Ilsan gnocchi restaurant, Friday dinner reservation: Upstairs Kitchen

I went with my husband to Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch, a restaurant on Bamridan-gil in Ilsan, and had sirloin steak and bacon cream gnocchi. The sirloin steak was 300g for ₩54,000 and the bacon cream gnocchi was ₩23,000 — we split both dishes between us. Here's our Friday evening visit, walked in with no wait thanks to a Naver reservation, plus parking info :)

Last Friday my husband and I went to see a film at the DMZ Docs film festival, and afterward looked up good restaurants nearby. That's how we found Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch. Getting a great dinner in on top of the movie made for a solid Ilsan date.

Where is Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch? Hours and parking

• 📍 Address: 5-25 Daesan-ro 11beon-gil, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• ⏰ Hours: Mon, Tue, Thu-Sun 11:30 - 21:20 / closed Wednesdays
• Break time 15:00 - 17:00, last order 20:30
• 🚗 6 parking spots available in front of the restaurant
• ✔ Naver reservations available
• ✔ Corkage available (₩20,000 per bottle, no limit)
• ✔ Groups up to 10 people

The restaurant from outside

Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch sits at the entrance to a quiet residential neighborhood in Ilsan. The green awning paired with yellow lighting on the wall gave it the feel of a little restaurant tucked into an alley abroad.

At the entrance there was a Catch Table waitlist pad and chairs to sit and wait. Since we'd already made a Naver reservation, we could go straight in. There's parking space in front of the restaurant, and a public parking lot nearby too, so it was easy to get to by car.

Inside Upstairs Kitchen: greenery through the windows

Walking in, the warm wood-toned furniture and a huge picture window caught my eye first.

Flowers and greenery through the window looked almost like a painting — I kept glancing over at it.

It felt like a comfortable place to eat, good not just for couples but for families and friends too.

They even had blankets ready for when it gets cold.

Menu prices and what we ordered for two

The menu at Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch. They had everything from appetizers to pasta, risotto, and steak.

• Sirloin steak 300g — ₩54,000
• Bacon cream gnocchi — ₩23,000
• Triple berry ade — ₩6,000 (provided via review event)

My husband, who loves meat, ordered the sirloin steak, and I, a gnocchi lover, ordered the bacon cream gnocchi.

There happened to be a Naver review event running during my visit, so I received a triple berry ade free of charge.

Bacon cream gnocchi ₩23,000: house-made and chewy

The first dish to arrive was the bacon cream gnocchi. I'd gone back and forth between pasta and gnocchi, and after tasting it, I was glad I picked the gnocchi.

The round, flat gnocchi pieces, browned nicely, looked appetizing enough on their own.

They said the gnocchi is made in-house, and that showed — the first bite had a satisfying chewy texture.

On top of that, coating each bite in the cream sauce gave you both the softness of the sauce and the chewiness of the gnocchi at once — even better.

300g sirloin steak ₩54,000 with house-made whole grain mustard sauce

Next came the sirloin steak my husband ordered.

The thickly cut steak's cross-section showed off its juiciness right away, and it was tender with no toughness when chewed.

With every bite, you could taste the juices running through, which let us really savor the meat itself, slowly.

My husband said, "This reminds me of the steak at Wolfgang's." Being a meat lover, he reached for the steak more than the gnocchi that night haha.

For me, the garnish of potato and tomato, plus the whole grain mustard sauce, stuck with me the most. They told us the sauce is made in-house — you could tell, since the mustard seeds gave a crunchy pop that was fun to pair with the meat, a totally different texture from the store-bought sauces I'm used to. The potato and broccoli garnish were cooked just right too, and paired well with the meat.

Triple berry ade and the complimentary caramel

The triple berry ade I received through the event.

The carbonation had just the right fizz, and the berries were plump and burst nicely — refreshing to sip between bites.

After paying, we also enjoyed the complimentary caramel.

Verdict: ₩77,000 for two on an Ilsan dinner date

At Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch, my husband remembered the juicy sirloin steak most, and I remembered the chewy bacon cream gnocchi. Together, the two dishes came to ₩77,000 — a fitting combo for a dinner date after seeing a movie, like we did. The crunchy texture of the house-made whole grain mustard sauce with the steak was especially memorable. Thanks to our Naver reservation we walked straight in with no wait, and had dinner looking out at the green scenery through the window. Between the movie and the great meal, it was a really full day out with my husband in Ilsan :)

My husband's vote goes to the steak, mine to the gnocchi! A great Bamridan-gil date restaurant for sharing different tastes.

Who will enjoy Upstairs Kitchen Bamridan-gil Branch

• Anyone wanting to try both steak and cream gnocchi on Bamridan-gil
• Anyone looking for a warm-atmosphere date restaurant in Ilsan
• Anyone choosing where to eat based on reservations and parking