Vegetarian-friendly work lunch poke near Gyodae Station: Salering

Finding a working lunch a vegetarian colleague can share

On days when I have all-day meetings with foreign colleagues, picking a lunch menu is genuinely stressful. Especially since a lot of the staff visiting from India are vegetarian, and they each avoid different foods, so it's never easy to land on something everyone can eat. Trying to find a working lunch that works in a country that loves meat, I'd usually just end up defaulting to sandwiches.

Then one time I ordered poke from Salering. Both the vegan colleagues from India and the Korean staff enjoyed it, and our director even called it one of the best working lunch menus of the whole workshop, saying he liked that it had rice instead of bread. It felt simple to eat but somehow still kept me full, so this time I went to visit the actual store.

Salering, a quiet poke restaurant in an alley by Gyodae Station

Salering Gyodae Direct Store is close to Exit 1 of Gyodae Station. It sits one block back from the main road, so the surroundings were fairly quiet.

Walking in, the green interior caught my eye first. Fresh but calm at the same time!

The interior was quiet enough that eating alone wouldn't feel awkward. Lunch break is a bit of a rest for office workers, isn't it? This felt like the kind of place suited to a day when you'd rather eat somewhere calm instead of a crowded restaurant.

Is there parking at Salering?

There's parking right in front of the store — 2 spots, and dining customers get one free hour. Keep in mind the spots are limited.

The Salering menu: build-your-own K-style bibim poke

What stands out about Salering is that you choose your base, main topping, and dressing to your own taste.

You can pick your base from brown rice, whole wheat pasta, egg strips, or vegetables. The main toppings are varied too — raw salmon, chicken, duck, beef brisket, shrimp and scallop, tofu, and more. Go vegetable-heavy for a light meal, or pair brown rice with a protein topping for something more filling.

The three dishes ordered at Salering

This time I ordered not just poke but pasta and soup as well.

Mentaiko wasabi mayo raw salmon bibim poke

First up, the mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe) wasabi mayo raw salmon bibim poke. With salads or poke bowls, the dressing often overpowers everything, burying the flavor of the ingredients. But here the dressing worked with the ingredients' own flavor instead of masking it, and it felt clean. If you think the sauce makes or breaks a poke bowl, this one's worth noting.

Basil garlic chicken breast pasta

Next, one of the signature dishes — basil garlic chicken breast pasta!

What surprised me was that the noodles come out warm. Since it's pasta from a salad restaurant, I expected something like a cold salad, but it was different from what I pictured.

The warm noodles gave it a completely different feel from the poke.

Bacon potato soup

Last was the bacon potato soup. It comes out piping hot, so it paired nicely alongside the salad. Some days just a salad feels a little lacking, but adding a hot soup made the meal much more filling. If you're worried poke alone won't be enough, ordering soup on the side is a good move.

Wine and beer at a poke restaurant?

One thing surprised me while looking around the store — there was beer and wine in the drink fridge. I'd never thought about pairing poke with beer or wine, so that was a bit of a surprise. I didn't drink this time, but next visit I might just try the wine-and-poke combo. I always assumed a salad restaurant was strictly a lunch spot, but seeing this lineup, it seems worth considering for dinner too.

A light but filling dinner after working late

Late dinner is such an awkward time for office workers. After finishing overtime you're hungry, but it's too late to eat a heavy meal without feeling weighed down. That's when poke — where you mix and match vegetables and protein to your taste — feels like a great option. And as I found this time, you can pair it with warm pasta or soup too.

This is a place to keep in mind when you need to order a working lunch for a meeting, when you want a low-key solo meal, when dinner runs late, or when you want something light but still packed with protein. Next time, I'm definitely trying the wine with poke!

Salering Gyodae Direct Store: address, hours and parking

• Address: 15 Seocho-daero 56-gil, 1st floor, Seocho-gu, Seoul (near Gyodae Station Exit 1)
• Hours: Weekdays 08:15–21:00 / Weekends 10:30–20:00
• Parking: 2 spots in front of the store, free for 1 hour for dining customers