Lobster pasta with squid ink noodles at Plate Dunsan, Daejeon

Plate Dunsan Branch: location and hours

• 📍 34 Dunsan-ro 31beon-gil, Seo-gu, Daejeon, 2nd floor
• 🅿️ Underground parking (1 car per table, up to 2 hours)
• 🕰️ Daily 11:00–21:30

I was looking for a Western restaurant in Dunsan-dong, Daejeon and ended up at Plate! Just take the elevator up to the 2nd floor.

Wait, you pick your pasta noodle from 12 options?

Once we sat down, the staff first checked if it was our first visit and then kindly walked us through the menu and how to order.

Plate has all kinds of menu items — pasta, risotto, steak, pizza and more! What surprised me was that you can choose your pasta noodle from a whopping 12 types 🍝. Usually you just order whatever noodle comes with the dish, so getting to pair the pasta you want with the noodle you want was actually really fun haha.

* Also, pasta dishes can be changed to risotto instead *

There were three pizzas — beef cheddar pizza, fire-grilled chapsteak pizza, and lobster shrimp bisque rosé pizza — but there wasn't a box to check for pizza on the order sheet, so apparently you just need to tell the staff directly if you want one!

After some deliberation we ordered the lobster pasta plus the cheongyang vongole cream gnocchi (cheongyang chili and clam cream gnocchi). We upgraded the gnocchi to a set — adding ₩4,000 to the pasta price gets you salad + bread + soup!

The set: soup, salad, and bushman bread

Before the mains arrived, the soup, salad, and bread came out first.

The second I saw the bread, I immediately thought of that bread from Outback Steakhouse — bushman bread! Eating it with the whipped cream that came alongside was really tasty.

Munching through these while waiting for the mains, we ended up starting the meal a lot more full than expected.

Lobster pasta with squid ink spaghetti noodles

The lobster pasta looked amazing from the start. A whole lobster sat on top of the pasta, so all eyes were on the table the moment it landed haha. They also gave us gloves and scissors to make eating the lobster easier, so cleaning it wasn't hard at all.

It wasn't one of those lobsters that's all shell and no meat — the meat was satisfyingly generous. 🦞

The noodle I picked was squid ink spaghetti! The ink flavor infused into the noodle itself gave it a completely different feel from regular spaghetti, and twirling the noodle around a piece of lobster meat brought out a savory, umami-rich bite that was delicious.

And on top of that, picking the ink noodle made the color gorgeous too, so it was great for photos haha.

Was the cheongyang vongole cream gnocchi greasy?

With cheongyang vongole cream gnocchi, just from the name I expected the cream sauce to be a bit greasy, but it really wasn't at all! The subtle, spicy kick of cheongyang chili mixed into the cream sauce seemed to balance out the smooth, nutty richness of the cream.

Add in the briny umami that's characteristic of vongole (clam pasta), and it was the kind of cream dish you keep wanting to eat. There's still the heaviness typical of cream sauce, but the cheongyang chili's spiciness kept it from feeling greasy in the mouth, which I liked. (+ Dipping the bushman bread into the cheongyang cream sauce is also honey-level delicious 🍯)

How was it as a date or group spot?

With everything from pasta to risotto, steak, and pizza on the menu, this place seemed great for a date, and also good for a group where everyone can pick their own dish to their taste.

Above all, the restaurant is fairly spacious, and there are separate private rooms too, so it had a good atmosphere for eating and chatting. Plate seemed like a great spot not just for dates but also for friend gatherings or family meals with several people :)