Namyangju valley BBQ after camping, tomato pork 6 ways: 2002 Witch's

A Namyangju creekside BBQ patio on the way back from camping

2002 Witch's Arpeggio (2002 마녀의 아르페지오) is a Korean BBQ restaurant by a creek in Wabu-eup, Namyangju, with outdoor patio seating, famous for tomato sauce pork belly. We were driving back from our first camping trip in a while and thought it would be romantic to eat something delicious by a creek, and that's how we found it.

I love that autumn is coming, but it's a little sad to let the whole summer pass without visiting a creek even once. And then we found this curious place, hehe.

The concept is as clear as the name. Tomato sauce plus pork belly?! For Hashyu, who loves trying new flavors, a combination I couldn't even imagine the taste of made me so curious.

Parking and the weekday lunch atmosphere

The parking area in front of 2002 Witch's Arpeggio is spacious. As you'd expect from a creekside patio restaurant, the lot is big, and even from the parking lot the tomato concept is unmistakable.

We went on a weekday afternoon and there were still quite a lot of people. On weekends there seems to be a wait.

What is the patio at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio like?

The patio at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio is a creekside spot with lush green forest views. When we visited, summer hadn't quite ended yet, so it was the last of the green before the autumn leaves.

Ahh... this is the view we came for. In summer you get this fresh green forest, and imagine how lovely it will be when the leaves turn in autumn, haha. It's a place in Namyangju where you can enjoy the patio and the fall foliage too.

And you can see the owner's devotion to tomatoes here and there, haha. Every tomato you see is a real tomato, and just looking at the piles you can tell how many get used.

There's the patio, but there's also seating inside where it's cool. And look at the tomato sauce at the far end! It seems the owner made each jar by hand, and they look like treasure pots.

The restroom was also quite clean, with several stalls, which was nice.

The tomato sauce pork belly menu and 6 ways to eat it

The menu at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio tells the story of the tomato sauce, said to have been perfected in 1998, and lists 6 ways to eat the tomato sauce pork belly. The basics are pork belly made with tomato gochujang (chili paste), kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) and potato pancake, and you can add fried rice.

Reading the menu, you can tell how seriously the owner takes tomato sauce... apparently they opened once, failed, and then started the current restaurant! I was impressed for a long while, thinking you need this much dedication to do anything. Even though the ways to eat are written down, the staff also come over and explain them again.

Side dishes: japchae, jeonbyeong, tomatoes, perilla leaf pickles

Then the side dishes arrived.

They told us to eat the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) while it's warm, and it really came out nicely heated, so good. They also explained that the vegetables, including the jeonbyeong (thin crepe-like wrappers) and mussam (pickled radish wraps), are to be eaten with the meat.

And the tomatoes, which won Hashi over! They're a bit like tomato marinade, slightly spicy and sweet, so delicious. The perilla leaf pickles go into the meat wraps in small amounts; the perilla scent isn't strong, but it quietly works like an herb and brings out the meat's flavor.

What does the tomato sauce pork belly look like?

The tomato sauce pork belly at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio comes with a sauce made from tomatoes, with no gochujang mixed in, spooned over the pork, and cooked bean sprouts in the middle. It was such a first-time combination that even when it arrived I wondered what on earth it would taste like.

A fire show, haha. And the staff grill all the meat for you.

The staff keep grilling all the meat and finishing the dish, and their hand movements are incredible. At the end they sprinkle cheese and melt it with a torch. Look at that cheese pull... maybe the best thing you can eat at a creek, haha.

How it tastes eaten all 6 ways

Hashyu, who takes eating seriously, tried the tomato sauce pork belly all 6 ways^^ haha. First, the meat itself blends with the tomato sauce, so it's not jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork) but still full of sweet, spicy umami. Seriously, why is it so good..

• With gim (seaweed), you get savory seaweed and tangy pickled radish
• With jeonbyeong, you get savory jeonbyeong and fragrant perilla leaf
• With ssam vegetables, you get the sweet gochujang pork belly flavor

Each one was delicious in its own way. I'd only thought of it as unusual food with a unique concept, but it was a truly great restaurant.

What style is the potato pancake?

The potato pancake at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio is crispy outside like fried potato and chewy inside like a real potato pancake. The sauce tasted like Kewpie mayo sauce, and it went perfectly with the pancake.

I'm so into potato pancakes that I want to try every one in the world, and I'd never had one like this. The owner is serious even about one potato pancake. Even Hashi, who is normally a die-hard soy sauce and onion person, ended up dipping more in this sauce!

Finishing with roe scorched-rice cauldron fried rice

The closing dish at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio is the roe-packed scorched-rice cauldron fried rice. They give you a timer, and when the 5 minutes are up you open it, flip it, and eat.

Both of us, big eaters, were about to burst and hesitated for a moment over whether to order the fried rice, but it's the Korean dessert... how could we not eat it..? Ta-da, the irresistible finishing fried rice. Imagine hesitating over this. No way.

Despite saying we were full, Hashyu scraped the bottom clean again today, haha. Every dish is made with care, so 2002 Witch's Arpeggio is a Namyangju BBQ place I want to visit again. Next time I should bring Hashi's family. I bet it's totally my dad's style.