Dunsan-dong pasta restaurant for kids: beet ball bolognese set, Plate

The kids suddenly said they wanted pasta, so while thinking over dinner options I headed out to Dunsan-dong for the first time in a while. When eating out with kids, I look for places that aren't too spicy or strong-flavored but still let everyone pick something to their own taste, and that day Plate — a place I'd been to once before — came to mind, so I went back.

Location and atmosphere of Plate Dunsan Branch

Plate Dunsan Branch sits on Dunsan-ro 31beon-gil in Daejeon, near Galleria Timeworld, so it wasn't hard to find.

It's on the 2nd floor of the building, so you climb a staircase and find a clean-looking entrance and storefront.

Location

2nd floor, Dunsan-ro 31beon-gil, Seo-gu, Daejeon 715m from Exit 2 of Government Complex Station Hours 11:00–21:45 Group seating, takeout, delivery Reservations, wifi, baby chairs Separate restrooms, waiting area Easy payment, parking

Once you open the door, warm lighting and a calm atmosphere catch your eye first. Overall it's clean but not too formal-restaurant-feeling, so it was comfortable for a family meal.

The tables have decent spacing, and there are seats for larger groups too. Wine bottles used as decor and various little touches added to the mood, so in the evening the atmosphere was surprisingly nice. Near the entrance there's also a space where you can see meat aging, which gave the impression they take their steak menu just as seriously as their pasta.

What sets Plate Dunsan apart from other pasta places is that you can choose from various pasta noodles, from fresh to dried.

We went all in with pasta sets

Since we came with the kids, I ordered set menus so we could share a variety of dishes.

Long-leg buldak rosé pasta set (squid-ink pasta noodle option) Classic beet ball bolognese set (regular pasta noodle option)

I picked the long-leg buldak rosé pasta set and the classic beet ball bolognese set.

At Plate, ordering the set instead of just the pasta alone gets you bread, soup and a personal salad along with it, making the meal quite substantial. When eating out as a family, having these side dishes come along instead of just the main dish alone felt surprisingly satisfying.

The bread, soup, and salad in the set

Before the meal, the bread, soup and salad came out in turn. The bread arrived warm and was soft and easy to eat, and the soup was creamy and savory, so the kids could enjoy it without any fuss.

The personal salad had fresh vegetables with dressing that gave a refreshing kick to the appetite. Eating a bit of salad and bread before the pasta arrived left us fuller than I expected, so I thought the set composition was quite good.

Long-leg buldak rosé pasta

This was one of the dishes I was most looking forward to — the long-leg buldak rosé pasta. It comes topped with a big chicken drumstick, making it look hearty, and combines the soft, savory character of rosé sauce with the spiciness of buldak (fire chicken).

The rosé sauce didn't feel too heavy, and a slight spiciness lingered afterward that cut through any richness.

The drumstick meat was quite meaty, so eating it together with the pasta made for a filling meal.

That said, since this dish has some heat to it, if you're eating with young kids it's a good idea to order one more menu that suits their taste too. My kids can't handle much spice, so they scooped off a bit of the sauce, but even then they said it was delicious and ate well.

Classic beet ball bolognese

The second dish we ordered was the classic beet ball bolognese. It came topped with big beet balls on a tomato-based bolognese sauce, and it looked appetizing right away. The tangy, deep flavor of the tomato sauce paired well with the pasta, and you could taste the distinct savoriness of the meat.

The kids in particular ate this one much more comfortably. Since it's barely spicy at all, I'd say this is a good option if you're looking for pasta to eat with kids.

The sauce clung well to the noodles, so it was easy to twirl up with a fork, and cutting up the beet balls to eat with the pasta made it even more filling.

A great Dunsan-dong spot to eat with kids

It had been a while since I'd followed the kids' request for a specific dish, and this time the meal turned out more satisfying than expected. Plate in particular has a wide variety of pasta menus to choose from depending on your taste, and ordering the set brings bread, soup and salad along with it, so you get to try a little of everything — that's what I liked about it.

The atmosphere was clean and the table spacing was comfortable, so it worked well not just for a date but also for a family meal. The kids suddenly said, "I want pasta today," and that's how we ended up here, but once I actually ate it, I felt like I'd properly enjoyed pasta myself for the first time in a while too. Watching the kids eat happily made me feel good about the menu choice.

If you're looking for a place to eat with family in Dunsan-dong, or a good-atmosphere Dunsan-dong restaurant, Plate is worth a visit. With so many pasta varieties, I'd like to try other menus next time. This was my visit report for Plate, a Dunsan-dong, Daejeon restaurant where we enjoyed pasta and set menus comfortably with the kids.