Seoul fusion Korean restaurant in Gangnam: scallop endive wraps at Moa

Today I went back to Moa Gangnam, a fusion Korean restaurant near Gangnam Station, for a meal. Whenever I search for what to eat around Gangnam, it's endless pasta places and barbecue joints, but there's not much when you want something different. That's how I found Moa Gangnam, a Gangnam Station fusion Korean restaurant that plays around with Korean ingredients in a fun way!

Where is Moa Gangnam and what are its hours?

Moa Gangnam is on the 1st floor of the Geumseong Building at 31 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It's open daily from 11am to 10pm, with a short break time from 3:30 to 5pm. Last order is at 9pm.

The location is a comfortable walk from Gangnam Station. Since it's near Gangnam Station, it's convenient for lunch or dinner plans, and the unusual menu makes it seem like a great spot for meals with friends or dates too.

The exterior of Moa Gangnam

Moa Gangnam's exterior is a large, single-story white building.

The menu was already visible from inside before I even sat down, and everything looked so delicious that I found myself thinking hard about what to order before I'd even walked in.

Inside Moa Gangnam: mood and seating

Stepping inside Moa Gangnam, the vibe feels closer to a dining restaurant than a typical Korean eatery.

The clean wood-toned interior pairs really well with the fusion Korean menu. It's not too formal, but it's more of a place to sit and chat over a meal than somewhere you just rush in and out of.

There's also large table seating, so it looks good for group gatherings and for visits with all kinds of party sizes.

The menu and what we ordered at Moa Gangnam

Moa Gangnam's food menu spans two pages, mostly fusion Korean dishes.

The back page is drinks, with alcohol options included too.

• Grilled scallop & endive lettuce wraps — ₩21,900
• Perilla oil pasta with salted seafood — ₩15,800
• Abalone-mushroom butter pot rice — ₩20,000
• Total ₩57,700

I ordered exactly to my taste. I can't say no to abalone, and I love salted seafood, so I got both, plus the grilled scallop dish to share. It's listed as a salad, and I was really curious how it would be transformed.

Doesn't it look like a painting? The space itself has such a great mood...

The dishes came out one after another not long after ordering. Even though they open at 11am, a huge number of people were already coming in right from opening. I think it'd be more comfortable to make a reservation before visiting.

How is the perilla oil pasta with salted seafood, 15,800 won?

This is already my second visit, and it's Moa Gangnam's perilla oil pasta with salted seafood that I fell for last time and simply couldn't skip ordering again. Perilla oil in pasta is one thing, but throwing in salted seafood on top too — that's basically every flavor Koreans love, all in one dish.

It's completely different from your usual cream or tomato pasta. The nutty, distinct aroma of perilla oil combines with the umami from the salted seafood, and whole perilla seeds add a nutty crunch throughout.

Korean ingredients, but pasta — such a Moa Gangnam kind of dish, right???

Grilled scallops & endive bite-size wraps, 21,900 won

Next up is Moa Gangnam's grilled scallop & endive lettuce wraps!!!

Just as the name says, it's a dish where you eat scallop and endive together in one bite, and the plating alone already looks like something out of a fine-dining restaurant.

Take a nicely browned grilled scallop, pile on the endive leaf, add a cocktail shrimp, and it genuinely melts in your mouth in one bite. Scoop it up like a little boat and it just melts away.

What comes with the abalone mushroom butter pot rice, 20,000 won?

Last is my beloved abalone. As soon as it arrived, they popped the lid right open in front of us, and getting to see it open like that instantly bumped up the excitement. It's roughly half mushroom, half abalone.

Inside was abalone liver sauce, and on top a generous pile of green onion, butter, and sesame seeds. It also came with an egg drop soup, the kind you'd find at a Chinese restaurant, with egg floating on top.

The mushrooms were coated in a slightly sweet sauce, so the seasoning was spot on and the flavors were varied. It wasn't just one flat flavor, which I liked even more.

With abalone and mushroom together, the dish leaned toward a nutty, savory flavor overall. The butter in particular gave it a richer, more velvety taste than your typical abalone pot rice.

Overall, these are Korean dishes that don't quite feel Korean — kind of like a flirty gray area, right?

Scallops eaten in one bite with endive, pasta finished off with perilla oil and salted seafood, pot rice loaded with abalone and butter! The ingredients themselves are familiar, but the slight twists on the combinations made everything really interesting.

Who should try Moa Gangnam?

Looking for something different from the usual meals near Gangnam Station? This visit to Moa Gangnam was genuinely good. It's a place that both Korean food lovers and Western food lovers can enjoy, so I'd recommend giving it a try.