Gangnam poke salad for solo dining near COEX: Ola Poke

Lately, I’d been hastily filling up on mostly flour-based food, and my stomach kept feeling heavy. I’ve rounded up all the useful details—from recommended dishes to custom ratios—after having a solo meal at Ola Poke Samseong Branch (올라포케 삼성점), a Samseong Station poke salad spot where you can get a healthy but tasty, filling balance of carbs, protein, and fat.

Poke salad restaurant location near Samseong Station

Ola Poke began with its Munjeong branch in May 2021 and now operates 12 locations. I’m normally quite particular about vegetable freshness, so the official introduction saying every branch is managed with the same recipe gave me confidence.

Ola Poke Samseong Branch is a five-minute walk from Exit 4 of Samseong Station on Line 2, so it was very accessible for anyone looking for a good place to eat around Samseong Station.

The one slight downside: the shop is hidden behind a pillar, and I almost missed it. It’s much easier to find by looking for the orange sign and the standing signboard by the street.

Solo dining seats and interior near COEX

The shop is a long, deep rectangle. There are two-person tables near the entrance and single-person counter seats further inside.

The layout is just right for eating alone, making this a great restaurant near Samseong Station and COEX for a light office-worker lunch or a late-night-work packed meal. Delivery orders kept coming in too, so it seems popular with nearby residents living on their own!

Instead of plain water, they offered lemon water, which showed their attention in a small detail. There was even mouthwash, hair ties, and a phone stand, so the solo-dining experience was very satisfying.

Tip for solo dining near COEX

• For solo dining, choose the counter seats inside.
• Set yourself up with lemon water from the self-service bar and the phone stand.
• Watch for the entrance hidden behind the pillar.

Ola Poke Samseong Branch menu and ratio customization

The signature menu is, of course, poke salad. Each item was ₩500 more than the prices I had seen on Naver Map. In this era of high prices, vegetables are practically worth their weight in gold...

There were plenty of toppings to choose from, including chicken breast, tuna, salmon, and shrimp. They’ve recently added spicy buldak octopus poke and buldak salmon poke too, so they’re worth trying if you like heat.

You can customize the ratio of vegetables to brown rice; the default is an even 5:5 split. I changed both dishes to 7 parts salad and 3 parts rice. Even then, the rice portion was not small—it was about the size of a small bowl of Hetbahn instant rice.

It was loaded with chickpeas, lentils, raw onion, corn, onion chips, pineapple, and pickled radish. With this much going on, I can see why it could become known as a poke spot around Daechi-dong.

Fresh salmon poke and chicken breast takeout taste

This was the dish I had high expectations for because it used fresh salmon rather than smoked salmon. The moment I bit into it, the fresh, tender texture was unmistakable.

Dipped in the recommended sriracha sauce, it had a look and flavor similar to salmon kkakdugi, the salmon-and-cubed-radish dish that was trendy for a while.

Honestly, I initially thought the price range was high, but it made sense once I heard about the fresh vegetables and salmon brought in daily at dawn from Garak Market, along with beef trimmed of its sinew. The sauces are made in-house rather than bought ready-made, so they were not overpowering and had excellent savory depth. I don’t usually eat much salad dressing, but this one suited my taste perfectly.

With plenty of brown rice and beans, I actually felt fuller as time passed after eating.

I packed the chicken breast poke and ate it the next day. Even after being refrigerated overnight, it had not gone soggy and was still good. I think office workers looking for a healthy packed meal around Samseong Station would be pleased.

One poke bowl made my stomach feel comfortable, kept me full, and even seemed to clear away the random thoughts in my head. It felt like I was looking after my body in a healthy way for the first time in ages.

If you’re tired of a flour-heavy diet or wondering where to eat near COEX, save Ola Poke Samseong Branch for your next lunch.