Itaewon Korean restaurant for parents: ₩45,000 tteokgalbi set at Modam

A calm Korean restaurant in Itaewon to take your parents?

Modam (모담) Itaewon is a Korean set-meal restaurant worth picking in Itaewon when you want a calm table for a meal with your parents or a family gathering. Say Itaewon and most people think of exotic restaurants, pubs and izakayas first. But when you want a quieter table with your parents or family, it can actually be hard to decide where to go.

This time I was looking for a place to eat clean Korean food and talk comfortably, and ended up at Modam Itaewon. I wasn't just after tasty food. I wanted somewhere not too noisy, somewhere I wouldn't feel awkward bringing my parents, and it fit those standards quite well. ^^

So if you're looking for an Itaewon Korean restaurant for a gathering, or preparing a parent's birthday, a family get-together or another important meal, I think Modam Itaewon is worth keeping an eye on.

What is the atmosphere at Modam Itaewon like?

Modam Itaewon is a modern Korean restaurant inside Mondrian Seoul Itaewon hotel, 23 Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Recent visitor reviews say that besides hall seating there are rooms you can use depending on your group size, so it's used for everything from small family gatherings to in-law meetings.

Overall it felt less like a very old-fashioned traditional hanjeongsik (Korean full-course set meal) restaurant and more like a modern Korean restaurant that reinterprets Korean elements. You might picture a dated interior for hanjeongsik, but Modam was clean and calm, a good fit for younger people and their parents dining together.

The spacing between tables and the seating layout matter a lot for an important gathering too. When you have to keep talking through the meal, the feel of the space matters as much as the food. In that sense I think it suits people looking for an Itaewon Korean restaurant for a gathering.

Since the restaurant is inside a hotel, even walking in felt great ^^

How much is the tteokgalbi set at Modam?

What I ordered at Modam Itaewon that day was the ₩45,000 per-person tteokgalbi set. Per recent menu info, the handmade tteokgalbi set is ₩45,000 at weekday lunch and ₩49,000 at dinner and on weekends and holidays, so the price differs by visit time.

Personally, I like it when a Korean restaurant puts lots of dishes on the table all at once, but I also liked Modam's format of eating in order, from appetizers to the main. Instead of a table crammed with food, you can take each dish slowly, and the pace of the meal naturally becomes more relaxed.

What comes with the tteokgalbi set?

Modam's tteokgalbi set isn't just a main; it's a course that starts with appetizers. If you imagined a set of rice, side dishes and a tteokgalbi patty, it may feel a little different.

According to the recent set description, it starts with an appetizer and salad made with seasonal ingredients, bracken perilla-oil buckwheat noodles, Modam gangjeong (crispy glazed snack) and seasonal raw fish, followed by tteokgalbi with rice, soup, water kimchi and side dishes. Details may change with the season.

Even though it's a Korean course, the plating was quite refined, so there was a little fun in looking at each dish as it arrived. Above all, the plating was so carefully done~ ^^

I felt this was Modam's strength. It's based on familiar Korean dishes but doesn't look like an ordinary hanjeongsik, which gave it the feeling of treating someone at an important occasion.

How did the charcoal-grilled tteokgalbi taste?

The main charcoal-grilled tteokgalbi in Modam's set was tender and easy to eat, and with rice, soup and side dishes it had that hearty Korean-meal feel. And then, the long-awaited main, the charcoal tteokgalbi set! Tteokgalbi is a dish almost everyone likes, whatever their age or gender, so I think it's a low-risk choice for a meal with parents or a table with many people.

The tteokgalbi itself is tender and easy to eat, and the other dishes served alongside add different aromas and textures, so it never felt like eating one thing over and over. Eating it with rice, soup and side dishes also gave a hearty, properly Korean feel.

At ₩45,000 per person, it isn't a light lunch price. But it makes more sense to count the whole set from appetizers to main, plus the atmosphere of the space, rather than a single plate of tteokgalbi. It felt closer to a meal you choose when you want to make an occasion, rather than just filling your stomach.

Is Modam Itaewon a good place for an in-law meeting?

Modam Itaewon has a separate reservation-only set menu for in-law meetings (sanggyeollye) and rooms, so it's worth putting on your list of Itaewon Korean restaurants for that. In the recent menu info made public, the in-law meeting sets, tteokgalbi and gulbi (salted dried yellow croaker), are each listed at ₩65,000.

What I thought most during the meal was

I could bring my parents here.

An in-law meeting venue takes more than tasty food. Since it's where both sets of parents meet for the first time, you also have to check whether it's too noisy, whether the seats are uncomfortable, whether the food is too unfamiliar, and whether it's good for a formal occasion overall. By those standards, Modam is worth shortlisting when you look for an Itaewon Korean restaurant for an in-law meeting.

In particular, being a Korean restaurant inside a hotel, having rooms available, and serving Korean dishes that nearly every generation can eat comfortably are clear advantages when choosing an in-law meeting venue, I think.

What is served for dessert?

The set ends with dessert, and in recent reviews it's a sorbet made with perilla leaves. After a rich dish like tteokgalbi it freshens the palate, so it worked well as the finish to the course.

Going from the first appetizers to the tteokgalbi main and the final dessert, it felt less like a simple meal and more like I'd had a proper Korean course.

Verdict: what occasions suit Modam Itaewon?

Modam Itaewon's tteokgalbi set was a good choice for a day when you want to enjoy a tidy Korean course at a leisurely pace. Rather than visiting for the food alone, its strengths show best when you weigh food + atmosphere + space + the purpose of the gathering together.

It suited occasions that need some atmosphere, like a meal with parents, a birthday or anniversary, or a family gathering, more than a casual meal with friends. And Korean food has the advantage of making it easy to choose a menu with your parents' generation.

So if you're looking for an Itaewon Korean restaurant for a gathering, or an Itaewon Korean restaurant where both sets of parents can talk comfortably at an in-law meeting, I'd suggest comparing Modam Itaewon too. With a neat Korean course and tender tteokgalbi, it's a good place to remember when you want a meal that's formal without being too stiff. ^^

Modam Itaewon basic info

• Address: Ground floor, Mondrian Seoul Itaewon hotel, 23 Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:30
• Break time: 15:00–17:00