Itaewon Korean restaurant: school vacation lunch, gulbi set at Modam

First-day-of-vacation lunch at Modam Itaewon

The day Hani's school vacation began, Hani and I went to Modam, a hanjeongsik (Korean set meal) restaurant on the ground floor of Mondrian Hotel in Itaewon, for the tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) set and the barley gulbi (dried barley-aged yellow croaker) set! It was such a delicious lunch. That's two visits to Mondrian Hotel in one week.

Where is Modam Itaewon, and how does parking work?

Modam Itaewon is at the back of the Mondrian Hotel ground floor. Park in the hotel's underground car park and head up, and you get up to 2 hours of free parking. Modam is a hanjeongsik restaurant that makes neat, tidy dishes from fresh ingredients every day.

I'd already scouted where Modam is on a weekend visit to Mondrian Hotel, so we found it right away. I'd booked a lunchtime slot in advance on Catch Table. Naver Reservation works too.

Can you get in if you arrive earlier than your reservation?

We arrived more than 30 minutes before our reservation, and when I opened the door a crack and asked, they let us in right away. I'd hesitated (there's a Coffee Bean on the ground floor, so I thought about waiting there), but I asked anyway, and yay! Hani was making a huge fuss about being hungry!

Modam opening hours

• Opening hours: 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
• Break time: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
• Last order: 1:40 p.m. and 8:10 p.m.

Inside, there's a spacious hall and private rooms. The rooms are famous for family gatherings, meetings with future in-laws and business meetings. We booked the hall, and our table had a reserved sign on it, which felt nice. Time to order right away.

Modam lunch menu and prices

The Modam Itaewon lunch menu includes the Modam pot rice set and the Modam boyang (restorative) set, plus the charcoal-grilled doenjang-marinated maekjeok set, the tofu meatball steak set, the assorted seafood jang and gamtae seaweed butter rice set, the deodeok and charcoal tteokgalbi set (₩45,000 per person), the charcoal Beopseongpo barley gulbi set (₩45,000 per person), and the Modam Hanu sirloin set. The special menus include the in-law meeting set, the Modam table and the Seoksu table, among others.

We ordered the lunch signatures, the tteokgalbi set and the barley gulbi set. I also got Hani a Coke Zero. They have all kinds of drinks too, from wine to beer, soft drinks and traditional liquor.

After ordering, I wandered around filming the interior and the rooms. Stylish, high-end interior... and I really love the big marble tables. The staff's professional kindness was impressive too. This is why you come to a hotel, right? haha

Starters brought by a serving robot

Oh? A serving robot brought the appetizers right to our table. Of course I was filming it so as not to miss the moment, that's me! haha Anyway, what a jaw-dropping spread! Every dish looks neat and delicious. Let's take it slow and savor them one by one!

Along with the Modam lunch set came a salad, mushroom gangjeong (crispy glazed fritters), seasonal sashimi, perilla oil buckwheat noodles, grilled mushrooms with black sesame dressing, and gimbugak (crispy seaweed chips), all set out first, and the presentation is a work of art!

We started with the green salad topped with barley shrimp. Tangy dressing, fresh greens, and the lightly crunchy barley shrimp goes so well with it. There was tofu too, which I liked.

Next was the seasonal sashimi, amberjack (a yellowtail relative). Hani, bless her, can't eat raw fish yet, so I ate all 4 pieces. Super fresh! It melts in your mouth!

Crispy gimbugak sits on the side, and the grilled mushrooms are under the black sesame dressing, and that dressing is a work of art. Hani tried mushrooms! OMG!

Modam gangjeong is a fried shiitake mushroom gangjeong, crispy outside and moist inside. Chewy and not too sweet, so good. A historic day: Hani ate shiitake too haha

Hani saved the gosari (bracken) perilla oil buckwheat noodles for last. Nutty perilla oil noodles and bracken are a perfect match. I should try making this at home. We've eaten way too much, and too deliciously, to call this just an appetizer, so now it's time for the mains!

What does the charcoal Beopseongpo barley gulbi set look like?

Modam's charcoal Beopseongpo barley gulbi set is a neat table with the barley gulbi, rice, spinach soup, Boseong green tea water, Cheongyang water kimchi and 3 side dishes. The thick bones of the barley gulbi are all removed before it's brought out, so it's easy to eat. They told us to just watch out for the small bones!

Ta-da! The staff kept checking on our table and said they'd now prepare the mains, then brought them over. The presentation is so pretty! Hani's main is the tteokgalbi, mine is the barley gulbi!

This is the deodeok and charcoal tteokgalbi set. Apart from the Boseong green tea water, the basic side dishes are the same as the barley gulbi set. The rice looked very small but it was just right, and Hani asked for more rice haha.

Is barley gulbi really this good? Not a hint of fishiness, soft and so delicious. Whether I ate it with rice in the Boseong green tea water or on its own, it was very good.

How does the deodeok and charcoal tteokgalbi set taste?

Modam's tteokgalbi isn't heavily seasoned; it's subtle and tender, and goes well with the sauce beside it. I don't like deodeok, but the deodeok grilled at Modam was a perfect match with the tteokgalbi. Soft and delicious.

A historic day when she tried both mushrooms and deodeok. Hani said everything at Modam was delicious and ate it all up. That made me proud too!

Dessert: perilla leaf lime sorbet

Dessert was a perilla leaf lime sorbet. It's like lime sherbet, but the perilla leaf aroma suits it really well, a classy flavor! Both the service and the taste made it a wonderful lunch.

I snapped photos happily on the way out! Modam Itaewon blends Korean tradition and modern interior everywhere you look, so it seems like a good place to bring foreign visitors.

Time at Mondrian Hotel after the meal

After eating we went straight to the Coffee Bean next door haha. We were full, but it was coffee time. It had been a while since I'd been to Coffee Bean, so I looked over the menu and ordered a flat white. With our coffee we went down to the basement bakery, where Hani got a salt bread and I got a chestnut red bean manju haha. Full or not, dessert always fits. It was raining so we couldn't walk outside, so we hung around inside Mondrian Hotel, then headed to the car park!

For parking, Modam put in the 2-hour ticket, so we left without paying separately. I think we'll become regulars at Modam. Mondrian Hotel is so nice. Next time I'll try other dishes at Modam.