Seoul, verified August 13, 2026
Seoul Fine Dining That Actually Opens on Monday
Monday is the quiet day in Seoul's fine dining calendar. The tasting menu kitchens that define the city overwhelmingly run Tuesday through Saturday, which means the first night of a trip, or the one free evening in a work week, is the hardest one to fill well.
These are the four rooms our notes can put on a Monday table, all of them in Gangnam, all of them set course or counter formats. Two are reliably confirmed for Monday, one is the value alternative and open every day, and one is listed as open seven days but deserves a phone call before you plan around it.
1. Muoki
Muoki is Chef Park Moo-hyun's (who also uses the name James Park) contemporary/fusion tasting-menu restaurant on the 2nd floor of a quiet Cheongdam-dong residential block, holding a MICHELIN one star continuously from 2019 through the 2025 selection. The name is South African dialect for "oak tree," a nod to the chef's years at The Test Kitchen in Cape Town and to a philosophy of steady, unpretentious cooking; the format is a single seasonal set course (no à la carte), with a raised open kitchen and, at times, the chef plating for guests at the bar.
12-12 Hakdong-ro 55-gil, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea | $$$$ | fusion
A Michelin one star contemporary tasting menu room on a quiet Cheongdam block, and one of the very few of its class that is explicitly open Monday through Saturday for both lunch and dinner. Chef Park Moo-hyun serves a seasonal degustation of 11 to 13 courses that puts modern European technique behind Korean ingredients. The room reads as an anniversary restaurant, but it works just as well for a solo diner at the bar.
- Open Monday through Saturday for both lunch and dinner, closed Sundays.
- Michelin one star held continuously from 2019 through 2025.
- A single seasonal set course of 11 to 13 dishes, running roughly two and a half hours.
Reservations are competitive and should be made via CatchTable well in advance. Dinner runs approximately 240,000 KRW before pairings or upgrades.
View on Google MapsNotes updated August 3, 2026
2. Solbam
Solbam is a one-Michelin-star, chef-owner-driven contemporary Korean tasting-menu restaurant in Gangnam, run by Taejun Eom, a CIA- and Eleven Madison Park-trained chef who builds a multi-course menu around seasonal Korean produce .
South Korea, Seoul, Gangnam District, Nonhyeon-dong, Hakdong-ro, 231 백영센터 2층 | $$$$ | fine_dining
Solbam is the Monday option for contemporary Korean cooking. Chef Taejun Eom, who trained at the CIA and at Eleven Madison Park, builds a multi course menu around native Korean ingredients rendered with French technique, and dinner runs Monday through Saturday. The evening starts in a softly lit drawing room before you move into the bright, minimalist main dining room. It holds a Michelin star.
- Dinner Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays.
- Michelin one star.
- The chef owner trained at the CIA and Eleven Madison Park before opening Solbam.
The restaurant manages its own bookings directly and does not use third-party platforms. The entrance is unmarked and can be difficult to find; it looks like an ordinary office lobby.
View on Google MapsNotes updated August 9, 2026
3. Toube
토우베 (Toube) is a small basement (B1) Japanese-French counter-dining restaurant just off 가로수길 (Garosu-gil) in 신사동 (Sinsa-dong), Gangnam, serving a seasonal multi-course tasting menu at deliberately value pricing, roughly 39,000 won at lunch and 69,000 won at dinner, with the food plated and served across a U-shaped bar by the chefs themselves. It is repeatedly framed by the community as an accessible "가성비 (value) fine-dining" entry point, positioned for anniversaries and special occasions rather than as a high-end destination.
31-10 Dosan-daero 11-gil, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea | $$$ | western
The value pick, and open every day of the week with Monday included. Toube is a small basement Japanese French counter just off Garosu-gil in Sinsa-dong, where the chefs plate and serve each course across a U shaped bar in a calm, modern room. At roughly 39,000 KRW for lunch and 69,000 KRW for dinner it is one of the best value tasting menus in Seoul, which is the whole argument for putting it on a Monday.
- Open daily, Monday included: lunch 12:00 to 14:00, dinner from 17:00 or 18:00 until 22:00.
- Seasonal multi course tasting at roughly 39,000 KRW for lunch and 69,000 KRW for dinner.
- A basement U shaped counter with a semi open kitchen, so you watch every course being plated.
Reservations are competitive and should be made via CatchTable in advance. The venue is a strict no-kids zone and entry requires descending to basement level.
View on Google MapsNotes updated July 21, 2026
4. Exquisine
Exquisine is a compact Michelin one-star contemporary restaurant tucked into a quiet Cheongdam back alley in Gangnam: Chef Jang Kyung-won's (장경원) creative-Korean tasting-menu room that runs one lunch and one dinner course, each changing frequently with the season and the day's ingredients. It has held its star continuously since first being awarded in 2018 and is widely known as one of the best-value starred kitchens in Seoul.
6 Samseong-ro 140-gil, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea | $$$$ | western
A compact Michelin one star kitchen down a quiet Cheongdam back alley that has held its star continuously since 2018, and is widely considered one of the best value starred rooms in Seoul. Multiple aggregators list it as open seven days a week for both lunch and dinner, which would make it a Monday candidate; the creative Korean French tasting menu is the reason you would want it to be. Treat the Monday service as unconfirmed until the restaurant tells you otherwise.
- Michelin one star held continuously since 2018.
- Aggregators list hours as 12:00 to 15:00 for lunch and 18:00 to 22:00 for dinner, seven days a week.
- Widely known as one of the best value starred kitchens in Seoul.
Some community sources list the restaurant as 'Closed,' so Monday hours should be confirmed directly before visiting. The room is very small with only about five tables total, making reservations scarce.
View on Google MapsNotes updated August 8, 2026
Monday fine dining in Seoul is genuinely limited, so treat this as a short list rather than a wide field. Muoki and Solbam are the two we would book with the most confidence for a Monday, Toube is the value alternative, and Exquisine should be verified by phone before you commit. Calling ahead, or checking CatchTable directly for Monday availability, is worth the two minutes.