Pasta restaurant 3 minutes from Gangnam Station parking: Eulji Darak

In the middle of crowded Gangnam, I wanted to eat well without ending up somewhere too noisy — and that's exactly why I went looking for Eulji Darak Gangnam Station. A lot of people probably already know it as the reliable spot that's always in the hot neighborhoods: Euljiro, Seongsu, Dosan, and Gangnam.

Where is Eulji Darak Gangnam Station, and where do you park?

Eulji Darak Gangnam Station is on the 2nd floor of a building on Gangnam-daero 96-gil. We parked at Yeoksam Culture Park Public Parking Lot No. 1 and walked over, and it genuinely felt like about a 3-minute walk.

Bringing a car near Gangnam Station always means worrying about parking first, so this location works out great — perfect for a date course too!

Take the stairs up to the 2nd floor and you'll find the entrance right away. Which door is it, though? The elevator-shaped door on the left is the entrance to this Gangnam Station pasta spot.

Is the interior right for a blind date?

Inside, Eulji Darak Gangnam Station is built around white and wood tones, with marble-look tables and plenty of natural light coming in. When I visited, I noticed a few tables that looked like blind dates in progress.

Once you step inside, the vibe changes completely from the typical Gangnam chaos outside. It's clean and bright overall — the kind of atmosphere that doesn't feel like pressure for a date or blind date. The tables aren't packed too tightly together either, and the space extends further back, which made it easy to talk over a meal with friends or a partner.

The waiting area and restroom design are just as distinctive as the entrance, right? The restrooms are separate for men and women, and more spacious than I expected — pretty comfortable.

The menu at Eulji Darak and the three dishes we ordered

The menu at Eulji Darak Gangnam Station is simpler than I expected. We ordered three things: dalak rose pasta for 19,000 won, pork neck steak for 24,000 won, and katsu sando for 12,000 won.

This is the menu at Eulji Darak, a pasta spot near Gangnam Station. There's currently an event running for people who verify with a Naver receipt or Google Maps review, so keep that in mind if you're planning a visit.

The menu is simpler than expected, which somehow makes it feel like they're confident about their signature dishes.

Three plates on one table: how did they taste?

The dalak rose pasta, pork neck steak, and katsu sando we ordered all arrived at almost the same time. The table filled up nicely, didn't it? Of course, the Instagram photo came first!

Darak Rose Pasta (19,000 won)

This was the dish that caught my eye first, visually. A round mound of white cream sits on top of the noodles, surrounded by a generous layer of deep-colored meat sauce.

You mix the sauce and the cream on top together to actually complete the rose pasta. I expected it to lean soft and creamy at first, but the meat sauce's presence turned out to be quite strong.

The sauce isn't simply a creamy rose — what hits first is a deep, heavy savoriness like meat simmered for a long time. Then the cream mixes in and softens the finish. The sauce clings thickly to the noodles, so twirling a forkful gives you both the nutty cream and the salty meat sauce together — it really fills your mouth!

Katsu Sando (12,000 won)

And then there was the katsu sando I kept quietly reaching for. It looks pretty simple at first glance.

It's built with a thick pork loin cutlet and sauce between slices of white bread, and cutting it in half reveals a pretty substantial cutlet thickness. The breading is thin and crisp rather than thick and puffy, and the meat inside was surprisingly moist and tender. The bread is soft, creating a nice contrast with the crunchy breading, and the more you chew, the more the cutlet's juices and the sweet-salty sauce soak into the bread.

Chopped Pork Neck Steak (24,000 won)

Personally, this was the dish that impressed me more than expected! Pork neck cut into big bite-sized pieces comes with grilled vegetables like eggplant, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes.

The pork neck is grilled to a golden brown on the outside, so the moment it hits your mouth you get that nutty grilled aroma, and the inside isn't overly dry — it keeps some moisture in the lean meat.

Dip the pork neck lightly into the mashed potatoes on the side and the meaty aroma gets followed by the potatoes' soft, mellow flavor, mellowing the whole bite out.

The grilled vegetables on the side helped reset the palate between bites, and the combination worked well overall. What I liked most was that all three dishes left nothing to be desired, taste-wise.

If you're planning to eat pasta near Gangnam Station and then head to a café or continue a date nearby, this is worth adding to your Gangnam date course as the meal stop :)