Aglio e olio at a Sangsu Station pizzeria: Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza

I've been craving wood-fired pizza lately — the kind with chewy dough that's good all the way to the crust — and I heard there's a real deal wood-fired pizzeria that's held its spot between Hapjeong and Sangsu for over 10 years since 2012. A 10-year-old Italian wood-fired pizza restaurant?! They ferment their dough for 72 hours in-house, cook all their sauces from scratch, and use an actual Italian volcanic stone oven — as a pizza maniac, I was hyped before I even got there. Spoiler: I ate the crust down to nothing. Here's my honest review of Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza (홍대화덕피자), the Sangsu Station favorite!

Where is Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza? Five minutes from Sangsu Station Exit 1

Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza is about a 5-minute walk from Sangsu Station Exit 1, and it's also an easy stroll from Hapjeong Station. Since it's a 10-year Hongdae institution, the neighborhood has a bit of that Coffee Prince drama vibe haha.

Inside Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza: the open kitchen and volcanic stone oven

The interior feels cozy — that particular warmth a long-running restaurant gets, but still tidy and well-kept. It'd be nice for pasta at lunch or a glass of beer or wine in the evening. Quiet and calm, perfect for a date or a blind date too.

Peeking into the open kitchen, there's a genuinely huge volcanic stone oven, and you can watch them stretch the dough the moment an order comes in and slide it straight into the 400°C+ oven.

How to order a half-and-half pizza, plus a tip for sauce-free cheese pizza

You order through a kiosk. Looking at the menu, my favorite part was that you can order pizza 'half-and-half.' Whenever I go to a pizza place I want Margherita AND something cheese-loaded, and I always end up indecisive, so being able to do half-and-half was great. We usually go as two people, and if you order two whole pizzas you can't fit in pasta, so ㅠㅠ. We went with a Margherita + quattro cheese half-and-half, plus an aglio e olio because we were craving an oil-based pasta.

Here's a wood-fired pizza tip: unlike regular pizza, some wood-fired pizzas come with zero sauce at all. For example, mushroom pizza or cheese pizza is baked with no tomato sauce whatsoever. And these are also the menus where the dough tastes the best. Without sauce, you notice the chewy dough more, so personally I tend to order cheese or mushroom pizza over the tomato-based Diavola or Margherita that Koreans usually go for.

How the half quattro cheese, half Margherita pizza tastes

Since they do half-and-half here, of course we went with cheese pizza + Margherita. Fresh out of the oven, cheese still bubbling, dough puffed up golden brown — the sight alone was insane.

True to its name, the quattro pizza had a whole range of cheese flavors popping in my mouth, from mozzarella to cream cheese. If you love cheese, this is a must-order. Not greasy at all, savory and salty, and dipped in honey like gorgonzola it goes sweet and good.

Why aglio e olio pairs well with the Margherita

We also ordered aglio e olio to go with the pizza. It comes out fragrant with garlic, pepperoncino, and olive oil, the noodles cooked just right and the sauce clinging well to the pasta. Being an oil-based pasta, it went perfectly with the Margherita. Rich garlic flavor with a slight kick of spice at the end, so even as an oil pasta there was zero greasiness!

72-hour dough: why Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza has lasted over 10 years

Above all, this place's dough is genuinely next-level — thanks to that 72-hour fermentation, it's incredibly chewy. Crisp and chewy all the way to the crust from the wood-fired oven — the best. I understood instantly why this restaurant has survived on the same spot for over 10 years. Rather than chasing trendy, flashy visuals, they nailed the basics — dough fermentation, sauces, everything — and I felt zero heaviness in my stomach even after finishing. Next time I'll come back for their signature gamberi crema pasta that everyone recommends!