Gangnam bar dinner for 4: mud duck jeonbyeong at Arigyegok

I was looking for a place with good vibes in Gangnam and ended up at Arigyegok Gangnam!

How close is it to Gangnam Station?

It's close to Gangnam Station, so it's easy to get to and makes a great spot for meeting up. Good for hanging out with friends, and also comfortable for dates or bigger group dinners.

Traditional decor, right down to the folding-screen menu

Stepping inside, I liked the traditional Korean-style interior. That subtle traditional atmosphere really suited the restaurant. The menu itself was even designed like a folding screen (byeongpung), so it was fun just looking through it page by page.

Arigyegok menu

The menu has a lot of variety, so I figured it'd be great for a group to order several dishes and share. This time there were four of us, so we ordered a wide spread: mud duck jeonbyeong, perilla chicken hot pot, cheese potato pancake, and monkfish liver yukhoe with crispy rice.

Bottom line first... it was genuinely delicious. Of everything we ate that day, the mud duck jeonbyeong stuck with me the most personally.

What does mud duck jeonbyeong taste like?

Mud duck jeonbyeong

We ordered the mud duck jeonbyeong (crepe-wrapped duck) first. The name alone made me curious about the flavor, but one bite in, I understood why it's popular. It felt like eating really good smoked duck. Paired with the sauce and side garnishes, it tasted unique and so good. It didn't feel like a drinking snack — it felt like a proper dinner dish.

It was genuinely delicious. Everyone else agreed too, and it disappeared fast, haha. If you like jeonbyeong (crepe wraps), this one's worth trying at least once.

Perilla chicken hot pot — you cook the chicken yourself

Perilla chicken hot pot

For a warm soup dish, we also got the perilla chicken hot pot (deulkkae dak-jeongol). I picked it because it's a good one to share with a group — the nutty perilla and chicken made for a rich, hearty broth.

The chicken comes out separately, looking almost like raw meat. Once the broth's boiling, you add the chicken and cook it yourself, so you get freshly-cooked chicken with the warm perilla broth.

Cheese potato pancake — a great side

Cheese potato pancake

Can't leave out the cheese potato pancake we ordered as a side. The nutty flavor of the potato pancake plus cheese made it chewy and savory. It paired really well with the hot pot too.

Monkfish liver yukhoe with crispy rice — an odd combo that works

Monkfish liver yukhoe with crispy rice

One of the dishes I was most curious about that day was the monkfish liver yukhoe with crispy rice (nurungji). At first, monkfish liver and raw beef yukhoe felt like an unusual pairing, but after tasting it, it worked way better than expected.

As the name suggests, it comes with crispy rice on the side. Crumbling the crunchy nurungji and eating it together with the monkfish liver yukhoe added a nutty, crunchy texture that was really tasty. The rich, savory flavor of the monkfish liver combined with the crispy rice was excellent.

The distinctly rich, savory flavor of the monkfish liver was especially good, and eating it with the yukhoe brought out a soft yet nutty flavor. I'm personally a fan of savory flavors like this, so I really enjoyed it.

With four of us ordering a bunch of different dishes to share, it was way more fun than sticking to just one thing. Each dish had its own vibe, so tasting through them one by one was enjoyable. Mostly what I thought afterward was, "I want to try other menu items next time!" Since there are so many options, a group visit means you can order and taste a lot. Even after four of us ate all this, there were still dishes I wanted to try, so I'd love to come back and order something different next time.

From dates to work dinners — who's this for?

Arigyegok Gangnam has good enough atmosphere that it'd work well as a date spot too. It's less of a quick-meal-and-leave place and more suited to ordering several dishes and lingering over conversation, so it felt like a good pick for a date.

On the flip side, it's also great for a group sitting together and sharing a variety of dishes, so it'd suit a work dinner or gathering well. Especially with shareable dishes like the hot pot and pancakes, a bigger group could order even more variety. The four of us tried quite a lot, but afterward we were even more curious about the other dishes, haha.

If you're meeting friends in Gangnam, looking for a work dinner spot, or want a date place with something different on the menu, this is worth a visit. Of everything we had that day, the mud duck jeonbyeong and the monkfish liver yukhoe with crispy rice were my favorites — I'd order both again next time. I'd recommend Arigyegok Gangnam for a group visit where you order several dishes and share them one by one :)