Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant for a 100-day anniversary: Modam Dining

A 100-day anniversary Saturday dinner at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun

Wanting to spend a special Saturday evening with my partner for our 100-day anniversary, I visited Modam Dining, a well-known hanjeongsik (Korean course meal) restaurant in Gwanghwamun.

Above all, the five courses were upscale and each one seasoned like magic, and then came the main dish that kept coming even though we felt like we'd burst.

If you're looking for a Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik gathering spot for an important appointment or a meaningful day, I think you'll be satisfied with both the atmosphere and the food.

It really seemed like a place families and couples come to for important dates.

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, a Gwanghwamun gathering spot, would suit these kinds of people well:

Where to walk before and after dinner in Gwanghwamun

Here are the date spots we actually visited before and after eating with my partner.

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun location, parking and opening hours

The address of Modam Dining, a Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant, is B1, Deoksugung D Palace, 10 Saemunan-ro 2-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Once you see the Deoksugung D Palace building, the stairs are very visible. Just walk down (there's also an escalator).

For parking, when the lot is full, you can use the underground parking at Concordian Building.

Interior and private room time limit at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun

Room use time at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun is said to be 1 hour and 30 minutes, and hall seating for groups over 4 is directed to reserve a room.

Warm beige-toned lighting unfolding in layers like flower petals, ceramics, and partitions with floral patterns—

I think it's a space that captures the elegance of Korean dining in a calm way.

It felt like the kind of atmosphere where couples marking an anniversary like us, or people with important appointments, could spend a more special time than usual.

My partner: "This is such a calm, upscale atmosphere."

I also think it's an interior that adds a sense of thoughtfully hosting someone precious, for those preparing a meet-the-parents dinner or a family gathering.

As if to prove that, by the time we left after arriving at 5pm, the place was completely full.

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun menu and prices

This Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik gathering spot offers a course starting at ₩32,000 per person,

and à la carte dishes were also available to add according to taste. There were many à la carte options too—jeyuk and bulgogi, meat dishes, bori-gulbi (dried yellow croaker), abalone and shrimp jang, bossam and tteokgalbi, hanwoo yukhoe, yeonpotang, and more.

What we ordered for two at Modam Dining Gwanghwamun

As befits a Gwanghwamun hanjeongsik course restaurant, let me walk you through it dish by dish.

First came seasonal porridge, two kinds of salad, and baek-kimchi (white kimchi). One thing I noticed was that every dish came with its own single pair of chopsticks.

Welcome porridge

The porridge that arrived first seemed to be mung bean or soybean porridge, very lightly seasoned, nutty and easy on the stomach.

Yuja (citron) salad

A refreshing, sweet yuzu salad. I thought it was great for freshening up the palate before the mains.

With crunchy vegetables all mixed together, I think it's a salad that even kids of all ages would like.

Wasabi mayo salad

Wasabi and mayonnaise sauce with various vegetables, cucumber, and nuts—nutty, fresh, salty, and with a bit of a kick, this was actually more to my taste among the salads. If you come for a family or group gathering where everyone's tastes differ slightly, I think this salad shows they thought of that too.

Shiitake mushroom tangsu, the favourite dish

Even coated in sauce, the batter kept an unusual crunch—shiitake tangsu drizzled with honey mustard.

It was about the size of a decent hamburg steak, with thick juices and umami, crispy outside and moist inside. Including the main dishes, this was my number one pick.

It also went really well with soju.

Cappellini with perilla oil

My partner usually isn't greedy about food, but after we shared some, they scraped the leftovers out of the bowl and took it for themselves.

Mainly a salty, nutty perilla-oil flavor, but with a bit of acidity and sweetness too, plus nuttiness and layered aromas. It felt very rich.

The texture was quite unique too. Not quite like somyeon noodles, but not quite pasta either. It's kind of like eating a soft yet al dente pasta? Unusual and appealing.

Flounder fin ceviche

Mediterranean-style, with tomato, onion, and various lemon-based sauces. Refreshing but distinctly seasoned, with the oily, nutty, firm texture of flounder fin.

Baek-kimchi (white kimchi)

Clean white kimchi. The napa cabbage was quite fresh and sweetly delicious, but the radish wasn't quite in season yet, so it was a bit soft, which was a slight downside.

The main course spread

The main course was a spread of abalone shrimp jang with butter rice and abalone tteokgalbi.

Lotus root braised in ginger soy sauce, clean and chewy umami shiitake mushrooms, ripe squash stir-fried with salted shrimp, and crisp cool napa kimchi.

There was also radish soup that felt nutty but maybe a touch strongly seasoned, served as part of the basic spread.

Abalone shrimp jang with butter rice

The composition was really generous—beef brisket, octopus, abalone, shrimp, garlic scapes, white cloud ear mushroom, even egg. Next time I come to Modam Dining, a Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant, I'm definitely ordering this again.

The sauce was sweetish but not too salty—subtle enough to eat plain without it being salty, plus the umami of the seafood and other ingredients.

There was no fishy taste at all, so I really enjoyed eating it.

Abalone tteokgalbi set

Large, soy-seasoned abalone came out along with two big, glossy pieces of tteokgalbi (grilled minced beef patty).

The outside was full of charred grill aroma and crispy, yet the soy sauce glaze was moist and sweet-salty.

The inside was juicy with the distinct aroma and texture of beef—it was a total rice thief.

The portion was generous and everything was good, but keep in mind: once you cut into it, it can dry out if you don't eat it quickly.

Truly soft and moist, and the large abalone that surprised your mouth—can you see the cross-section?

Every single dish here was, without exception, a drinking companion.

Plum tea to finish

Sweet, cool, and fragrant—real plum tea made from cheong (fruit syrup). At first it was so refreshing we debated whether it was pomegranate or hongcho, but my partner said "plum tea~" and I burst out laughing.

Is Modam Dining Gwanghwamun worth it for an anniversary?

Modam Dining Gwanghwamun, a hanjeongsik gathering spot, gave us a satisfying evening in both flavor and atmosphere, with its varied courses and hearty main dishes. If you're looking for a Gwanghwamun Korean restaurant for an anniversary date, a meet-the-parents dinner, or a family gathering, I'd recommend Modam Dining Gwanghwamun.