Mung bean porridge sangyeonrye set at Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik: Modam

I had an important appointment near Gwanghwamun and was looking for an upscale hanjeongsik (Korean set-course meal) restaurant, so I went to Modam Dining Gwanghwamun!

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun SUN – SAT 11:00 ~22:00

You can get off at City Hall or Gwanghwamun station and walk over, or take a bus and get off nearby!!

What the room feels like at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is inside the Deoksugung D Palace building. It feels upscale from the entrance already!!! It seemed like a really good spot if you're looking for a Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik restaurant for a sangyeonrye.

You go down to the basement, walk in a bit, and Modam Dining is right there.

True to a Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik restaurant, the entrance is decorated in a distinctly Korean style, which I think older guests would really like.

They also had a variety of traditional Korean liquors ready.

This is the inside of Modam Dining Gwanghwamun! There are various tables, and although I couldn't get a photo, they said they have a private room too. Every corner of the interior gives off that upscale hanjeongsik feel, so it really lived up to being a Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik restaurant for a sangyeonrye!! The seats filled up in no time — there were so many older guests.

Set menu lineup at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun

Here's the menu at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun! Since the neighborhood has a lot of office workers and gatherings, there were weekday lunch menus, and a variety of set meals that were easy to order for weekday dinners, weekends, or holidays too. Of course, they also have course menus!

What we ordered Bori-gulbi set Abalone tteokgalbi set

Starters: mung bean porridge, seasonal salad, pine-nut mustard vegetables

The starters came out first! Seasonal porridge, cheongyang chili water kimchi, a seasonal salad with yuja (citron) dressing, and pine-nut mustard vegetables. One thing that showed Modam Dining Gwanghwamun's thoughtfulness — when you're sharing food, your personal chopsticks can get messy, but they gave us serving chopsticks for each dish, which I really appreciated.

The salad's dressing wasn't overly sweet and was really refreshing, great for whetting the appetite. The vegetables were fresh too, so every bite had good texture. Best of all, they were generous with the dressing, haha.

The pine-nut mustard vegetables were loaded with almonds, cucumber, lotus root, and broccoli, and with what must have been a generous amount of pine nuts, the sauce's nuttiness was amazing haha. It really suited my taste.

The water kimchi in between bites, good for cleansing the palate, wasn't too sharp either!

The seasonal porridge was mung bean porridge, and it was nutty and smooth, warming up my stomach. While I was eating the salad and porridge, more dishes started coming out!

Perilla oil capellini and fried shiitake mushroom

The perilla oil capellini came out and it was so good. It was nutty, and the texture of the whole roasted perilla seeds took the flavor up a notch. My companion loved it too, hahaha.

The fried shiitake mushroom came next, and after eating mostly refreshing dishes, the rich cheese sauce with nicely fried shiitake really hit the spot, hahaha. It's quite large, so make sure to cut it well. There was also a live-fish jangajji ceviche, but I couldn't get a photo of it, sorry. Between the pasta, the fried dish, the salad, and the ceviche, it really felt like being treated properly.

Mains: abalone tteokgalbi set and bori-gulbi set with black rice

By this point I was already getting full, but then the mains finally arrived!!! The tteokgalbi (grilled meat patty) had insane juiciness. Both pieces were large too, so they were great for sharing. The sauce wasn't too sweet, which older guests would definitely appreciate. The abalone wasn't tough at all and had a soft bite.

The bori-gulbi (dried salted yellow corvina) was already fully deboned for us, which I really appreciated — otherwise it would've been hard to share and awkward to eat. The bori-gulbi wasn't too salty and was nicely nutty, pairing really well with the green tea that came alongside it.

Four side dishes came out with the meal, and they were all seasoned just right to go with the rice.

The rice was even black rice!! True to a fine hanjeongsik restaurant, it was cooked well, glossy and impressively sticky. The beef radish soup had more radish and meat than broth, hahaha, so the soup itself had a really deep flavor!!

Is Modam Dining Gwanghwamun right for a sangyeonrye?

If you're looking for a Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik restaurant for a sangyeonrye or a Gwanghwamun spot for a family gathering, I'd say Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is definitely worth a visit!!! I'd also recommend taking a walk along Jeongdong-gil afterward.