Gyodae Station poke shop: half-rice, half-salad steak bowl, Olla Poke

Today I'm introducing a really good, premium-level salad place in Seocho! You know how, when you're dieting and go to a salad franchise, the price is steep and then you think, "This is it...? This is the portion...?" Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch has none of that. The portions are generous and the salad quality is so good that I have to recommend it! It's a great salad lunch spot near Seocho Station.

Where is Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch, and how do you get in?

Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch is between Seocho Station and Gyodae Station, on the basement level of a building on Banpo-daero 28-gil. It sits slightly off the Gyodae Station restaurant alley, so it's handy for people working in the Gyodae Station office district!

The way in is a bit unusual. If you take the basement stairs on the left, you get there faster, but the slope is steep?! If you go in through the right-hand entrance (the main door, I think?), the approach is gentle haha.

Is the atmosphere okay for eating alone?

The inside of Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch is nice and spacious. It's clean and comfortable! Even when it's crowded outside, the noise feels shut out.

And the owner seems to care a lot about cleaning. I went at an awkward weekday-afternoon hour, and even then it was spotless and tidy through and through.

Kiosk menu and custom orders

You order easily at a kiosk, and the variety of poke is huge! The Super Protein Poke and the Salmon Poke are the most famous. They say the salmon is Norwegian superior-grade raw salmon!

I'd had salmon the day before, so I picked the steak poke! And the side menu has unusual, tasty items unlike other places: Buldak salmon kkakdugi (spicy cubed-radish kimchi style) and Buldak octopus kkakdugi! I ordered it the second I saw it ><

And the customizing really is well done. I've never seen this much variety... With salad and oat rice, you can enjoy it as a salad or as poke, as much as you like, and you can fine-tune the ratio too! There's a fun side to finding the diet that suits you. I think the steak poke would be perfect for topping up on protein after a workout.

There's a free americano at the self-bar

The self-bar at Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch gives you not just water but a free americano too. While waiting, I was looking around the self-bar and discovered the free americano.,, I mean, in this day and age when even water costs money at salad places, a place that gives you an americano on top of water is just great!

How do the steak poke and wasabi mayo sauce taste?

For the steak poke I chose the wasabi mayo sauce they recommended, and it went really well with the steak. Here's my steak poke and the Buldak octopus kkakdugi! The look of it is wild, right.. And the portion is big. The bowl is big too, and I went with the sauce they recommended, which was wasabi mayo!

The wasabi mayo went so, so well with the steak! The steak was so tender and chewy that I couldn't believe it was diet food. I've been working out hard lately, and this was a perfect protein refill haha.

Half rice, half salad: is the portion enough?

It was my first visit, so I ordered half rice, half salad, and both halves were big. The vegetables were really fresh too,, apparently they're not ordinary vegetables but European premium greens. They say they select only top-grade vegetables that are rich in moisture and dense in nutrients!

Seriously, both halves are big hahaha. You never need to worry about it not being enough,,,

Is the Buldak octopus kkakdugi side very spicy?

The Buldak octopus kkakdugi is a side at Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch that's spicy, but even people who can't handle heat can enjoy it. And here it comes,, my beloved octopus kkakdugi. I'd had salmon kkakdugi, but octopus kkakdugi…? I ordered it because I was sure this one just had to work.

Even though I can't handle spice, it was deliciously spicy, and I loved that there's a generous layer of vegetables underneath! I think this is the first time I've seen a side like this at a salad place. It was so tasty.

Beyond the steak poke and Buldak octopus kkakdugi that I enjoyed so much, I'm curious how good the other menu items must be. I definitely want to come back. I recommend this Gyodae Station poke spot, Olla Poke Seocho Gyodae Branch ❤️