Jongno Korean restaurant for bori-gulbi set meals: Modam Dining

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, located at Deoksugung D Palace in Gwanghwamun, made an impression with its wholesome Korean food and beautifully neat table settings.

It was a Korean restaurant everyone, young and old, would enjoy, so it would be great for a family meal gathering—and there is even tteokgalbi (Korean grilled minced-meat patties) that children will love! With private rooms too, Modam Dining Gwanghwamun would also suit a formal meeting between families before a wedding.

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun: location and parking

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is on B1 of the Gwanghwamun D Palace building. You can park on B3 of the building, with two hours provided free of charge.

The entrance captures a Korean mood beautifully.

Inside, Korean details stood out amid a warm, calm atmosphere.

There was a good variety of private rooms as well.

Set-meal menu and what we ordered

The signature dishes were the Korean beef grill table set, bulgogi hot pot, beef tripe hot pot, Sura set, and Gwanghwamun drinking table set, priced from ₩39,000 to ₩88,000. Main set meals included charcoal-grilled deodeok pork, Jindo green onion crispy bulgogi, bori-gulbi, abalone tteokgalbi, and abalone soy-marinated shrimp with butter rice, from ₩32,000 to ₩40,000. The weekday lunch set meals were reasonably priced, and there were also à la carte dishes, drinks, and alcohol.

• Bori-gulbi set meal ₩37,000
• Abalone tteokgalbi set meal ₩40,000

A Korean course that began with starters

The seasonal porridge that day was soft, mild mung bean porridge. There was also a fresh yuzu-dressing salad with a bright tang—and

a chicken-breast salad with a Korean-style pine-nut sauce dressing, too—such a generous, delicious lineup of starters.

The mul-kimchi (water kimchi), with its spicy finish, was also a great little kick alongside the meal!

Halibut sashimi and jangajji (pickled vegetables) ceviche. The fresh halibut sashimi with its refreshing sauce was a special treat, especially with the little bites of jangajji ♪

Perilla-oil capellini. It felt almost as though the main dish had arrived early: a refreshing cold noodle dish whose nutty aroma filled the table.

Modam fried dish: fried shiitake mushrooms with a rich sauce that was delicious too.

The dishes served in advance alone already made it feel as though I had finished a wonderful meal, but the stars of the day were the full table settings 🇰🇷

Bori-gulbi and abalone tteokgalbi set meals

The bori-gulbi set meal: moist bori-gulbi (barley-aged dried croaker), neat side dishes, and green tea to enjoy alongside it ♥

The abalone tteokgalbi set meal had the same side dishes as the bori-gulbi set, but a different main. The tteokgalbi I had been looking forward to was deliciously sweet and savory, and the abalone was so moist too. It was a satisfying set meal that I really loved 😋

Plum tea was the final dessert! At Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, the calm atmosphere made it lovely to talk while enjoying a neat, clean meal. With so many varied Korean dishes, it was a wholesome, generous feast that made me feel as though I had nourished myself! As the season of “the sky is high and horses grow fat” arrived, at the start of September, that last word somehow attached itself to my own body with eerie precision.