Date-night wine bar near Hakdong Station: fish papillote at Luna Vine

I finally found a really good wine bar restaurant again.. even my girlfriend, the pasta expert, raved about it. So let me tell you about Luna Vine in Nonhyeon-dong, near Hakdong Station.

Where is Luna Vine, and can you park?

Luna Vine is a wine bar restaurant about a 10-minute walk from Hakdong Station, at 13 Nonhyeon-ro 149-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Yejin Building, 1st floor). You can park in front of the restaurant, and valet is ₩3,000, they say.

It's a bit of a walk from Hakdong Station, but still an easy distance to visit.

I wondered what Luna Vine means and looked it up: luna = moon, vine = wine.. so that's why there was a moon picture.

You park in front of the restaurant, and valet is ₩3,000, they say.

What are the interior and seating like at Luna Vine?

Besides indoor seats, Luna Vine has an outdoor area and group seating, and wine displays fill the place from the entrance. It was so hot that day that we saved the outdoor area for next time.

When you first walk in, you're overwhelmed by the sheer amount of wine on display.. you think, okay, Luna Vine really does wine properly.

I'd made a reservation, so the tableware was already set.

What's on the Luna Vine menu, and how much is it?

The Luna Vine menu is wide, from salads, pasta, pizza and steak to bar snacks like seafood ramyeon (instant-noodle soup) and mukthae (dried pollock), with pasta in the ₩20,000–25,000 range. You order from staff, not a tablet.

It might've been a while since I've been somewhere that doesn't use T-order.. haha

• Truffle rigatoni ₩25,000
• Melon prosciutto ₩16,000
• Margherita pizza ₩20,000
• Striploin steak ₩59,000
• Luna Vine house salad ₩18,000
• Caprese salad ₩25,000
• Gorgonzola pizza ₩20,000
• Pepperoni pizza ₩20,000
• Aglio e olio ₩20,000
• Tomato and eggplant fusilli ₩25,000
• Roast chicken ₩28,000
• Fish papillote ₩25,000
• Oven-roasted baby cabbage ₩16,000
• Seafood ramyeon ₩12,000
• Seafood tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) ₩22,000
• Kimchi fried rice ₩15,000
• Charcuterie cheese platter ₩25,000
• Seasonal fruit platter ₩28,000
• Ice cream brownie ₩10,000
• Assorted jerky ₩25,000
• Mukthae (dried pollock) ₩18,000
• Truffle fries ₩15,000
• Nachos with 3 dips ₩15,000
• Buffalo wings ₩16,000

The menu has a really wide spectrum, from salads to pasta, steak and bar snacks. We ordered the truffle rigatoni, supposedly Luna Vine's signature(?), and a dish you don't come across easily, the fish papillote.

After ordering I looked around the restaurant, and there was whisky kept by regular customers.

One area has seating for groups, and it looked great for a company dinner or a family celebration.

The restroom is inside the restaurant too, and it was kept very clean.

Is the Luna Vine truffle rigatoni really that good?

Luna Vine's truffle rigatoni (₩25,000) comes with plenty of truffle powder, so the aroma hits the moment it's served, and the cream is rich and nutty. My girlfriend, who usually doesn't enjoy cream pasta, raved that it was incredibly delicious.

Anyway, back at our seats, I ordered two draft beers.

While we were sipping the beer, the truffle rigatoni arrived... the truffle aroma spread intensely the moment the dish was served. It was loaded with truffle powder.

I scooped out a neat plate and took a bite.. wow.. the depth was in a completely different league from dishes that just have a truffle scent added. The cream is also super rich and nutty. My girlfriend, who normally doesn't enjoy cream pasta, raved that it was incredibly delicious.

If I exaggerate just a little.. it might have been the best cream pasta I've had in my life.

When it gets a bit heavy, a bite of cucumber pickle is just right.

What is the fish papillote like?

Luna Vine's fish papillote (₩25,000) is fish cooked with assorted vegetables and olive oil in a vegetable broth, and the lemon tartness, garlic aroma and vegetable sweetness were well balanced. It's hard to find at ordinary restaurants, so I gave it a try.

Next up was the papillote.

When you pull the vegetables aside, there's pale white fish underneath. Flatfish.. or Daegu.. it's usually sea bass, but it didn't seem to be sea bass.

The colors were really pretty. Scoop up some fish and vegetables and take a bite.. the pleasant lemon tartness, the garlic aroma and the sweetness of the vegetables were balanced almost like art..

The fish is really tender too... and I put some rigatoni sauce on top for a bite.. haha

What about the extra aglio e olio?

Luna Vine's aglio e olio (₩20,000) had a textbook taste, with the noodle texture, the heat of the peperoncino and the sweetness of the garlic coming together well. It was clearly a great pasta place, so we ordered it as an extra.

I couldn't help wondering how good the basic aglio e olio would be.. I was looking forward to it.

Mixed it well,

and scooped out a plate. The olive oil coating looked really well done..

One bite and the noodle texture, the peperoncino heat and the garlic sweetness come together in a three-beat harmony, a very tasty, textbook aglio e olio.

Is Luna Vine worth going back to for a date?

Luna Vine is some distance from the Nonhyeon Station eatery district, so this Hakdong Station wine bar restaurant is really well suited to a date in a quiet atmosphere. I hadn't planned on eating this much... but we scraped every dish clean.

Luna Vine, the pasta was really good.