Jamsil Italian dinner with mom: steak plate, risotto at Mano di Chef

My mom and I decided to have a date in Jamsil after a long time, and while looking for a good restaurant, I ended up visiting Mano di Chef Jamsil Branch. I'd been to the Gangnam branch once before, and it left a good impression — the food was delicious and the vibe was great! There are now four branches total: Gangnam, Jamsil, Myeongdong, and Samseong.

How to find Mano di Chef Jamsil Branch: parking and break time

Mano di Chef Jamsil Branch is a 5-minute walk from Jamsil Station Exit 7, inside Tower730, the building with a Starbucks on the 1st floor! Parking is convenient too — the building parking lot offers up to 2 hours free.

They're open daily from 11am to 9:30pm. On weekdays there's a break time from 3 to 5pm, so we made a reservation for 5pm, right when dinner service starts.

If you're coming from Jamsil Station, just head into the Corner730 entrance, which leads to the basement dining arcade at Tower730. There's an elevator, so it was an easy way to get down.

Right when you step off the elevator, the Mano di Chef sign is pretty much right there!

What the 5pm dinner opening and the private rooms are like

We showed up right at the 5pm opening, and since it wasn't crowded yet, it had a pleasant, quiet atmosphere — perfect for chatting over a meal.

The interior struck a nice balance between upscale and rustic, not too heavy and not too light.

There are also 3 private rooms that seat up to 8 people each for a more intimate meal — great for company dinners or family gatherings! They said the rooms can also be connected to seat anywhere from 16 to 26 people :)

Since we had a reservation, we were seated by the window in the back :)

Mano di Chef's menu and the two dishes we chose

Mano di Chef's menu covers everything from various set menus to steaks, salads, plates, pasta, gnocchi, risotto, and pizza — a wide range of Italian dishes!

Wine pairing is available too, of course.

Mano di Chef's signature dish is the bisque pasta, but overall there were a lot of seafood-based dishes, and they all looked delicious...! While browsing, I got curious about the Gamtae Pesto & Seafood Barley Risotto too...? We wanted to try something a bit different, so we decided to order one plate and one risotto!

• Steak & Carrot Hummus Plate ₩29,900
• Gamtae Pesto & Seafood Risotto ₩32,900

Steak & Carrot Hummus Plate, 29,900 won

First up was the Steak & Carrot Hummus Plate. It comes with a tender, easy-to-eat medium steak, along with salad, carrot rapée, and carrot hummus.

I thought it might be a bit plain, but the sriracha mayo sauce that came with the salad was so good! Honestly, I wasn't sure how much the plate would be, so I was worried we'd have to order something extra if it wasn't enough — but nope, the carrot rapée and hummus portions were pretty generous too, so it was plenty for the two of us to share!

Gamtae Pesto & Seafood Risotto, 32,900 won

As we were dishing out portions from the plate, the next dish, the Gamtae Pesto & Seafood Risotto, showed up too!

First off, the scallops, served piping hot and freshly cooked, had an amazing texture — I highly recommend eating the scallops the moment the dish arrives!

The gamtae (dried seaweed) and the creamy risotto went really well together, and beyond the scallops, we could bite into shrimp meat throughout the risotto too — it was really tasty. There's a reason it's the signature dish. That said, there was a "salty" label on it, and since it's seafood-based with gamtae pesto and cheese mixed in, it did feel a bit heavy on salt the more we ate. I think pairing it with the plate worked out well for us!

Membership perks and why we'd book Mano di Chef Jamsil again

They also offer various perks with membership, like points and discounts, and it's an integrated membership usable across all 4 branches. The best part: if you visit during your birthday month, there's a coupon for a free pizza of your choice!

Mom really enjoyed the meal, and we both agreed we should come back with the whole family and order a bunch of dishes haha. Might be a good idea to do our next family gathering here during someone's birthday month 🤭 If you're looking for a great-vibe, delicious Italian restaurant in Jamsil, I recommend Mano di Chef Jamsil!