Light poke dinner in Seocho: gochujang mayo soy meat bowl, Salering

Poke is the most fun when you get to customize it, I think 🤍

Why I came to Salering Gyodae on a day I wanted to eat light

Salering Gyodae Direct Store is a place near Gyodae Station where you can customize Korean-style bibim poke (a mixed bowl, like bibimbap). I'm in the middle of a 5-day Bidin Lemon Verbena After Shot challenge, so I'm watching my diet a little, and on this day I'd already had a walnut pie, so I wanted a light dinner. That's how I ended up at this Gyodae poke spot, Salering Gyodae.

Every time I go, I feel the same thing: it has more of a brunch café vibe than your typical salad shop, and that's the charm.

Maybe it's the green-toned interior, the wide seating and the clean space, but more customers seemed to be eating in than at other poke places.

Salering Gyodae opening hours and how to get there

Salering Gyodae is open on weekdays from 08:10 to 21:00 (last order 20:30) and on Saturdays from 11:10 to 19:00 (last order 18:30), and it's closed on Sundays. The address is 1F, 15 Seocho-daero 56-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul, about a 3-minute walk from Exit 1 of Gyodae Station.

• Mon–Fri 08:10 – 21:00 (last order 20:30)
• Saturday 11:10 – 19:00 (last order 18:30)
• Closed on Sundays
• Takeout · delivery · dine-in available
• Address: 1F, 15 Seocho-daero 56-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul
• Getting there: about 3 minutes on foot from Exit 1 of Gyodae Station

Just come out of Exit 1 of Gyodae Station and walk straight, and it's easy to find, so it works fine for an office-worker lunch or a solo meal.

Salering menu and prices

Bibim poke at Salering Gyodae runs from ₩9,900 for plain up to ₩13,900 for fresh raw salmon or flame-grilled steak, and the all-in-one poke with several toppings is ₩14,500–17,500. You choose your own base and dressing.

Bibim poke

• Plain bibim poke ₩9,900
• Fried tofu vegan poke ₩10,900
• Soy meat bibim poke ₩10,900
• Pepper chicken breast bibim poke ₩10,900
• Grilled chicken thigh bibim poke ₩11,900
• Smoked duck bibim poke ₩12,400
• Beef belly bibim poke ₩13,000
• K-jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork) bibim poke ₩12,500
• Shrimp & scallop bibim poke ₩12,900
• Fresh raw salmon bibim poke ₩13,900
• Flame-grilled steak bibim poke ₩13,900

All-in-one poke

• Healthy all-in-one bibim poke ₩14,500
• Meat all-in-one bibim poke ₩15,900
• Seafood all-in-one bibim poke ₩17,500

Choosing your base and dressing

• Base: vegetables only, brown rice & barley, whole wheat pasta, egg strips
• Dressing: Salering secret sauce, seaweed sesame mayo, gochujang (red chili paste) mayo, basil garlic mayo, mentaiko (pollock roe) wasabi mayo, chili oil, yuzu oil, black grain oil, sweet soy sauce and more

Drinks

• Americano
• Café latte
• Vanilla latte
• Coke Zero
• Sprite Zero
• Zero apple cider vinegar soda

How is Salering poke different from regular poke?

Salering serves a Korean bibim poke style that you don't often see in Korea.

Poke is usually Hawaiian-style, but Salering has a wide range of sauces that suit Korean tastes, like gochujang mayo and the Salering secret sauce.

That's the plus: even someone new to poke can eat it without hesitation. It's health food, yet it feels as familiar as bibimbap, which I found impressive.

Inside Salering Gyodae: is it okay for eating alone?

The shop is much bigger than you'd expect once you step in. With white and wood tones plus green accents, it has a brunch café feel.

There's a bar table that's good for eating alone, plus plenty of regular tables, so it looked like a fine spot for a solo meal in Gyodae. Judging by the reviews, lots of Gyodae office workers come to eat alone here, too.

Two customizations of the plain bibim poke

We each customized the plain bibim poke (₩9,900) as the base to our own taste.

First: vegetables only + basil garlic mayo + shrimp & scallop

For the first, I added 100g of mixed vegetables only, basil garlic mayo sauce and shrimp & scallop to the plain bibim poke.

I somehow didn't feel like eating anything heavy today, so I skipped the rice and pasta and chose vegetables only. Honestly, being able to customize like this is Salering's biggest strength, I think. On hungry days you can go with filling brown rice and barley, and on in-between days, half rice and half salad.

And on a day like mine, when I'd already had a snack and needed to watch calories, vegetables only is an option. I liked that you can adjust freely depending on your diet that day.

The shrimp and scallops came in a more generous portion than I expected, so even with vegetables only, I was totally satisfied.

The basil garlic mayo is a personal strong recommendation. It has that nutty richness of mayo, but a subtle basil aroma comes through, and it went really well with the shrimp.

Salering's recommended combinations

• Plain poke + basil garlic mayo + shrimp & scallop
• Raw salmon poke + mentaiko wasabi mayo
• Beef belly poke + sweet soy sauce
• Flame-grilled steak poke + black grain oil

Second: vegetables only + gochujang mayo + soy meat

For the second, I added 100g of mixed vegetables only, gochujang mayo sauce and soy meat to the plain bibim poke.

Actually, the soy meat was the menu item that surprised me most on my first visit to Salering. I'd heard it was soy-based meat (plant-based) and didn't expect much, but the texture was better than I thought and it was pretty tasty. So this time I added it without a second thought 😆

I think vegan dishes like this are one of Salering's signatures. With items like fried tofu poke and soy meat poke, people eating vegan have plenty of choices. And the gochujang mayo really hits the Korean spot. It feels more like bibimbap than typical poke, so I think even people unfamiliar with poke can eat it easily.

With so many dishes using Korean-style sauces like the Salering secret sauce and gochujang mayo, it clearly stands apart even among the poke spots in Gyodae.

Another thing I liked was that the sauce is served separately. It doesn't arrive all mixed in from the start, so you can add as much as you want and enjoy it neatly to the very end.

Who I'd recommend Salering Gyodae to

If you're looking for a good poke place in Gyodae, definitely give Salering Gyodae a try. I think people who often eat poke, salads or protein-focused meals will be even happier with it.

• 3 minutes on foot from Gyodae Station
• Customizable poke, vegetables-only option
• Wide range of vegan dishes
• Zero drinks available
• Brunch café-style interior
• A shop that's good for eating alone

Next time I'm going to try the fresh raw salmon bibim poke and the healthy all-in-one poke 🤍