Mother's birthday at a Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant: Modam Dining

Modam Dining, great for a family gathering

We came here to celebrate my mom's birthday with the family! Since it was a meal with my parents, I'd been searching hard for a place with elegant interiors and refined Korean food. A friend recommended Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, saying the main dishes were delicious, the building was clean, and the calm atmosphere made it great for treating parents — so I booked it right away 🤍 To cut to the chase, my parents were extremely satisfied 🌟

Where is Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, and where do you park?

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is on the basement level of the Deoksugung D Palace officetel/commercial building. Parking is free for 2 hours on the building's B3 level.

Here's the storefront entrance… the definition of tidy, right? Bringing my parents here for some reason made my shoulders go up a little haha 🫪🫪

📍 Location

It's on the basement level of the Deoksugung D Palace officetel/commercial building, and the building itself is very clean, which puts you in a good mood right away. Parking is free for 2 hours on B3, but there aren't many spots! If it's full, they said you can use the nearby Concordian Building's underground lot, so it's worth calling the restaurant ahead to check. We got lucky and found a spot ✌️✌️

Hall seating vs. private rooms at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun

The hall seating at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun has quite wide spacing between tables, so we could eat quietly. Private rooms can be booked from 4 people.

The atmosphere is very calm and clutter-free. Private rooms are bookable from 4 people! We sat in the hall, and the tables were spaced far enough apart that we could eat quietly 😃

What the family ordered: three hanjeongsik sets

✨ Order list

This is what we ordered! The side dishes served alongside each main were the same, so everyone could order what they wanted without any conflict. Oh, and note that weekend/dinner prices differ from weekday lunch prices!

The course begins with seasonal porridge

The first course at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is seasonal porridge. It tasted like it had ground mung beans and chestnuts in it.

The first thing served is the seasonal porridge. This one tasted like it had mung bean(?) and chestnut ground into it!

Next, cheongyang chili water kimchi, seasonal salad with yuzu dressing, and mustard vegetables with pine nut sauce all came out together! We were even given individual chopsticks to serve ourselves. Nice touch haha

Being able to serve small portions onto our own plates with the chopsticks felt clean and considerate 🥗🥗

Oh, it's missing from the photo, but we each got two pieces of fresh seasonal sashimi and pickled ceviche too haha, perfect for cleansing the palate!

Shiitake mushroom tempura and perilla oil capellini

Then shiitake mushroom tempura and perilla oil capellini came out together! The shiitake tempura was even more delicious hot, and though it was drenched in sauce, the sauce flavor wasn't too strong, so it was really tasty! And the perilla oil capellini had whole perilla seeds mixed in, which gave a fun popping texture when you bit into them, and the perilla aroma was great too, so my parents loved it 😘 Of course I enjoyed it too!

Before the main dishes came out, four neat side dishes were served. They weren't too heavily seasoned, so they were delicious.

Hanwoo bulgogi hot pot, bori-gulbi and deodeok grilled pork

For the mains, we each ordered hanwoo bulgogi hot pot, bori-gulbi set, and deodeok charcoal-grilled pork set. The broth for the hanwoo bulgogi hot pot had a Japanese-style feel like sukiyaki, and the portion was quite generous.

This is the hanwoo (Korean beef) bulgogi hot pot, and the broth had a Japanese feel, like sukiyaki. Maybe because it was hanwoo, the meat was tender and the portion was quite large! There was also a good variety of mushrooms and vegetables, so it was fun to pick and choose what to eat.

Next up were the bori-gulbi and deodeok charcoal-grilled pork sets. My dad ate the bori-gulbi happily, saying it was really delicious and had no fishy smell haha. My mom enjoyed the deodeok, saying the aroma was great! Watching the two of them eat so well made me feel oddly proud.

Rice and soup came served alongside the mains! Piling a spoonful of the bulgogi, pork, or gulbi from earlier onto a scoop of rice — an absolute rice thief!!! 🦹🦹

Plum tea to finish: good for birthdays and family gatherings

Of course, a Korean meal has to end with plum tea, right? After eating our fill, the plum tea helped settle everything down and wrapped up the meal nicely!!

The staff service was great, the food quality was reliable, and the atmosphere was clean at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun — if you have a special occasion like a family gathering or a matchmaking meeting coming up, I recommend giving Modam Dining Gwanghwamun a visit ♨️♨️