Gangnam Korean restaurant for beef tartare and kimchi wraps: Moa

Hours: 11:00 – 22:00 Last order: 21:00 Break time: 15:30 – 17:00

Why Moa Gangnam was the pick for a six-person friends' dinner

Moa Gangnam is a fusion Korean restaurant near Exit 11 of Gangnam Station, and this time I picked it for a 6-person gathering to hand out wedding invitations. My wedding is less than two months away and things are hectic, but lately I've been diligently scheduling time to meet friends and hand out invitations. Since my friends are scattered across Gyeonggi-do, we decided to meet in Gangnam. While searching for a restaurant, I liked the menu and the interior at Moa Gangnam, a great spot for a Gangnam Station gathering, so I made a reservation and went.

How to find Moa Gangnam from Gangnam Station Exit 11, and the 5pm wait

It's a 5-minute walk from Exit 11 of Gangnam Station. Head up the alley and it's on the left.

We visited with a reservation for 5pm but arrived a bit early, and there were already lots of guests waiting outside.

Moa Gangnam, a great spot for a Gangnam Station gathering, is apparently already well known as a place for meetups and dates, so it has a wait even on regular days.

Inside Moa Gangnam: window seats and tables for groups

The restaurant has everything from window seats looking outside to group tables for larger parties. Moa Gangnam, a great spot for a Gangnam Station gathering, had a crowd of people waiting outside for gatherings just like mine — a bridal shower meetup — which made it clear this place is really good for that kind of occasion.

We had booked a table for six via Naver Reservation, and it was already set when we arrived. Even though it was a weekday evening, as soon as the restaurant opened at 5, a huge number of people came in, so we ordered the dishes we'd already scoped out as soon as we sat down.

The menu was full of fusion dishes blending Korean and Western cooking. There were seasonal dishes and plenty of items you don't often see elsewhere, so we ordered one of each kind.

Perilla oil salted-seafood pasta, the most memorable dish at Moa Gangnam

The first dish to arrive at Moa Gangnam was the perilla oil salted-seafood pasta. Maybe because it was the first thing we ate, it ended up being the most memorable.

We mixed the julienned perilla leaves well into the pasta and portioned generous helpings onto our plates.

It was packed with salted octopus and salted pollock roe, giving the pasta an unusually distinct texture. On top of that, the popping texture of the perilla seeds made both the texture and taste really delicious. I'd worried the salted seafood might make it too salty, but it wasn't salty at all — just really good.

Chimichurri pork jowl with water parsley, eaten with wasabi

Next up was the chimichurri pork jowl with water parsley. Honestly, well-grilled pork jowl with water parsley is a combination that just can't be bad.

Everyone marveled over how delicious it was as they ate — the meat's soft texture and the fragrant aroma of the water parsley really came through.

Piling on a generous amount of wasabi balances out the slightly fatty character of pork jowl and makes it even better.

The sauce itself had a slightly sweet edge with a sharp finish that really suited my taste.

Arugula cheese potato pancake with a drizzle of honey

Next was the arugula cheese potato pancake, which I loved the look of. Honestly this is one I wanted to try making at home.

Crispy julienned potato topped with cheese and pepperoni, finished off with arugula.

When I cut into it, the cheese stretched into long strings — the crispy potato and cheese paired perfectly, and the pepperoni and arugula rounded it out perfectly.

Drizzling the honey that came with it over the crispy potato strands gives you crunchy, nutty flavor with a sweet finish from the honey.

Truffle cream meatballs served with baguette

Next up were the truffle cream meatballs, hiding beneath a thick, rich truffle cream.

Sweep the sauce aside and the meatballs appear. Thick, smooth cream plus meatballs can't be anything but delicious.

There was even bracken fern in the sauce, so you could taste its soft flavor too. Dipping the baguette that came alongside it, the bread soaked up the sauce and filled your mouth completely.

Korean beef tartare with aged kimchi wraps: two good things at once

We ordered the Korean beef tartare with aged kimchi wraps to fill up while chatting slowly.

Underneath the aged kimchi was rice, arranged like sushi. The sauce was a bit like a buldak mayo sauce but without much spice, so it's a flavor anyone would like.

The tartare itself was well seasoned, so it was delicious on its own, but dipping it in the accompanying sauce made it even better.

Piling plenty of tartare onto the kimchi and rice and eating it in one bite was so good I just gulped it down. Already-delicious aged kimchi plus beef tartare is a good-plus-good combination — completely satisfying.

Abalone mushroom butter pot rice to finish the meal

You can't skip rice, so we ordered the abalone mushroom butter pot rice too, to properly fill up.

Mixed well, this was also delicious. Inside the pot rice was an abalone innard sauce, and the sauce had absolutely no fishy taste.

On top of that, the rice grains were nice and fluffy, and the chewy-yet-tender texture of the mushrooms and abalone made this a really great combination.

Is Moa Gangnam a good spot for a group dinner in Gangnam?

Even the fact that floss was available after the meal was a nice touch at Moa Gangnam, a great spot for a Gangnam Station gathering. I visited to hand out wedding invitations with friends, and every single dish was delicious, and the atmosphere was satisfying too — I'd highly recommend it. At bridal shower meetups we usually end up eating a lot of pasta, but enjoying these unusual fusion dishes instead made the meal both more memorable and more enjoyable, so I plan to come back for a date with my partner next time.