Dunsan-dong Italian restaurant weekend dinner: gnocchi set at Bologna

Bologna

Bologna: an Italian restaurant in Dunsan-dong near Daejeon City Hall Station

Today I went to Bologna, an Italian restaurant near Daejeon City Hall Station. The vibe was great, the food was delicious, and the staff were friendly, so overall I was so satisfied — let me introduce it right away!

Bologna's signature menu items are the truffle cream gnocchi and bolognese ragu pasta, and there's a big photo of the signature menu right at the entrance, so I was already curious about the gnocchi before even walking in haha 😆😆

How long is the wait on a weekend evening?

We visited on a weekend evening, and true to its reputation as a place with a wait, there was indeed a line! Even after we got in, more guests kept arriving and the wait kept going, so this place really seems popular.

What I liked was that water and chamomile tea were set out to drink while waiting. Such a nice little touch 🤍🤍

Inside Bologna: atmosphere and seating

Wait, is this Europe??? 😳🫪 Vintage frames are hung all over, giving it a slight European feel, and overall it's wood-toned with dim lighting, so it feels really cozy 🤎🤎🤎

The place was bigger than I expected and the table spacing was decent too, so it seemed perfect for a date 😆😆 There were actually a lot of couples when we visited! It also seemed like a good spot for a blind date or a gathering ahead of a wedding — anywhere you want a nice atmosphere for a meal.

What comes with the gnocchi set?

The menu has a wide range of pasta, gnocchi, steak, and more, and you can order à la carte, but ordering a set lets you try several menu items at once. There are several kinds of sets too, so you can pick according to what you're craving.

I was so curious about the truffle cream gnocchi that caught my eye from the entrance, so we ordered the gnocchi set 😆😆 The gnocchi set comes with bread + soup + seasonal salad + choice of pasta + truffle cream gnocchi, and I picked shrimp and scallop aglio olio for the pasta.

Bread and soup before the meal

Shortly after, the bread and soup arrived. They came out warm, which was nice, and the ciabatta was plain on the outside but chewy inside, so it was delicious even on its own. Dipping it in balsamic oil was good too, but dipping the bread in the soup that came along with it was soft and savory and paired really well 😆 The soup wasn't heavy or overly seasoned, so it was a light, nice start before the main dishes!

A hearty gnocchi set 🍽️

The seasonal salad

First, the seasonal salad! Cherry tomatoes and mango are placed on top of lettuce, and the colors look really pretty overall. The lettuce was crisp and fresh, so the texture was great, and it came with a sweet-and-sour oriental-style dressing that cleanly refreshed the palate 🤍 It was clean-tasting, so it went well alongside the cream or oil pasta 🥗

Truffle cream gnocchi, crisp outside and chewy inside

And then the signature dish I was most looking forward to — the truffle cream gnocchi! The staff told us that plating the gnocchi onto individual plates lets you enjoy it crispier.

Wow, this is really different from any gnocchi I've had before! It's amazingly crispy — crispy on the outside, chewy inside. Such a surprising texture that I had to double-check it was even potato.

You can see the thick, rich cream too. The thick cream sauce had a subtle truffle aroma, giving it deep flavor — genuinely delicious. Cream sauce can feel heavy, but there's peperoncino mixed in that adds a spicy kick and cuts through the richness!

There were also walnuts on one side, which gave a nice crunch — eating them together was nutty and so delicious.

Shrimp and scallop aglio olio

And then the shrimp and scallop aglio olio! It's an oil pasta topped with shrimp and scallops, along with cherry tomatoes and arugula.

The noodles were cooked just right, so the springy texture was great, and the oil wasn't too heavy, making it easy to eat and clean-tasting. Eating the arugula together with the noodles in particular added its distinct aroma, and it matched really well.

There was plenty of shrimp and scallops too, and they weren't tough at all — nicely springy, so they went well with the pasta. Overall the aglio olio wasn't heavily seasoned, more like a clean oil pasta, so ordering it alongside a rich dish like the truffle cream gnocchi was a great combo 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Free gelato for a Naver receipt review

And if you take part in the Naver receipt review event, you get gelato — make sure to join in! You can choose between chocolate and yogurt flavors, and we picked chocolate — doesn't the photo alone show how rich the chocolate is? Hahahaha it felt less like eating ice cream and more like eating a thick block of chocolate! It was that chewy, that rich, and so delicious!

💌 Overall, the food was excellent and the atmosphere was great, so I was so satisfied with Bologna. If you're looking for a place with a nice vibe for a date or a gathering, definitely go visit Bologna, a Dunsan-dong restaurant worth trying 🤍🤍