroom butter pot rice: the personal number one

Next came one of Moa Gangnam's signature dishes, the abalone mushroom butter pot rice!! They put in way more abalone than I expected, and it was packed with shiitake mushrooms too, so it seemed pretty nutritious~~ A single pat of butter sat right on top of the pot rice.

While the heat was still at its peak, I gave it a good shake and stir to coat everything in the butter.

There were so many ingredients that I had to really mix it well with the rice lolol. Just from the visuals alone, I already knew this is a must-order dish for next time.

Once I mixed everything with the rich abalone innards sauce and butter, this is the visual that came out, and it genuinely looked so delicious ㅠㅠ It really was nutty, warm, and delicious in real life... if the earlier cream sujebi was slightly sweet, this one was savory and salty.

There were so many ingredients that no matter where I scooped, I got both mushroom and abalone together, which I loved. Toward the end, crispy rice had formed at the bottom of the stone pot, so I scraped it all up~~ Personally, between the two, the pot rice was my clear pick over the sujebi!! If you go, order the pot rice for sure~~ It also didn't cool down fast even while chatting away with a friend for ages, which was another plus~

Grilled scallops with endive bites, a salad-like starter

Ordering just two dishes felt a bit plain, so out of curiosity we tried the grilled scallop and endive bites!! The scallops looked really appetizing, and it came with blanched shrimp too, which paired nicely with the endive.

The plump, chubby scallops were surprisingly good quality — they had a bit of a chewy bite to them~~

The endive leaves were exactly the right hand-sized bites, good for splitting into about two bites each. Inside was a salad of paprika and onion sautéed in olive oil, and it worked great topped with either scallop or shrimp~~~ I think it was a great order as a side salad — my friend and I finished off every last bit of the endive lolol.

Is Moa Gangnam a good venue for an engagement gathering?

On top of everything, the restroom is inside the restaurant, which was super convenient~~~

Beyond what we ordered that day, the signature menu items like doenjang arancini and vongole kalguksu look really inventive and delicious, so I'd definitely want to come back. And I could confirm with my own eyes that this place is already well known as a great spot for engagement party dinners lolol. The location is good, the menu prices are reasonable, and the food clearly shows a lot of care — this might just be a five-star all-rounder of a place... that's my write-up!!