Gangnam weekday lunch: pot rice, pasta and potato pancake at Moa

Hi, I'm Gani. Today I wanted something a little different in Korean food near Gangnam Station, so I visited Moa Gangnam. I love Korean food, but eating the same dishes every time can get a bit repetitive, right? Moa Gangnam is a fusion restaurant that reinterprets familiar Korean ingredients into pasta, hotpot rice, and buckwheat noodles, so I thought it'd be a fun change of pace.

Where Moa Gangnam is and when it opens

• 🗺 Location | Moa, Geumseong Building 1F, 31 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
• 🕒 Hours | Mon–Fri 11:00–22:00
• Break time | 15:30–17:00
• 📝 Reservations | Available
• 🚗 Parking | Not available, use nearby paid lots

Moa Gangnam is about a five-minute walk from Exit 11 of Gangnam Station. Cars can get there, but it's a one-way street and there are a lot of pedestrians, so I'd recommend public transit over driving.

Moa Gangnam's storefront and first impression

The exterior is clean and modern-looking. Instead of the traditional feel of a typical Korean restaurant, it has a more casual, stylish vibe, which makes it good for a date or a meal with friends in Gangnam. The atmosphere wasn't too formal or fine-dining either, so it was comfortable to eat there.

Inside Moa Gangnam at weekday lunch: the window seat

Step inside and you find a space built around wood tones. It felt warmer and calmer than the exterior suggested, and actually cozier once you're inside. Tables are mostly for 2–4 people, so it works well for office workers, friends, or families. I visited during lunch hour and there were a lot of office workers around.

Every seat looked nice, but the window seat with sunlight filtering through the curtains looked especially good. It had a pretty café feel.

What's on the menu at Moa Gangnam

Here's the menu. Orders are placed via tabletop tablet, and they serve a variety of dishes including pasta, arancini, hotpot rice, and kalguksu (noodle soup). I felt they'd really nailed reworking traditional Korean ingredients into all these different dishes.

I ordered three dishes: abalone mushroom butter hotpot rice, perilla oil jeotgal (salted seafood) pasta, and arugula cheese potato pancake. The moment the food was served, I could see what kind of neat, tidy meal Moa Gangnam was going for — beautiful, traditional, and clean.

Abalone, mushroom and butter pot rice

This is the abalone mushroom butter hotpot rice. A square cube of butter sits on top of the rice, along with a generous helping of abalone, mushrooms, chopped scallions, and sesame seeds.

I rolled the cube of butter around to mix it well with the other ingredients. The flavor wasn't overpowering but kept me coming back for more bites — good for a filling, easy-on-the-stomach meal.

Perilla oil jeotgal pasta

This is the perilla oil jeotgal pasta. The name itself — a Korean-Western combination — made me curious, and it turned out the nutty aroma of perilla oil paired really well with the umami of jeotgal. The perilla flavor wasn't too strong, and the salty savoriness of the pollack roe jeotgal (myeongnanjeot) came through nicely — I loved it.

The perilla leaves and myeongnanjeot went really well together. As someone who loves noodles and myeongnanjeot, this was my favorite of the three dishes.

Arugula cheese potato pancake

This is the arugula cheese potato pancake (gamjajeon). With arugula and cheese piled on top, it looked quite different from a typical potato pancake from the start. The outside was crispy and the inside chewy, and the cheese added a nutty richness that made it delicious. The arugula on top brought its own fragrant, slightly bitter kick that cut through the richness — that was the twist.

We cut it into slices like a pizza and shared it. Since it's a pancake, it worked better as a side dish to share rather than a standalone main. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to taste deep flavor wrapped in modern neatness.

Is Moa Gangnam worth a weekday lunch?

• ✅ From the abalone mushroom butter hotpot rice to the perilla oil jeotgal pasta and arugula cheese potato pancake, there were a lot of dishes that combined familiar ingredients in fresh ways.
• ✅ The hotpot rice with abalone and mushrooms was nutty and filling — satisfying as a full meal.
• ✅ The perilla oil jeotgal pasta had its own charm, different from a typical pasta, thanks to the blend of nutty perilla oil and umami jeotgal.
• ✅ The arugula cheese potato pancake, crispy with cheese and arugula on top, was great as a side dish to share.
• ✅ The store's atmosphere is clean and the menu is distinctive, making it a good spot for a Gangnam Station date or a different kind of meal with friends.