Japanese lunch near Olympic Park: cold soba fillet katsu set, Riae

If you're hunting for a good spot near Olympic Park, especially for lunch, I have a place I can recommend wholeheartedly: Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch :) Here's my review of a lunch for two that left us totally satisfied.

Where is Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch, and what about parking?

The address is 46 Seongnae-ro 18-gil, 1st floor, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, close to Olympic Park. By subway it sits between Dunchondong Station and Olympic Park Station, so keep that in mind if you're walking.

There's a dedicated parking lot, so driving customers can park for free :) (The Naver Place listing explains this in detail too. Nice!) It's open 11 am to 8 pm, with break time from 3 to 4 pm.

Solo seats too? The atmosphere inside

There are tables for 2 to 4 people, and also tables well suited to solo diners. After I took my interior photos, a few people came in to eat on their own. Great tables, thumbs up!

On top of that, the staff were friendly, so the whole time from walking in to heading out after lunch left a good memory, hehe.

Riae Premium menu, prices and how to order

Every seat has its own kiosk, so you can browse and order at your own pace. You can even pay at your seat, which is so convenient!

• Cold soba and fillet (hire) katsu set ₩19,500
• Premium special loin (ros) katsu ₩22,500
• Filet mignon fillet (hire) katsu ₩19,000
• Fish katsu ₩19,500
• Tokyo spice fillet (hire) curry ₩17,500
• Tokyo spice ebi (shrimp, 1 piece) curry ₩17,500
• Other menu items

That's the rough menu and price range. We ordered two of the cold soba and fillet katsu set! It's summer, so a set that comes with refreshing soba really called to us, heh heh.

Cold soba and fillet katsu set: a happy lunch

Here's how the cold soba and fillet katsu set looked after a short wait! It arrives as a neat, tidy tray.

Every single item was delicious. Whether you go with friends, a partner, family or a group, I think you'd be happy here. Let me show you up close :)

How is the fillet katsu? Crisp outside, juicy inside, tender meat

Katsu (breaded pork cutlet) is the main act at Riae Premium, so it was the thing I was most excited about! If you like crisp outside and juicy inside (honestly, who doesn't..), there's no way you'd call Riae Premium's fillet katsu bad T.T

The meat was so tender and delicious!!! Plain, mild loin is good too, but eating tender fillet with soba made me feel I'd found a great Seongnae-dong restaurant, heh heh.

Katsu with sauce and wasabi

To eat with the katsu at Riae Premium, you mainly have sauce and wasabi.

Each has its own charm and both are tasty, so enjoy them as much as you like ^.^ The sauce was good, but the wasabi especially made me feel this is a proper place, and I kept saying how good it was. Wow.....!!

Cold soba perfect for summer, with a generous portion

It's July, midsummer, humid and hot, so there are plenty of times you crave something cold. Riae Premium's cold soba is full of zesty, refreshing flavor, and the portion is big enough to leave you full. It paired nicely with the katsu :)

A bowl full of salad, plus side dishes

The set's salad also comes in a heaping bowl, so I happily ate it for my health. Of course it tasted good too. Light and nice~!

The side dishes, which suit Japanese food perfectly, were each delicious too, and there wasn't one I skipped! Two mains, salad and sides were all great, so this Olympic Park spot left us thoroughly satisfied.

If you're meeting a friend who drives

I was meeting a friend who comes by car, so I looked for a place near Olympic Park ("Olgong") with parking and ended up at Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch. TMI, but... as we were leaving, it turned out the people at the next table were acquaintances of my friend! I guess everyone searches for a good Seongnae-dong restaurant.

So if you're stuck on what to have for lunch, I hope you'll give Riae Premium a try.