Itaewon Korean restaurant for in-laws: burdock mash tteokgalbi, Modam

I went to Modam Itaewon (모담 이태원점), a Korean restaurant in Itaewon, for lunch with my husband🤗 I'd just been to Modam Yeouido not long ago, so I was curious how this one would feel!! Same Modam, but the atmosphere felt quite different🫨

Modam Itaewon is inside the Mondrian Seoul Itaewon hotel, and from the moment you step into the hotel you feel that glamorous, polished mood!! The restaurant itself is calm and upscale, so it seemed better suited to meals with your parents, family gatherings, or an Itaewon in-law meeting (sangyeonrye) than to a date, somewhere a bit of formality is called for!!

Where is Modam Itaewon, and what are the rooms like?

Modam Itaewon (also listed as Modam Dining H Itaewon) is on the first floor of the Mondrian Hotel at 23 Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, open from 11 am to 9:30 pm. The hotel car park covers 120 minutes, and corkage is available.

• Address: 1st floor, Mondrian Hotel, 23 Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
• Hours: 11:00 am – 9:30 pm
• Break time: 3:00 – 5:00 pm
• Last order: 1:40 pm, 8:10 pm
• Parking: 120 minutes covered in the hotel car park, valet available for ₩30,000
• Corkage available

The Mondrian hotel itself has a flashy, stylish design right from the entrance, so the mood already felt a little special before we even ate!

Once you're inside Modam, things get calmer! It's upscale without being over the top, and the atmosphere naturally makes you sit up a bit straighter. It felt like the right space for a quiet meal with someone important.

Modam Itaewon's dining room tables and private rooms

The hall at Modam Itaewon mostly has tables suited to 2–4 people, and there are also several private rooms.

When I asked a staff member, they said the rooms range from small ones to rooms for bigger groups, and they even showed us a few so I could take photos! After seeing them in person, I understood why people choose Modam for Itaewon in-law meetings, meals with parents and family gatherings! It's not just the food; the space itself suits an important day.

What are the lunch menu and prices at Modam Itaewon?

The lunch sets at Modam Itaewon run from the ₩27,000 Modam pot rice set to the ₩69,000 Modam hanwoo (Korean beef) sirloin set. We ordered two of the deodeok-gui and charcoal tteokgalbi set (₩45,000).

• Modam pot rice set ₩27,000
• Modam boyang (restorative) set ₩29,000
• Charcoal-grilled baekjeok (white fish) marinated in doenjang set ₩37,000
• Tofu meatball steak set ₩42,000
• Assorted marinated seafood and seaweed butter rice set ₩45,000
• Deodeok-gui and charcoal tteokgalbi set ₩45,000
• Charcoal-grilled Beopseongpo barley gulbi (dried croaker) set ₩45,000
• Modam hanwoo sirloin set ₩69,000

Modam is said to serve modern Korean food built around its signature jang (traditional fermented sauces) and seasonal ingredients!

What starters come with the deodeok-gui and charcoal tteokgalbi set?

The set flows from starters to the main, the rice meal and dessert in order, so it felt like eating a full Korean course! The starters came one after another: seasonal fruit and grilled vegetables with black sesame dressing, a green salad with barley shrimp chips, gosari (bracken) perilla-oil buckwheat noodles, Modam gangjeong (sweet crunchy rice snack), and seasonal raw fish.

The first one that stuck with me was the green salad with barley shrimp chips! I never expected shrimp chips and salad to go so well together, but the crunch made it feel totally different from an ordinary salad🫢

Bracken and perilla oil buckwheat noodles, the main I had my eye on

And the gosari perilla-oil buckwheat noodles were so good! Even though it's one of the starters, I wanted to order it on its own as a main dish. The nutty aroma of perilla oil soaks gently into the buckwheat noodles, and with the bracken added, the flavor was properly Korean!

The Modam gangjeong was also more delicate and refined than the hard gangjeong you might picture,

and the seasonal raw fish came with a fresh, tangy sauce that cleansed the palate!

The seasonal fruit was fig and green grapes, and there was also gimbugak (crispy seaweed chips)! Why is the fig so soft~🥰 By the time I'd worked through the starters one by one and was starting to feel pretty full, the main arrived.

How were the charcoal tteokgalbi with burdock mash and the deodeok-gui?

The main at Modam Itaewon comes with hand-torn grilled deodeok (bellflower root), handmade tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty), and burdock mashed potatoes on the side. A staff member explained each dish one by one.

They told us to try the tteokgalbi together with the burdock mashed potatoes, and that combination was really good!!

Maybe because it's torn by hand, the deodeok-gui wasn't tough and kept deodeok's signature crunch. With the shishito-style peppers and mushrooms alongside, the textures and aromas kept changing even within one plate, so I never got tired of it right to the end😆

Today's soup was seaweed soup, and side dishes like braised lotus root, jeotgal (salted seafood), kimchi and water kimchi came too.

Perilla leaf lime sorbet: a memorable dessert to finish

After we finished, the staff prepared dessert! That day's dessert at Modam Itaewon was perilla-lime sorbet, and perilla leaf in a dessert!! I was so curious what it would taste like. First the fragrant perilla comes up, and then the fresh tartness of lime follows. Strangely, the two flavors didn't blend and fade together; it felt like you got perilla and lime one after the other!

Is Modam Itaewon a good place to meet the in-laws or host a family meal?

With its rooms, calm atmosphere and service, Modam Itaewon seems a good fit for formal occasions like a first meal with someone's parents or a dinner with both families. If you're looking for an Itaewon spot for an in-law meeting, the rooms, atmosphere and service matter just as much as the taste of the food!

We came as a couple for lunch, but I found myself thinking I'd like to come back with my parents for a family gathering! For me it was more than a tasty meal: from the order the dishes arrived to the final perilla-lime sorbet, Modam Itaewon felt like experiencing one complete course🤗

Where to find the Mondrian Seoul hotel car park entrance

The car park can be confusing from the hotel entrance!! The car park entrance is right on the left side of the hotel entrance!!