Seonleung grilled eel with whole steamed sancho peppercorns: Manmok

Manmok Photos/writing © Haru

I visited Manmok, famous for eel near Seonleung Station in Gangnam. It's a place where you can try Kanto-style grilled eel, so I was super excited!!

Where is Manmok, and what are its hours and parking?

Manmok is on the 1st floor of 9 Seonleung-ro 82-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in an alley near Seonleung Station. It's open daily 11:00–22:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00.

🅿️ Parking About 2 cars can park in front of the Manmok storefront, but the space is tight, so I'd recommend calling ahead before you go.

✔️ Nearby parking WeWork Seonleung 3rd branch parking lot – 428 Seonleung-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Seonjeong Building parking lot – 7 Seonleung-ro 86-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Areumvil parking lot – 11 Seonleung-ro 86-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Nice Park – 20 Teheran-ro 64-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Inside Manmok: a calm Japanese dining room with no smoke smell

Tucked in an alley near Seonleung Station, Manmok has a serene, old-world feel from the entrance onward. Step inside and you'll find warm, upscale wood-toned furniture and softly dimmed lighting. Unlike the usual bustling Gangnam restaurants, I loved the calm Japanese-restaurant atmosphere here.

Even though they grill eel over charcoal, there was absolutely no smoke or oil smell inside — I could focus on the meal in comfort.

Thanks to the calm lighting, I'd recommend this for dates, anniversaries, meals with parents, or important occasions where you're hosting someone.

Manmok menu and prices

• Salt-grilled / sauce-grilled eel
• Eel rice bowl (whole eel) ₩55,000
• Eel rice bowl (half eel) ₩29,000

A neatly arranged full eel rice bowl spread served on a tray

The chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) was so soft

Where does Manmok's eel come from? Gochang freshwater eel

Manmok says it only uses freshwater eel from Gochang, considered one of Korea's best eel-producing regions. They insist on thoroughly managed eel from sourcing through selection, and cook it cleanly, without any fishy smell.

What makes Kanto-style eel grilling different?

The cooking method also differs. Grilled eel is broadly divided into Kanto-style, Kansai-style, and Nagoya-style, and among these, Manmok sticks to the Kanto method, which brings out the eel's texture and clean flavor. The eel is grilled once, then steamed, brushed with a secret sauce, and grilled twice more over charcoal — a process that cuts down the fat, leaving just the tenderness and deep flavor, so you can eat it cleanly without any greasiness.

Ebisu draft beer with Kanto-style grilled eel at Manmok

I ordered an Ebisu draft beer to lightly cleanse my palate. I loved the deep, bitter hop aroma along with the sweet, nutty malt flavor. It goes down smoothly, so pairing it with the rich eel dish also cleans up your palate.

When you pick it up with chopsticks, it looks like it could fall apart it's so tender, while the surface carries a faint charcoal aroma — savory on the outside and melting on the inside, that's the texture of Manmok's Kanto-style grilled eel.

The sweet-and-salty sauce is deeply infused into the eel flesh, but it's never too sweet or overdone — you can still taste the eel's own savory fattiness.

Whole steamed sancho peppercorns, not powder: Manmok's signature touch

Manmok serves sancho pepper as steamed grains instead of powder, and this is genuinely a specialty. Add a little on top of the eel and eat it together — the moment you bite down, it pops crisply and a fragrant, tingling sancho flavor spreads through your mouth.

It cuts through the eel's fattiness, and maybe because of the crispness of the sancho, it tasted a lot more refined. My first time trying crispy sancho grains like this — I keep thinking about it.

Manmok really cooks the rice perfectly. Even though the sauce soaks in generously, the rice grains stay fluffy without getting mushy, so the more you chew, the better the rice's natural sweetness pairs with the eel's rich fattiness.

Dessert at Manmok: housemade black tea and matcha ice cream bars

After a satisfying meal, they finish with a housemade ice cream bar for dessert. You can choose black tea or matcha flavor. I tried both, and neither tasted artificial at all — so good. Manmok's housemade ice cream held its own against a proper dessert café.

Is Manmok worth it? The verdict

You can enjoy Kanto-style grilled eel in an upscale setting. Manmok is recommended for anyone looking for softly melting grilled eel.