Gardenfive food court solo lunch: abalone pot rice & katsu at Gomemui

I'm a mom who loves going on restaurant tours. Today I came for lunch to Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive (고메무이 현대가든파이브점), famous for its pot rice, at Gardenfive in Munjeong-dong, Songpa!!

Where is Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive, and what are the hours and parking?

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive is inside the B1 food court of the Gardenfive Techno Building, 66 Chungmin-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It's open 10:30 to 20:30, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00. Parking, groups and solo dining are all fine.

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive · 66 Chungmin-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, B1 (inside the Gardenfive B1 food court) · 10:30–20:30 · Break 15:00–17:00 · Parking, groups, solo dining

As someone who goes to Gardenfive in Munjeong-dong a lot, Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive is the place I keep coming back to!! It's a Gardenfive favorite where you can eat healthy, restorative food, so I visited again this time. Gardenfive has a great underground parking lot, so it's easy to park and walk in. And since it's in the Techno Building food court on B1, it was very easy to find.

Is there a wait at the Gardenfive food court at lunchtime?

Gomemui looked like the biggest, roomiest and most pleasant spot in the Gardenfive food court, but once peak lunchtime hit, a line started to form!! Luckily I got in and grabbed a seat before the wait began!!

✔️What does Gomemui mean? The name combines "gome" (米), Japanese for rice, and "mui" from French for a gourmet, and the restaurant says it carefully prepares its food using rice koji!!

What's on the menu at Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive?

The menu centers on pot rice (solbap, rice cooked in an individual pot) in many varieties: eel, steak, sea bream, abalone, salmon soboro and perilla oil mushroom, plus several pot rice and pork cutlet sets. Besides pot rice there are sides like pork cutlet, soba and udon, so it's a hearty, healthy restorative meal!

• Eel pot rice
• Steak pot rice
• Sea bream pot rice
• Abalone pot rice
• Salmon soboro pot rice
• Perilla oil mushroom pot rice
• Many pot rice + pork cutlet set options

Order notes: eel pot rice + pork cutlet set, 1 soda

After placing my order quickly, I saw utensils already on the table and paper menus set out separately.

Is the abalone pot rice and katsu set enough for a solo meal?

The abalone pot rice and pork cutlet (katsu) set at Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive is a good-value set that includes a cutlet with the abalone pot rice. The cutlet was really substantial, so it was very satisfying for eating alone, and the portion was just right for one adult!!

When my abalone pot rice arrived, I loved that they had written out, carefully and thoughtfully, on a note how to eat the pot rice to enjoy it most 👏 Such thoughtfulness, I'm so impressed!! The whole abalone pot rice spread came out neat and tidy, and it was a really charming meal!!

The taste of Gomemui's abalone pot rice with two pats of butter

Gomemui's abalone pot rice is loaded with abalone and topped with two pats of butter, so it's incredibly nutty and delicious. The savory aroma was seriously wonderful, and thanks to the butter the seasoning was just crazy good!! The abalone was sliced to be easy to eat too, so it was really delicious abalone pot rice at Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive!!

Scorched rice and side dishes with your pot rice

I scooped as much abalone rice as I wanted to eat into an empty bowl, and they even bring warm water so you can make nurungji (scorched rice soup) with what's left in the pot, so I quickly made a nutty bowl of it!

The side dishes at Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive were salted pollock roe, salted squid, mustard leaf kimchi and seaweed, which go really well with abalone pot rice. I piled a big spoonful of the salted roe onto mustard leaf kimchi and took big bites, and it was a perfect healthy, restorative meal that I hadn't had in ages!!👏👏

Would I eat the abalone pot rice at Gomemui again?

I devoured a crispy-outside, juicy-inside cutlet, and polished off a bowl of abalone pot rice topped with salted roe!! I was very happy with this abalone pot rice, which I could enjoy so generously at Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive, a Gardenfive favorite! Even afterwards I kept thinking about it, and it was a seriously satisfying, healthy restorative meal. Light, nutty and full of flavor, this abalone pot rice is one I think I could eat every day without getting tired of it!!👍

To finish, after a big bowl of toasty nurungji, my stomach was completely full! Generous, healthy and delicious, Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive, a Gardenfive favorite, was a really charming restorative meal and a great lunch!!