Gangnam Station fusion Korean lunch for a picky mom: Moa Gangnam

My mom is picky about food and especially loves Korean dishes, and I heard there was a fusion Korean place in Gangnam, so we went to Moa Gangnam (모아 강남)! It satisfied both the Korean and Western sides of our cravings, and I was so happy with it that I wanted to share it with you 😚

Moa Gangnam location, hours and parking

Moa Gangnam is on the 1st floor of the Geumseong Building at 31 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and it's open Monday to Sunday, 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:00). The break time is 15:30–17:00, and there's no private parking lot.

• If you park at Yeoksam Culture Park Public Parking Lot No. 2, it's about a 2-minute walk from the exit
• If the public lot is full, the cheapest lot available through Modu Parking ('everyone's parking' app) is within about a 2-minute walk
• Cornerstone private lot (25 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul): ₩4,000 per hour
• Janghyeon Building lot (24 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul): ₩4,000 per hour

It took us about 5 minutes on foot from Gangnam Station! It's slightly uphill, but not far, so it seems like a great place to pick for meeting up.

Is there a wait at Moa Gangnam for weekday lunch?

We visited at weekday lunchtime and got in right away with no wait.

There was no wait, but quite a few diners were inside, and maybe because it's a Western-Korean fusion restaurant, there were quite a few foreign guests too!

What is the seating like at Moa Gangnam?

Moa Gangnam has window seats, round tables and group tables, so the seating is varied enough that it seems like a good fit for any kind of get-together.

The five dishes we ordered at Moa Gangnam

At Moa Gangnam you just order comfortably from the tablet at your seat! Here's what we ordered.

• Arugula cheese potato pancake (gamjajeon)
• Abalone mushroom butter pot rice (solbap)
• Gondre cream sujebi (gondre is a Korean mountain thistle herb; sujebi is hand-torn dough soup)
• Coconut shrimp avocado salad
• Bokbunja ade (Korean black raspberry ade)

Arugula cheese potato pancake: crispy outside, chewy inside, worth reordering

It was my first time trying an arugula cheese potato pancake, and I was surprised by how good the combination was! 🥔 The outside is crispy and the inside is chewy, which I loved.

With the arugula in there, you get a subtle fragrant flavor that seems to cut the richness. It's way more interesting than a plain potato pancake and kept me reaching for more, so I really enjoyed it! It's a dish I'd order again next time.

Abalone mushroom butter pot rice: big abalone and a gentle butter aroma

I really enjoyed the abalone mushroom butter pot rice! 🥰 The nutty scent of butter rose up gently, and that's when I started getting excited.

The abalone was bigger than I expected, and there was plenty of it. It felt like they didn't skimp on the abalone, which made it even better 🥰

It isn't harshly salty or heavy, yet the flavor is deep and keeps you eating. The abalone and mushrooms go really well together and it's filling, so I finished the whole bowl!

Gondre cream sujebi: is a cream soup too rich?

In the gondre cream sujebi, the smooth, nutty cream sauce and the fragrant flavor of gondre actually go together much better than I expected.

I worried the cream would be too heavy, but the gondre aroma balanced it out, so it wasn't overwhelming at all.

The sujebi dough is nicely chewy, and the sauce soaks into it well, so every bite was tasty.

Coconut shrimp avocado salad: a salad that actually fills you up

The coconut shrimp avocado salad had a great pairing of plump shrimp and smooth, nutty avocado, and the coconut added a charm different from an ordinary salad. Each ingredient tasted good on its own and worked well together, so it was also nice to eat alongside the other dishes, and it was satisfying that a salad could be so filling.

Bokbunja ade: sweet-tart and a good match for the food

We drank the bokbunja ade with the meal and it paired really well! 🍹 The signature sweet-tart bokbunja flavor came through and left my mouth feeling refreshed. It's not an ade that's just sweet; it has just enough tartness, so it wasn't too much and was clean to drink.

How clean are Moa Gangnam's dining room and restroom?

The whole restaurant at Moa Gangnam was neat and tidy, which put me in a good mood while eating 😊 The restroom was also kept clean and was comfortable to use! It's a place that cares about details like this, which made me like it even more.

Is Moa Gangnam a good lunch spot for a mom who loves Korean food?

Overall, Moa Gangnam was mild yet let the natural flavors of the ingredients come through. It adds small new touches to familiar Korean food, so it felt comfortable and still a little different. True to the name 'Moa' (meaning 'gather'), it puts good ingredients, seasonal flavors and care onto one plate, and it's somewhere I'd happily return when I want a relaxed, delicious meal.