Itaewon Korean restaurant for a 500-day anniversary date: Modam

Today was our anniversary! We hit our precious 500 days, so we decided to have a date in Seoul and eat somewhere with a nice atmosphere~ While searching, I found a place that's perfect for the two of us, since we love Korean food! It's Modam Itaewon (모담 이태원점).

Modam Itaewon is a Korean restaurant inside the Mondrian Hotel, a five-star hotel in Seoul. People often visit for anniversaries and formal family meetings, so it's classy with a great atmosphere, and it's famous for its tasty Korean course meals, so we went right away.

Modam Itaewon location, parking and private rooms

Modam Itaewon is on the first floor of the Mondrian Hotel, about a 14-minute walk from Noksapyeong Station. Yongsan Family Park, the National Museum of Korea and the War Memorial are nearby, so it's a good spot to visit on a date.

Wow, there's valet parking, like in the movies. Parking is free for the first 2 hours. They also have rooms for 4 to 8 people.

Walking from the National Museum of Korea and War Memorial to Modam

We looked around the National Museum of Korea, then the War Memorial, and walked to Modam Itaewon. It wasn't too far and the paths were nice, so strolling there slowly was really fun. Modam came into view, so my partner struck a pose! The big building on the right is the Mondrian Hotel.

Wow, the hotel lobby decor was magical. It felt like being in a forest, so pretty.

Go a little further in and you'll see Modam Itaewon. True to a Korean restaurant, the interior had Korean touches like mother-of-pearl inlay (najeon). A menu board stands at the entrance, so you can check the dishes and prices without going inside, which I liked.

We shortlisted the barley gulbi set (dried salted croaker), the tteokgalbi set (grilled short rib patties) and the assorted seafood jang (soy-marinated seafood) set.

What are the dining hall and private rooms at Modam Itaewon like?

The hall at Modam Itaewon (Korean Dining Heritage) had soft lighting and music for a lovely mood, and the rooms came in a bright version and a dark version. They say many families hold formal first meetings here, and I could see one room with a mandarin duck decoration set on the table.

We told the staff when we walked in and were shown to our seats. We had reserved ahead, by the way, and you can book through Naver Map or Catch Table.

Even the tableware setting felt luxurious. They served tea as the water, which made it taste even better.

After some deliberation, my partner chose the deodeok (bellflower root) and charcoal-grilled tteokgalbi set, and I chose the assorted seafood jang and seaweed butter rice set.

The decor made from dried ingredients feels fresh. The atmosphere is really good, right? The hall was quiet and truly pretty.

What starters come with the Modam set meals?

The set at Modam Itaewon came out in order starting with the starters, and the staff explained each dish as they served it, which made it more fun and tastier.

These were the starters, and there were shared chopsticks for each dish, which I thought was so clean and thoughtful.

This was a porridge made from tofu, like a rich soy milk, very smooth and nutty.

Amberjack sashimi seasoned with nuruk (fermented grain) sauce. The combination of finely chopped vegetables and the nuruk-sauced amberjack was great, and it melted in my mouth.

This was honestly so, so delicious. It's a vegetable, but it tastes like meat!!

The salad was full of tiny shrimp, and they added a nutty flavor that made it really good.

When I said I loved these barley shrimp, my partner gave me lots of theirs. Thank youuu.

The perilla oil makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles) is mixed for you so it's easy to eat.

Looks tasty, right? There was bracken too, and with the perilla oil sauce the nutty flavor was excellent.

This dish was mushrooms and eggplant topped with black sesame sauce, served with gimbugak (seaweed crisps) and nurungji (scorched rice) fritters. The gimbugak and nurungji fritters are made in-house.. the crunch is art, and with the sauce-tossed mushrooms and eggplant it's a fantastic combination..

Seafood jang with seaweed butter rice set and deodeok with charcoal tteokgalbi set

The mains were the assorted seafood jang and seaweed butter rice set, and the deodeok and charcoal-grilled tteokgalbi set.

In my seafood jang and seaweed butter rice set, the rice was topped with seaweed butter, and it came with kimchi, braised lotus root with almonds, roe, water kimchi and seaweed soup. The assorted seafood jang had abalone, egg, shrimp, large prawns, octopus, tot (hijiki-like seaweed), garlic chives stems, mussels and more.

My partner's deodeok and charcoal tteokgalbi set came with white rice, and the tteokgalbi plate held tteokgalbi, grilled deodeok, shishito-like peppers and sauce.

First I had the soup to wet my throat. It had lots of cute clams, and it's a refreshing seaweed soup with a broth made from clam meat. The soup portion was generous, which I liked.

How do the charcoal-grilled tteokgalbi and grilled deodeok taste?

We tried my partner's tteokgalbi first. You get two pieces.

My partner gave me a big piece, and wow, Modam really nails the seasoning. Just slightly sweet and salty, a real rice thief.. The deodeok isn't over-seasoned, so you can taste its natural aroma, and the texture was good too.

How to eat the assorted seafood jang at Modam

The assorted seafood jang! I was curious, and I ordered it because it's a best seller. It was so generous that I was super satisfied.

I tried the abalone jang first. Wow, the chewy, bouncy abalone jang is really good. Even eating the abalone alone, it wasn't salty at all, just nicely seasoned!

The staff told us to put the seafood jang into the rice bowl, add the sauce too, and mix it with the seaweed butter, so I did. I really liked how well they explained how to enjoy it.

The mussels and the large prawn jang.. so good. Not fishy at all! The soft-boiled egg jang and octopus jang.. wow, rice thieves..

The refreshing water kimchi was tasty too, and the well-fermented cabbage kimchi was the best with rice mixed into the seaweed soup.

Dessert at Modam: perilla leaf sorbet

Perilla leaf sorbet came as dessert, and it was a tangy, perilla-scented, clean finish that was the best.

Is Modam Itaewon good for an anniversary date?

Very satisfied~ we ate well. Modam Itaewon is in the Mondrian Hotel, so it was a great place to enjoy neat, tidy Korean food in a refined, stylish atmosphere~ The variety of set menus and the carefully made dishes stood out, so I recommend it for a special-occasion meal or a date. It also has private rooms and relaxed seating, so I think it would be good for family gatherings or planning an important meal!