Gangnam group dinner for three: four fusion Korean dishes at Moa

I went to Gangnam to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a while. Since it was a get-together for the three of us, I was looking for a place to eat and came across Moa Gangnam, which people said had a great atmosphere and some unusual food to try.

When you're meeting friends, taste matters, but so does having a comfortable atmosphere to chat in, right? Since this place serves fusion Korean food, I was curious about the menu too, so I made a reservation ahead of time and headed over. In this post I'll give you an honest account of the fusion Korean food we tried at Moa Gangnam, a Gangnam Station restaurant we visited with friends.

• Moa Gangnam / 1st floor, Geumseong Building, 31 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
• Open daily 11:00 – 22:00
• Break time 15:30 – 17:00
• Last order 21:00

Where is Moa Gangnam, and how does it work as a group spot near Gangnam Station?

Moa Gangnam is located on the 1st floor of the Geumseong Building, 31 Teheran-ro 5-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Since it's walkable from Gangnam Station, it was easy to pick as a meeting spot with friends.

The exterior already felt clean and neat, and once inside, the white-and-wood interior naturally caught my eye. The lighting was soft too, giving the whole place a warm yet refined feel.

It's not an overly formal restaurant, but it's also different from a typical Korean restaurant, so I could see why so many people come here for dates or blind dates as well as friend meetups. We'd made a reservation too, and true to its reputation as a well-known Gangnam Station restaurant, other guests kept coming in the whole time we ate.

What I found most fun was the menu composition. Familiar Korean ingredients like gondre (mountain greens), doenjang (fermented soybean paste), and potato pancakes were paired with unusual cooking methods like cream sauce or arancini. There were so many dishes that made you curious just from reading the name, so the three of us spent a long time going over the menu.

Four dishes for three people: what we ordered at Moa Gangnam

We chose four dishes in total: gondre cream sujebi, spicy buckwheat noodles with flounder, doenjang bulgogi arancini, and arugula cheese potato pancake. The gondre cream sujebi came out first — when I think of sujebi (hand-torn dough soup), I usually picture a warm, savory anchovy broth, but

Cream sauce and gondre together?!

It was refreshing right from the start. One bite in, the soft, nutty cream came with a subtle hint of gondre's distinct aroma, and it was really delicious. The sujebi had a chewy bite that went well with the sauce, and it was less rich than I expected, so my spoon kept going back for more.

Spicy buckwheat noodles with flounder

The spicy buckwheat noodles with flounder were also better than expected. The first thing that caught my eye was the vivid, appetizing color.

The buckwheat noodles came with flounder and various vegetables, plus a cool broth, giving it a feel somewhere between mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) and bibim noodles. Mixed thoroughly, the sweet-and-tangy, spicy flavor really woke up the palate.

Doenjang bulgogi arancini

The doenjang bulgogi arancini was the dish I was most curious about, just from the name. Round fried arancini came served over a doenjang sauce, and having Korean and Italian food together on one plate was already an unusual sight.

The outside was crispy and the inside was filled with soft rice, so even sharing one piece at a time was filling! Dipping it in the doenjang sauce underneath rather than eating it plain added a savory depth that made it fit together so much better.

The doenjang flavor didn't overpower the dish — it blended naturally with the arancini, so I think even someone trying fusion Korean food for the first time could eat this without any trouble.

Arugula cheese potato pancake

The arugula cheese potato pancake also grabbed our attention the moment it arrived — the visual was just too appetizing. The golden-fried potato pancake was topped with arugula and cheese, giving it more of a pizza look than the potato pancakes we usually know.

The crispy edges and soft center of the potato pancake, combined with the nuttiness of the cheese and the fresh bite of arugula in between, worked better than expected. With a touch of sweet sauce drizzled on, you could also get a nice sweet-and-salty edge to it.

Every dish went in a totally different flavor direction, which made sharing among the three of us fun. The portions were also bigger than expected — even though we ate hard because it was so good, we still couldn't finish it all... (such a waste...)

Ordering for three or more: mix dishes with different flavors

We'd made a reservation to catch up with friends after a while, and everything from the space to the food fit the mood of the gathering perfectly, so it was really satisfying. What I especially liked was being able to enjoy familiar Korean ingredients prepared in a slightly different way.

Combinations like gondre with cream, or doenjang with arancini, are hard to picture just reading about them, but tasting them in person, they surprisingly worked together naturally. If three or more of you are visiting, picking several dishes with different personalities like we did seems like a good approach.

If you're craving something a bit more unusual than typical Korean food, or looking for a Gangnam Station meeting spot that also delivers on atmosphere, I'd recommend Moa Gangnam.