Tanbang-dong restaurant window seats, onion rapé risotto: THE MUA

My partner and I went to Daejeon for a date and found a brand-new Western restaurant that's perfect for it! It's called THE MUA, located in Tanbang-dong, and even though it just opened, it's already getting famous!

Where is THE MUA and what are its hours?

THE MUA is in Tanbang-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, and is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00. Break time is 15:00-17:00, and last order is 20:20.

⏰ Hours Daily: 11:00 - 21:00 Break time: 15:00 - 17:00 * Last order 20:20 *

It's in Tanbang-dong, which has lots to do nearby, so it's a great spot for a meal followed by a date!

Where do you park at THE MUA?

You can park on either side of the restaurant, or just park comfortably on the street nearby!

It's in a residential alley area, but even on a holiday there were plenty of spots, so parking wasn't difficult at all!

White-and-wood interior and the window seats

Inside, THE MUA has an upscale white-and-wood atmosphere with plants placed around. There are both window seats and dimly lit inner tables, which suited an anniversary dinner well.

This is the interior you see as soon as you walk into THE MUA — the interior design is so upscale, exactly my style!

There are window seats where you can eat with sunlight streaming in, and the inner tables have moody lighting too, which I liked. I sat at a window seat, and the view was pretty, so I was happy.

Overall, with the white-and-wood tones combined with plants, it felt like a sophisticated, upscale restaurant.

THE MUA menu: lunch sets and dinner sets

This is THE MUA's menu ⑉♥ Being a Western restaurant, it has a variety of dishes like pasta, risotto, lasagna, salad, and steak, and they thoughtfully offer both lunch and dinner sets — the lunch set would be perfect for a casual everyday date, and the dinner set for an anniversary!

One of the biggest reasons I visited THE MUA is that they make everything by hand! I love it when the sauces and everything else are made from scratch — it feels like the food carries more care and tastes even better.

What we ordered and what it cost

• Sous vide wine pork belly risotto ₩16,900
• Quattro mushroom gnocchi ₩16,900
• Lobster croquettes (2p) ₩9,900

My partner and I ordered these three dishes, and the portions weren't lacking at all — just the right amount!

Lobster croquettes (2 pieces), 9,900 won

The food came out fairly quickly, and the lobster croquettes arrived first! Honestly, lobster croquettes felt like an unfamiliar dish, but since it's listed as the very first signature menu item, I picked it.

But I would have really regretted it if I hadn't ordered this. It's packed full inside and so delicious, and the sauce goes so well with it! The batter is crispy too — I want to eat it again right now, ugh. I honestly want to come back just for this 🥹 If you're visiting THE MUA, the lobster croquettes are a must..!

Quattro mushroom gnocchi, 16,900 won

Next was the quattro mushroom gnocchi. I originally wanted the halloumi rosé gnocchi, but my partner strongly pushed for this one since it's listed as the signature dish, so we ordered it!

And this was also flavor with zero regrets ,,, 🥹 The gnocchi has such a soft texture it melts in your mouth! The sauce is such a rich mushroom-soup-meets-cream-pasta vibe that I wanted to just eat it as pasta on its own. My partner usually doesn't dip gnocchi much in sauce, but this time he was completely coating every piece haha.

Sous vide wine pork belly risotto, 16,900 won, with onion rapé

Lastly, the sous vide wine pork belly risotto! This one had a rice texture that came through more than typical risotto, which felt kind of interesting! And since the meat is sous vide, it was really tender and delicious.

And the kick of this risotto is the onion rapé on top..! I'm actually a picky eater, so I picked out the onions and ate around them at first, but my partner said the onion on top is the whole kick..? So I tried it, and honestly, you don't need kimchi or pickled radish. Even I, who dislikes onions, found it delicious — the sweet-and-sour flavor really cut through the richness of the risotto!!

Pre-order reservations and corkage-free Thursdays

THE MUA runs a same-day pre-order reservation system for office workers. If you order in advance by 11:30, they'll have your meal ready to eat the moment you arrive!

You can even reserve by text as well as phone, so it seems perfect as a lunch spot for office workers in Tanbang-dong! And every Thursday is corkage-free, so it'd be great to have a drink on Thursday and take Friday off 😆

They're also running a Naver review event and an Instagram story event, so it's worth joining those too — you can get either an ade or a coffee for free!

Is THE MUA worth it for an anniversary dinner?

If you're looking for a comfortable lunch spot in Tanbang-dong, Daejeon, or a Western restaurant for a date or anniversary course, I recommend visiting THE MUA. It happened to be our anniversary, and I found this place looking for somewhere with good atmosphere and good food after a while — I was very satisfied 😆💕