Gangnam eel restaurant dinner after a movie with Mom: Manmok

Eel rice bowls near Seolleung Station after a movie

I came back to Manmok, which had stayed on my mind ever since I first tried its eel hot pot and loved it. After watching a three-hour movie with my mom, we headed over with hungry stomachs and excited hearts.

Manmok is a four-minute walk from Exit 2 of Seolleung Station, and it seems busy with office dinner groups and blind dates on weekdays as well as weekends.

We had not made a reservation, but were shown to the one remaining table with a lovely atmosphere. It genuinely felt like walking into a great eel-rice-bowl spot on a trip to Japan!

There is also a group table in the middle of the restaurant, so I think it would be great for an office dinner near Seolleung Station too 👍

On the day I visited, I saw such a mix of people: international guests, people on blind dates, office dinner groups, and solo diners.

One lunch menu: eel rice bowl

At lunch, there is just one thing you can order: the eel rice bowl! They say they use freshwater eel from Gochang, considered one of Korea's top eel-producing areas, so their confidence in a single-item menu really shows 👍

• Will you have half an eel?
• One whole eel?
• Or one and a half eels? That is all you need to decide!

They also sell drinks that pair well with eel, including Ebisu draft beer and Suntory highballs.

I also liked that they served fragrant tea rather than ordinary filtered water.

The moment we opened our whole-eel bowls

We each ordered the whole-eel rice bowl.

It first arrives like a closed bento box, and for some reason I was so excited to open it, haha.

Manmok says it uses the Kanto-style method for its eel rice bowls. The eel is grilled once, then steamed, then carefully brushed with Manmok's special sauce. And it does not stop there—they grill it twice more over charcoal.

Maybe that is why the eel itself was wonderfully large, while the excess fat had rendered away, leaving it tender yet clean-tasting.

My mom had not had an eel rice bowl in a while either, and she kept saying how good it was as she ate! She said it had been ages since she had such a filling, nourishing meal.

It was so good that a whole eel disappeared in no time. Unless you are a very light eater, I would recommend that women get a whole eel too 👍

A meal made even better with sansho and sides

A soft steamed egg custard, chawanmushi, comes with the meal too. It is like a mild, umami-rich pudding… 🤍 I could eat this every day—does anyone know the secret to making it delicious at home? ✋️

We started with the salad topped with sesame dressing to keep our blood sugar in check before the meal.

The clear soup with matsutake mushrooms was not miso-based, so it was clean rather than heavy, with a lovely savory saltiness.

The side dishes included colorant-free pickled radish, wasabi, ginger, and sansho (Japanese pepper). The sansho was bright and aromatic, and went so well with the rich, sweet eel. A staff member also recommended placing one piece of sansho on each bite of eel.

There is also powdered sansho at every table. If eating the whole peppercorn feels like too much, try just a little of the powder! Personally, though, I found pairing the eel with whole sansho far more appealing.

The rice was not overly sweet or bland, and had a great sticky texture too.

I noticed other tables had cabbage pickles and seasoned shredded radish, so it seems you need to ask for them separately! Order them if you would like some!

It was so good that we scraped up every last bite. What a meal!

Ice cream dessert: matcha or black tea

Once you finish eating, press the call bell and they bring an ice cream dessert. You can choose matcha or black tea. The black tea was light and clean, while the matcha was dense and intense—the kind of flavor that would win over any matcha fanatic.

If you are looking for a place near Seolleung Station for an office dinner, blind date, or date night, I recommend Manmok.