Songpa Italian restaurant for grilled octopus: Allegro

Today, I’d like to introduce the restaurant we visited for my fiancée’s n-hundred-day anniversary.

Allegro, Italian Jazz Dining by Songpanaru Station

The place we visited was Allegro, an Italian jazz-dining restaurant. Allegro is an Italian musical term meaning “fast and lively” or “brightly,” apparently. It is a beautiful space where atmospheric jazz performances unfold inside an elegant dining restaurant.

It is right in front of Songpanaru Station—one block from Exit 2, on the third floor of the building.

Lunch Happy Hour and Jazz Performance Times

They offer happy hour at lunch, so during lunch time (12:00–15:00), pasta is ₩16,000 and every other menu item is 15% off! Once you take the building elevator up to Allegro on the third floor, the jazz lineup is the first thing to welcome you.

• Performance times: daily 19:30–20:10 / 20:25–21:05 (closed every Tuesday)
• Performance admission: ₩10,000 per person on weekdays / ₩15,000 per person on weekends

Inside, the jazz stage is at the front, and most seats face it. Along the sides are regular tables where you can focus on each other. Also!! If the weather is nice, I recommend the outdoor terrace. Jamsil’s night view, made by Lotte Tower, is really lovely..!

Italian Dishes We Ordered at Opening Time

We went in right when they opened at 6. We had no idea the performance was at 19:30 ㅠㅠ, so we got there too early. We ordered using the menu provided at the table (when we opened it, it was a tablet!). We spent ages and ages considering the many Italian dining dishes, but in the end chose polpo, which we had never tried before! There were also sous-vide pork-neck steak and salmon steak as mains, so choosing was really difficult..

Once we had ordered, they brought out the bread first..! It was crisp outside and wonderfully soft inside. We were hungry, so we ordered orange juice to have with it. The juice was delicious too, with the fruit pulp still intact, and we really enjoyed it with the bread.

Citrus Feta Cheese Salad and Puttanesca

Before the main dish, we ordered a citrus feta cheese salad and a pasta called puttanesca..! The citrus feta cheese salad contains orange, grapefruit, feta cheese, granola, and olive oil. The salty feta paired so well with the tangy fruit, while the nuts added a lovely richness—it was so good.

Puttanesca was another pasta I was trying for the first time! I heard it is Neapolitan-style pasta. Its distinguishing feature is anchovies, along with olives, capers, and a tomato-flavored oil sauce. The anchovies were not fishy at all and really brought out the savory depth. It suited my taste so well that I think I ate almost all of it ^^;

Polpo Arrives with a Fire Show

Then the long-awaited main dish made a spectacular entrance. They put on a fire show?! Polpo is the word for octopus in southern European Mediterranean coastal regions including Spain and Italy, and it means grilled octopus.

We had the octopus, seared crisp on the outside, with mashed potatoes and smoked paprika powder. It was crisp outside but wonderfully chewy inside—the texture was no joke. The ends of the tentacles were especially crunchy, which made them a real treat.

Anniversary Lettered Dessert and Night View

It was gradually getting dark, and they were beginning to prepare for the jazz performance starting at 19:30. We were sad to miss it, but were about to head home for tomorrow’s sake.. but!

They made a special dessert for our anniversary...! We had told them in advance! They congratulated us on our anniversary with chocolate lettering and prepared a mini chocolate cake and milk pudding!!! They even put in a candle. We blew it out together as we celebrated the day. Then we relaxed over dessert, enjoying the night view and the atmosphere of the jazz performance before leaving.

One thing I regret... wine! The dishes and atmosphere would have gone so well with wine, but unfortunately, for personal reasons, we passed on alcohol ㅠㅠ. Since it is Italian dining made for enjoying good food, they have a wide selection of drinks to pair with the meal as well.

You can pair sparkling, white, or red wine with your dishes, and they also offer whiskey by the glass. When you are looking for an atmospheric restaurant! It was somewhere I would like to visit again if I get the chance—somewhere I would like to visit while a performance is on.