Korean restaurant in Gwanghwamun: ₩19,900 snail pot rice lunch, Modam

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun: location and basic info

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is at 10 Saemunan-ro 2-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Deoksugung The Palace, B1, Units B102 and B103). It is open from 11:00 to 22:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00.

• Groups welcome
• Wi-Fi
• Separate men's and women's restrooms
• Reservations available

How does parking work at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun?

If you park on the third basement floor of Deoksugung The Palace, you get 2 hours free. I came to this Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant with friends who love neat, tidy Korean food, and since Modam Dining is on B1 of Deoksugung The Palace, it's easy to get to.

The parking area is usually crowded. If it's full, you can use the Concordian Building underground lot, but note that parking support isn't available before 18:00 on weekdays.

I spotted the Modam name and headed downstairs,

Weekday lunch wait and the room atmosphere

Even around 1 p.m. on a weekday, about 3 groups were waiting, and I was shown to a table after roughly 5 minutes. The entrance is clean and tidy from the start. I came around 1 on a weekday hoping to take it easy, but there were still people waiting.

The interior mixes oak and beige, so it feels calm yet warm. There are separate private rooms, so it would work well for private gatherings or an important occasion.

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun menu

The menu includes set meals (jeongsik) such as the lunch special Modam pot rice set, grilled deodeok pork bulgogi set, Jindo green onion and crispy bulgogi set, barley gulbi (dried, salted yellow croaker) set, abalone tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) set, Korean beef bulgogi hot pot set, Korean beef tripe hot pot set, abalone and shrimp jang (soy-marinated) with butter rice set, Modam Surasang (royal table) and Modam Korean beef grill table,

plus à la carte dishes such as pollock roe napa cabbage jeon (pancake), radish slices with barley doenjang (soybean paste) and gamtae (seaweed), Korean beef yukhoe (raw beef) with gobchang gim (seaweed), and braised abalone and octopus short ribs. We ordered the Modam pot rice set at ₩19,900 per person.

Modam pot rice set for ₩19,900: what order does it come in?

Seasonal porridge and 3 appetite-whetting starters

The Modam pot rice set starts with a nutty, smooth seasonal porridge.

Before the meal, 3 dishes came out to get the appetite going, and even the plating was tidy.

The Cheongyang mul-kimchi (water kimchi) was so clean and cool that I got a refill.

The gyeojatchae (mustard-dressed salad) with pine nut sauce had nuts in it, so the texture was great and it was nicely nutty.

The seasonal salad with yuzu dressing really woke up my appetite,

Boiled pork, shiitake tempura and perilla oil capellini

The boiled pork (suyuk), steamed over bean sprouts, is eaten with aged kimchi and a chive seasoning, and I enjoyed it with no gamey smell at all.

The shiitake tempura, with the mushroom fried whole, made me marvel at how upscale it felt,

and the perilla oil capellini, made with somyeon (thin wheat noodles), is a fusion dish that turns a Western pasta into Korean food. I loved the pop of perilla seed powder in each bite and the nutty perilla oil flavor.

The final course: snail pot rice and the soup of the day

I was already moved by all the different dishes when the last course arrived: the pot rice of the day, the soup of the day, and

4 side dishes. They were simple, but they were the most classically Korean sides,

and they went well with the pot rice made with vegetables and snails. At first I thought the portion of pot rice was too small, but after finishing it all, I was pleasantly full and satisfied.

For dessert came plum tea, which is easy on digestion, and that wrapped up a perfect hanjeongsik (Korean table d'hôte) course.

Is Modam Dining Gwanghwamun a good place for an in-laws meeting?

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, a Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant I'd happily recommend! With its clean, modern atmosphere, private rooms and tidy dishes, it's perfect, and I'd recommend it for an in-laws meeting too.