Gangnam eel restaurant sharing family lunch boxes at Manmok

I went back to Manmok, famous as one of Gangnam's best eel rice bowl restaurants, for a second time. Why? Because you can get seriously good eel rice bowl here. There are plenty of places known for this dish and I've been to quite a few, but nothing beats this one. Let's explore what makes it so good.

Manmok

Where is Manmok, and is there parking?

Also known as a lunch spot near Seolleung Station, Manmok sits a little further into the alley than the cluster of restaurants near the station. It's not too hard to find, though.

Parking at this Seolleung Station favorite is limited to space for about two cars right in front of the shop. It seems like there's usually room even on weekends — I've gone twice, both on weekends, and managed to park right out front both times.

After parking, let's head inside.

The eel illustration catches your eye right away. How good is the eel rice bowl here, you ask?

Manmok's lunch menu: eel rice bowl in half, full or one-and-a-half portions

Naturally. If you come for lunch, there's exactly one menu item. The truly good places rarely have a long menu. Your only choice is half, full, or one-and-a-half portions.

Manmok's seating and the long group table propped on a stone

Inside there's a long table running crosswise, great for groups sitting together.

For a typical visit, a regular table like this is more than fine. I can see the spot I sat at last time, too.

It's an open kitchen, so you can watch the grilling in action.

One end of that long table I mentioned doesn't have a normal table leg — a big rock, or stone, supports it instead. Kind of a quirky detail.

Full or half-portion eel lunch box: which should you order?

This is the full portion. There's a family member who especially loves the lunch boxes at this Gangnam eel rice bowl favorite.

We opened each lid one by one to check things out. Super soft chawanmushi, a soup with matsutake mushroom in it that's genuinely refreshing, and then the star of the show — the eel rice bowl.

Eating a lot of eel can get greasy, right? That's when the sancho pepper powder here comes in — sprinkle it on and the richness disappears.

This is the half portion. You can clearly see the eel is half the amount. Weighing up the price and everything, we figured three people could just order two one-and-a-half portions and split them, but that seemed a bit stingy. So the rule became: if everyone loves eel, go full portion; if the amount feels like a lot, go half.

A salad with perilla sauce comes alongside.

There's wasabi and pickled ginger to go with everything, too.

The chawanmushi was really soft and good, just like last time. I crushed it up a bit and drank it down like soup — even better that way.

Manmok's eel: grilled light on sauce

Fluffy rice and sancho pepper with Manmok's eel

Wow, doesn't that look great? What I like most about the eel here is that it's not slathered in sauce. Apparently they only apply sauce while grilling, which I think is why it tastes so clean and light — I really love that.

There's matsutake mushroom in there too, and the aroma is amazing.

I dug into the half portion too.

Maybe because they specialize in eel rice bowl, the rice was wonderfully fluffy.

Oh, and the chawanmushi has shrimp in it too.

I sprinkled on a generous amount of sancho pepper powder, and like magic, that greasy feeling just vanished.

Dessert at Manmok: handmade black tea or matcha ice cream

Once you finish eating, they give you handmade ice cream too. Such a nice touch. There's a black tea version and a matcha version — since I knew from last time that my family prefers black tea, we all went with that.

It's genuinely smooth and delicious. You know dejawa, that iced milk tea drink? It tastes like a frozen version of that, but a bit more refined and smoother.

Is Manmok worth a second visit?

Manmok, a Gangnam eel rice bowl favorite, wrapped things up perfectly with dessert. I'd absolutely go back again — well, this already was a repeat visit. Since discovering this place, I haven't been able to bother looking for other eel rice bowl restaurants. Some places just pile on sauce, and sometimes the rice turns gluey. If you're really looking for a great restaurant, I'd say explore this one. Go explore!