Yeonnam-dong pasta with a 1-hour wait and foreign diners: Hey Joji

Where Hey Joji is and how long the weekend wait runs

Today I visited Hey Joji, a pasta restaurant in Yeonnam-dong ~ let me share the review right away!

Hey Joji is located in a hotspot in Yeonnam that's a quick walk from Hongik University Station!!

I expected it to be busy since it was the weekend, but it was even more popular than I thought!!

It opens at 12pm, and I arrived just a bit after noon, but there were already so many customers!! I ended up waiting and got in after 1pm! This place is definitely legit!

Hey Joji's exterior and dining room atmosphere

Hey Joji had a stylish, tasteful feel from the outside, and the inside was really pretty too!! It's the kind of vibe that people looking for a Yeonnam-dong date spot would love, and there really were a lot of couples as well as foreign customers! (Genuinely a lot of Chinese and Japanese guests, which surprised me)

Sat down right away ~

It kind of felt like eating at a restaurant abroad even though it's a Korean spot — the vibe is really hip~

The table spacing was just right and every detail of the interior felt considered, so it was also great for taking photos!! There's a reason it's famous as a Yeonnam-dong date spot!!

Hey Joji's menu and how QR ordering works

Ordering was done via QR code!

Hey Joji had a variety of pasta dishes on offer!! Every single item looked delicious, so it was hard to choose!! After much deliberation I ordered the Cajun shrimp rosé pasta and the garlic squid oil pasta!!

How the garlic squid oil pasta tastes

The food came out right away!

This was honestly shockingly delicious for me!!!

Anyone who loves oil pasta has to try this!! There's a generous amount of squid, and you could taste a slight char/smoky flavor, so the flavor was really great!!

The clean flavor typical of oil pasta was combined with the umami of the squid, and it was seriously so good.. Oil pasta is often bland at a lot of places, but here the seasoning was just right and the ingredients' flavors really came through — it was so tasty!! I mean it, this is genuinely delicious, everyone...

How the Cajun shrimp rosé pasta tastes

Then the rosé pasta arrived! It looked incredible right from the visuals!!! Plenty of shrimp packed in, and the color of the rosé sauce looked so appetizing!! One bite in and — whoa~~ so good~~!!!

I immediately understood why people line up for this haha The rosé sauce is rich and thick but not greasy at all, and it's just spicy enough that I kept eating more and more!! There's also a hint of curry flavor!

The noodles were cooked perfectly and the sauce was well absorbed into the pasta, so it was delicious all the way to the last bite!!

The shrimp in particular were plump and springy, so the texture was really great!! Every bite was seriously so satisfying!!

It was really so delicious

I also got a cider (Korean-style sparkling soda) as part of a review event! If you asked me to pick just one between the two pastas, I honestly couldn't — both were so satisfying!!

What Hey Joji does well, and would I go back?

Now I understand why Hey Joji is famous as a Yeonnam-dong pasta restaurant!! It's in a Yeonnam hotspot so it's easy to get to, the atmosphere is great, and the food quality is great too, so my overall satisfaction was really high!!

Since it opened not too long ago, the space felt clean and stylish, and the staff were kind too!! There's a reason it fills up completely within 30 minutes!!!

If you're looking for a Yeonnam-dong date spot!! If you're looking for a great pasta restaurant in Yeonnam!! If you want to eat delicious pasta in a place with great vibes, I'd totally recommend this!! I plan to visit again next time and try other menu items!! It's been a while since a pasta place genuinely impressed me this much when I left!!!