Itaewon Korean restaurant hall seating dinner for two: Modam Itaewon

Today I went to Modam, a fancy Korean fine-dining restaurant, and had dried corvina haha. The dishes came out so beautifully arranged it seemed like exactly the kind of place your parents would love 💛 Let me share my review~

Outside Modam Itaewon: the Mondrian Hotel's pink garden

Modam Itaewon is on the first floor of the Mondrian Hotel in Itaewon. A luxurious, modern exterior! The moment I arrived at the hotel entrance, the building's facade caught my eye — must be that hotel feel haha.

Walking into the hotel, it felt so much like a photo spot I couldn't help but stop and take pictures 😆

It felt like stepping into a little pink garden in the middle of the city haha. Past the pink garden is Modam, the Korean fine-dining restaurant in Itaewon~

Inside Modam Itaewon: what is hall seating like without a private room?

The moment you step into Modam, the mother-of-pearl details and soft lighting greet you, and the atmosphere feels really upscale.

Warm, soft pendant lights and artworks make up the interior, so the sense of luxury continues from the entrance. Tables are spaced generously, and overall it felt neat and calm — even though we ate in the hall, it was still spacious and relaxed, great for enjoying Korean fine dining even without a private room.

Both the hall and the private rooms are stylish enough that Modam in Itaewon is great for bringing your parents, marking a special occasion, family dinners, company gatherings, or meeting the in-laws — any kind of group get-together.

Modam Itaewon menu: six set courses and reservation-only table spreads

A menu that really stands out for its neatness! Modam Heritage is a Korean restaurant that reinterprets signature house jang (fermented sauces) and seasonal local ingredients in a modern way.

• Modam health set
• Tofu meatball steak set
• Mixed seafood jang and gim butter rice set
• Deodeok gui and charcoal-grilled tteokgalbi set
• Charcoal-grilled Beopseongpo dried corvina set
• Korean beef striploin set

There are six basic set menus, and

there are also table-spread menus available exclusively by advance reservation.

• Modam-sang
• Seoksura-sang
• Sangyeonrye-sang (for meeting the in-laws)

The country of origin for each ingredient is also listed in detail, so check it out if you need to!

How the table is set

Neatly arranged tableware! On the marble-look table, clean dishes and cutlery, a water glass, and even a wet wipe embossed with the 'MODAM' logo were carefully set out haha. Seeing everything so hygienic and tidy made me feel well taken care of even before the meal started 😄

Modam Itaewon appetizer course: bean porridge, ceviche and perilla makguksu

Before the main dish, appetizers came out!

✔️ Smooth bean porridge & ceviche: The soft bean porridge came in a pretty bowl topped with dried tomato, and surprisingly it went really well together 👏 The ceviche's sauce was yuzu-based, so it was refreshing!

✔️ Crispy mushroom fritter: A shiitake fritter dish lightly topped with garlic chives had a great mix of crispy texture and a rich, savory sauce. ✔️ Salad with dried tiny shrimp: The salad had a lovely nuttiness from the dried tiny shrimp chips.

✔️ Seasonal fruit salad: A grilled vegetable salad topped with seasonal fruit also came out, with a sweet sauce that was delicious. The seasonal fruits were figs and Shine Muscat grapes~

✔️ Perilla-oil buckwheat noodles: The makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles), piled high with scallions, seaweed flakes, and perilla seeds, filled my mouth with nutty flavor the moment I mixed and took a bite! Amazing! So good! It was clean but with a little kick, and I wanted to make it at home too 🤤

Charcoal-grilled Beopseongpo dried corvina set for two and rice in green tea

Finally, the main dish arrived! We ordered the charcoal-grilled Beopseongpo dried corvina set for two! The neatly arranged side dishes and clam seaweed soup completed the meal perfectly.

The dried corvina came out gently grilled over charcoal haha. No fishy smell at all — moist and firm on the inside! It came already deboned, which made it so easy to eat 👍 The more you chew, the more the nutty, savory-salty umami spreads through your mouth — this was a premium dried corvina.

You have to eat dried corvina with green tea rice, right?! They poured Boseong green tea over the rice haha. The cool, subtle green tea aroma paired perfectly with the nutty dried corvina. I finished the whole bowl in no time haha.

Dessert to finish: perilla leaf and lime sorbet

After finishing the meal, the perilla leaf and lime sorbet arrived! 🍋‍🟩 A sorbet made with perilla leaves?? An unusual ingredient, but its subtle, unique aroma paired with the lime's freshness made it the perfect dessert to cleanse the palate after the rich meal! Clean, moderately sweet, and refreshing thanks to the perilla leaf, it was the nicest possible finish 👏 Seriously so good!! 💯

Receipt review financier event and the restrooms

Modam Itaewon currently has a receipt review event running! Write a review and you get a handmade financier, so if you visit, definitely take part and grab a delicious financier too!

And honestly, the hall at Modam Itaewon, the Korean fine-dining restaurant, was really good~ It was so quiet I almost forgot I was in the hall, not a private room. I'd be happy to sit in the hall again next time, as long as the group isn't too big 👍

The restrooms are also inside the hotel, so they felt upscale too! Nice-smelling and totally clean~ There are wheelchair-accessible restrooms separated by gender as well~

Modam Itaewon location and parking

Modam Itaewon is on the first floor of the Mondrian Hotel at 23 Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. You can reach it on foot or by bus from Noksapyeong Station or Itaewon Station on Line 6! If walking from either station feels far, taking the village bus after coming up from the station can shorten the trip a bit! You can park in the underground parking lot inside the hotel building, on a paid basis :)