Seonleung eel restaurant: salt-grilled eel and chawanmushi at Manmok

Did you know there's an amazing eel restaurant near Seonleung Station? And the interior is seriously upscale too. I can't believe a place like this is near my house — I think I'll be coming back often, so I brought you my honest review. Here's my honest review of Manmok (만목) ♥︎

Where Manmok is near Seonleung Station, and does it work for a company dinner?

Manmok is only 273 meters from Exit 2 of Seonleung Station, so it was really easy to walk to. It's also close to Daechi-dong, so it's great for anyone looking for a lunch spot in that area too. Near Seonleung Station there's a whole strip that feels like a food alley, so since it's surrounded by other restaurants, it's easy to find. It also feels like a good spot for a second round!

Once you open the door, calm lighting and upscale wood interiors catch your eye right away 🪵✨. The space isn't over-decorated and leaves room to breathe, so we got to eat in a quiet, settled atmosphere. It seemed like it would suit dates, anniversaries, meals with parents, or an important occasion to treat someone. Since group reservations are possible, it also seemed like a good spot for a team dinner.

Parking at Manmok

🚗 There are 2 parking spots in front of the store, but the space is tight so it might be full! Nearby parking lots are listed below.

• WeWork Seolleung 3 parking lot (428 Seolleung-ro, spacious lot)
• Samjeong Building parking lot (7 Seolleung-ro 86-gil, mechanical)
• Areumvil parking lot (11 Seolleung-ro 86-gil, mechanical)
• Nice Park Wondongbang Building (20 Teheran-ro 64-gil, mechanical)

If you've been wondering about a solo eel rice bowl in Gangnam, this quiet Japanese-style restaurant is easy to visit without much pressure 😊

What we ordered at Manmok: whole eel rice bowl and specialty grilled eel (salt)

I grabbed the menu photos from their website. What we ordered was one eel rice bowl and the specialty grilled eel (salt) 🐟🔥

First the side dishes came out, and I thought the table would collapse under all of it. There were so many, and each one was so good, honestly. Eating the pickled radish with the eel especially made an amazing combination, and even the little dish with the sauce felt luxurious.

The spoon and chopsticks had a somewhat unusual shape so I took a photo haha. The spoon is really big and heavy, while the chopsticks are super thin and light.

The whole eel rice bowl at Manmok

🍚 The eel rice bowl had plenty of eel piled generously over the rice, so it grabbed your attention visually right away 🤩. On the first bite the flesh fell apart softly and the sauce wasn't overdone, so eating it together with the rice was so good. It was clean without any greasy heaviness, so I could eat it comfortably to the last bite. Honestly, I don't usually love eel rice bowls, but this made me realize eel rice bowls can actually be delicious.

Normally they only give you one chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), but since it was evening they gave us the chawanmushi service, so we each got one. The chawanmushi was genuinely delicious. Eating it before the eel made me even more excited haha.

Specialty grilled eel with salt

🧂 The specialty grilled eel (salt) — the visuals are amazing, right? Seasoned simply with salt, you could really taste the eel's natural flavor! The outside had a slight chewiness and the inside was moist, so the texture was great too. Alternating between this and the sauced rice bowl kept things from getting repetitive, a perfect combo 💯 That said, there are some small bones, so you need to chew it well! I especially tried it with the sancho pepper powder they recommended, and paired with pickled radish, wasabi, and pickled ginger, it was nice to be able to eat it in different ways.

They said they only use freshwater eel from Gochang, known as Korea's top eel-producing region. Maybe that's why there was no fishy smell at all, and it tasted clean. The cooking method is also special — the eel is grilled once, steamed, then brushed with a secret sauce and grilled twice more over charcoal, a Kanto-style method, which cuts down on greasiness while keeping the tenderness, so the texture was really great.

Dessert ice cream: black tea or matcha

After finishing the meal, they give you ice cream for dessert, in black tea or matcha flavor, so we chose one of each. I'm a matcha lover so I picked matcha, and the ice cream was reeeally smooth and so good — after finishing the eel plus the ice cream, I felt full and satisfied in a great way haha.

Is Manmok worth a visit? Final verdict

After the meal, my stomach didn't feel heavy at all, just a clean, pleasant aftertaste, which I loved. It seems perfect for a hearty lunch near Seonleung Station, or even for eating solo. It was a quiet meal, but one that stuck with me 💕 You should all definitely go check it out! 🥰