Itaewon Korean restaurant lunch with flounder carpaccio: Modam Itaewon

Wanting to enjoy a proper hanjeongsik (Korean set-course meal) course in a modern, stylish atmosphere for once, I visited this premium Korean dining spot on the first floor of the Mondrian Hotel — a great Itaewon Korean restaurant for group meetings.

This is Modam Itaewon, a favorite for meeting-the-in-laws lunches in Itaewon.

• Location: Modam Itaewon, 1F Mondrian Hotel, 23 Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:30
• Parking: Free for 2 hours (₩8,000 per additional hour)
• Reservations: Naver Reservations, Catch Table
• Order: Mixed seafood jang set (₩45,000), Beopseongpo dried corvina set (₩49,000)
• Restroom: Located inside the hotel, outside the restaurant
• Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Where is Modam Itaewon? The entrance on the Mondrian Hotel's first floor

You'll spot Modam Itaewon right away as you walk through the first-floor lobby of the Mondrian Seoul Itaewon hotel. It's been a while since I saw the signature pink lobby exhibit, their photo-zone landmark...

The first floor of the Mondrian Seoul Itaewon always gives off a distinct aura from the moment you walk in.

The sense of refinement right from the entrance is striking — the quiet elegance of a traditional Korean restaurant blends perfectly with a modern touch, giving off a clean, upscale feel ✨

Inside Modam Itaewon: private room for meeting the in-laws or family meals

The main hall at Modam Itaewon has generous table spacing that ensures good privacy, and there's also a well-appointed private room. Once inside, the soft lighting and tastefully placed decor naturally catch your eye.

The overall bright, calm atmosphere made it obvious why this place is so often recommended for meeting-the-in-laws hanjeongsik in Itaewon, parents' 60th birthday parties, or family gatherings.

Next time I have a family meal or a formal gathering, I'm definitely booking the private room in advance.

Modam Itaewon menu and prices

The two sets we ordered and the appetizer lineup

That day we ordered Modam Itaewon's signature menus: the mixed seafood jang set (₩45,000) and the Beopseongpo dried corvina set (₩49,000). Before the main dishes were neatly served, the pre-meal dishes and side dishes had a level of finish beyond what I expected...

Fresh salad topped with barley shrimp chips 🥗

The vegetables in the salad were crisp as if freshly picked from the field!

The refreshing, clean dressing woke up my palate perfectly,

and the crispy, nutty barley shrimp chips added a lively textural highlight 🙌🏻

Flounder carpaccio at Modam Itaewon

Thin, fresh slices of raw flounder came topped with a tangy, savory Korean-style special sauce!

There wasn't a hint of fishy smell — the texture was so chewy and dense it was excellent raw fish dish, hard to put my chopsticks down ✨

Grilled vegetables in sesame and perilla dressing with gimbugak (crispy fried seaweed) 🍘

This dish had an impressive depth of nuttiness! The gimbugak was piled generously with a bold sesame-perilla sauce, then topped with lightly grilled vegetables and a slice of fig — a charming combination with both crunch and chewiness at once 😋

Perilla oil soybean paste makguksu (buckwheat noodles)

A Korean noodle dish where thin noodles are perfectly coated in a rich, nutty perilla oil aroma and a subtle soybean paste seasoning...!

The moment it hit my mouth, the nutty flavor spread all around, delivering a genuinely upscale umami finish 🤤

The garnish that looked like radish turned out to be thinly sliced melon. Such an unusual and interesting flavor.

Candied shiitake mushrooms 🥇

Honestly, I have a picky-kid palate, and I usually can't stand mushrooms' distinctive smell and slippery texture, so I normally won't even look at shiitake.

But these candied shiitake mushrooms were a total revelation... crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and strangely almost none of the mushroom smell I dislike came through! The sweet-savory glaze was perfect too — I completely inhaled them 😭💖

Both sets on the table: dried corvina and mixed seafood jang

After tasting each of the meticulously prepared side dishes one by one, the main spread was set out beautifully.

The table was groaning under the weight of food.

Beopseongpo dried corvina set (₩49,000)

Whoa, the dried corvina was a great size — dried just right in the sea breeze, chewy on the outside and still holding onto its moist texture inside.

It had that distinctive pleasant nuttiness, and piling a big chunk of it onto warm rice, I finished a whole bowl in no time.

Mixed seafood jang set (₩45,000)

The mixed seafood jang set arrives with a variety of seafood arranged beautifully. Seasoning balance is everything with seafood jang, right? Plenty of places fail because it's too salty or too fishy, but Modam's seasoning was precisely balanced, not salty at all.

Just the right amount of saltiness with a subtle umami, spooned over hot rice — a total rice thief.

Munching on some gimbugak in between to refresh the palate.

Been eating a lot of figs lately, so this makes me happy.

Pouring rice into cool green tea water and taking a bite of dried corvina — this is the small everyday happiness...

A refreshing dessert to finish and cleanse the palate 🤤🤍

Is Modam Itaewon worth it? Verdict and booking tips

Beyond the high quality of the main dishes, each individual appetizer, served like a proper course, showed the refinement you'd expect from a fine hotel restaurant. The interior is sleek and the private room facilities are excellent too — a satisfying experience in both taste and atmosphere 🥰

100% would come back! If you're looking for a refined venue for a gathering or a meeting-the-in-laws occasion, I highly recommend visiting Modam Itaewon 💕