Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant date: raw and cooked abalone sets, Modam

If you are hosting someone special near Gwanghwamun, I recommend Modam Dining Gwanghwamun as a high-end Korean restaurant that misses nothing: flavor, neatness, service and course design.

Where is Modam Dining Gwanghwamun and when is it open?

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is on the first basement floor of Deoksugung The Palace, a building with a clean-looking exterior,

about an 8-minute walk from Gwanghwamun Station Exit 6.

• ⏰ Daily 11:00–22:00
• Break time 15:00–17:00
• Last order 20:10

Take the escalator down just one floor and a wide, clean lobby greets you. Walk a little further in and you will find the neat, tidy entrance of Modam Dining.

What are the atmosphere, seating and rooms like?

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun makes great use of open, breathing space, and it blends Korean architectural methods and elements as if you were in a museum, showing its identity as a hanjeongsik (Korean set meal) restaurant. It is also a good place to treat foreign guests to Korean food.

The seating feels open yet is separated from other tables, so it is not stuffy and you can focus on your own conversation.

There are several private rooms on one side, so it also works well for meeting the in-laws or business meals.

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun menu and prices

The menu is built mainly around course meals (à la carte dishes are available too). The first page shows the lineup and prices up front, so it was easy to get the whole picture.

Courses (set meals)

• Deodeok grilled pork set ₩32,000
• Jindo green onion and crispy bulgogi set ₩34,000
• Bori-gulbi (barley-aged dried croaker) set ₩37,000
• Hanwoo 1++ bulgogi hot pot set (2 or more people) ₩39,000
• Hanwoo 1++ tripe hot pot set (2 or more people) ₩39,000
• Abalone tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) set ₩40,000
• Abalone and shrimp jang (soy-marinated) with butter rice set ₩40,000
• Modam Special: Modam Surasang (royal table) from ₩64,000
• Modam Special: Modam Hanwoo Grill Table from ₩88,000

À la carte

Myeongran baechu-jeon (pollock roe cabbage pancake), bori-gulbi, kimchunkwon with cream cheese and more

As for drinks, Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is free corkage, so it is a good space for hosts to share their own taste with the people who matter to them.

Two abalone sets chosen with my partner

We ordered the abalone tteokgalbi set (₩40,000) and the abalone and shrimp jang with butter rice set (₩40,000). My partner and I both love abalone, so we picked two dishes that both feature it. The first is cooked and the second is raw, so there is the bonus of trying both.

How does the appetizer course of a Modam Dining set come out?

Except for the Modam Surasang, the course meals share the same appetizers before the main dish, and they are served together.

• Seasonal porridge
• Cheongyang water kimchi
• Seasonal salad with yuzu dressing
• Pine nut sauce gyeojachae (mustard-dressed salad)
• Seasonal raw fish and jangajji (pickle) ceviche
• Modam tempura
• Perilla oil capellini

Seasonal porridge (mung bean porridge)

The mung bean porridge served as the seasonal porridge was light, and the beans were cooked so softly that it was smooth with nothing rough to chew. I got an impression somewhere between pumpkin porridge and chestnut, and it was a great start to a Korean meal that is mostly about grains.

Cheongyang water kimchi

It was unusual because it was Cheongyang water kimchi rather than the regular kind. Despite the Cheongyang name (known for chili peppers), it was not spicy but refreshing, and it has the charm of cleansing your palate between bites of the main dishes.

Seasonal salad with yuzu dressing

The fresh seasonal salad had lively, crunchy vegetables, and together with the zesty yuzu dressing it kept whetting my appetite.

Pine nut sauce gyeojachae

The pine nut gyeojachae taught me for the first time that pine nuts and mustard go well together. The nutty, milky pine nut meeting the sharp kick of mustard is a twist that felt like running the air conditioner and the electric blanket at the same time, a pleasant mismatch.

Seasonal raw fish and jangajji ceviche

Ceviche, the Latin American seafood salad, is served here, which could be a welcome sight for foreign guests. Eating a moist, not dry, piece of raw fish together with the pickles and salad gave a chewiness that made me feel like I was in the middle of the Pacific.

Modam tempura (shiitake mushroom tempura)

Modam tempura changes every season and carries Modam's name. This time it was shiitake mushroom tempura. Even though I ate it a while after the salads and such, the crispiness was amazing, and the cheese-like savory sauce went well with it. The nutty richness and crunch spreading as I chewed made me nod.

Perilla oil capellini

The perilla oil capellini is a Korean take on capellini, the thin pasta whose name means "fine hair." Whole perilla seeds crunch alongside the perilla powder, spreading nuttiness through the mouth while rich sweet shrimp wrap around the tongue, and the combination was fantastic. The noodles, with a texture somewhere between noodles and pasta, meet the fragrant perilla oil and never lose their Korean flavor.

I also loved the detail of thinly sliced radish strips, which leave no room for the dish to feel heavy.

What does the abalone and shrimp jang with butter rice set taste like?

The mains, the abalone and shrimp jang with butter rice and the abalone tteokgalbi, arrived very neatly plated.

In the abalone shrimp jang, the abalone was sliced in a stair-step shape for a good bite, alongside a red shrimp as big as an adult man's hand, plump peeled soy-marinated shrimp, octopus, beef and wood ear mushrooms. All of it soaked up the soy sauce deliciously without being salty.

Isigny butter is provided, so you melt it into the warmth of the rice and enjoy soft, flavor-filled rice.

The shrimp backs glistened just by looking at them, and they were not salty, clean with no dryness. Seafood alone would have gotten tiring, but the beef slices balanced it nicely. The octopus was not tough at all, and thinly sliced it had a good texture.

With the red shrimp, the umami and richness of the head's innards burst into synergy with the butter rice, and even eaten shell and all, the seasoning had soaked through. It was a shrimp with the charm of both regular shrimp and tiger shrimp.

The raw abalone was cut crosswise rather than lengthwise, so it keeps its chew without being tough. Once again it was well seasoned and cleanly delicious.

How is the abalone tteokgalbi set?

The abalone tteokgalbi impressed me with its texture and tenderness. It is cooked so softly that you can cut it by lightly twisting with tongs, no scissors needed.

The thick patty is made with beef that is not ground too tightly, so unlike ultra-processed tteokgalbi, the beef's texture and aroma come through. It also paired well with wasabi.

Cooked abalone is springier than raw, so I cut it lengthwise to make it easy to eat while keeping a thick bite, and the bouncy texture and nutty flavor were charming.

Beef radish soup and plum tea for dessert

Eating the beef radish soup served alongside, I felt that this steady seller of Korean food is truly eternal.

The meal ends with plum tea as dessert. Thanks to the plum tea, which freshens the mouth and helps digestion, I finished the day pleasantly full rather than bloated.

I recommend Modam Dining Gwanghwamun for a meal with someone special in Gwanghwamun, a meeting with the in-laws, or treating foreign guests.