Pasta spot in Mohyeon, Yongin: couple's bar-seat lunch, Bonaricetta

My husband and I were craving pasta and pizza for the first time in ages, and we heard there's a famous wood-fired pizza place in Cheoin-gu, Yongin. So we went! It's Bonaricetta (보나리체타), in Mohyeon near HUFS (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), Yongin.

Where is Bonaricetta and where do you park?

Bonaricetta is on the 2nd floor of a building right at the start of the road up to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. You can park in front of the building, so it's easy to visit.

That said, when we arrived at weekend lunch the lot was already almost full, so we waited a bit until a spot opened up and just barely managed to park.

How long is the weekend lunch wait?

Go up to the 2nd floor and there's a waiting tablet at the entrance. I registered as soon as we arrived, and there were a whole 4 groups ahead of us. (Wow, this place really is famous...)

The waiting area isn't big, so after registering we waited in the car.

Seating and the bar table atmosphere

Inside, there are group seats, 4-person tables and a bar table. Our turn finally came and we got in!! Probably because it was a waiting-list time slot, the place was almost completely full of customers. (Yes, a legit Cheoin-gu favorite...)

We were guided to the bar table, and it was actually on the outer side, so we could eat comfortably.

How to order at Bonaricetta: all at once, since extra orders are hard

You order on the tablet installed by the window. With so many people waiting, additional orders are difficult, so you have to order everything you want the first time!

Bonaricetta is famous for its wood-fired pizza, so we ordered pepperoni pizza, galbi ragu (braised short rib ragu), shrimp aglio e olio and a Coke. Worried it might not be enough, we ordered 3 dishes for just the two of us, haha.

Italian ingredients and dough kneaded every morning

What makes Bonaricetta special, apparently, is that it uses Italian flour, Italian cheese and Italian tomato sauce, and makes its pizza with dough freshly kneaded every morning! Food made with good ingredients and care really does taste different~~

After ordering I looked around the restaurant and the oven caught my eye right away. Pizza is such a popular item that the oven kept going without a break.

10% discount for HUFS-related staff

By the way, I heard HUFS faculty and other school-related staff can get a 10% discount at Bonaricetta at all times, so if that's you, definitely use it!

At other tables, I saw pasta come out first and the pizza arrive a long time after they'd finished eating, but we were lucky and our dishes came out almost one after another. And glancing around, I saw couples who had come as two and ordered only two pizzas. That's a wood-fired pizza place that's already proven itself!

How does the galbi ragu (₩20,500) taste?

Bonaricetta's galbi ragu is ₩20,500. It uses chewy noodles rather than ordinary pasta, so there's real fun in the chewing. The sauce is rich with deep flavor and a slightly punchy savoriness that keeps you reaching for more~

There was a really generous amount of galbi, and the salty-sweet balance was great, so it went well with the crust edges of the pizza too. Personally, my favorite pasta!

Is the shrimp aglio e olio (₩20,500) too heavy?

Bonaricetta's shrimp aglio e olio is also ₩20,500. Even the shrimp size is something else... plump, bouncy shrimp, added without holding back.

It has the clean taste of an oil pasta with a faint garlic aroma, and the cherry tomatoes bring freshness here and there, so it wasn't heavy at all.

You can taste that they use good ingredients~ The noodles are well coated in oil, so they go down moist and smooth.

Is the pepperoni wood-fired pizza (₩17,500) good down to the dough?

Bonaricetta's pepperoni pizza is ₩17,500, the star of the show, a wood-fired pepperoni pizza!! The dough was what impressed me most. Not a pizza where only the toppings are good, but one where the dough itself is delicious! The tomato sauce tasted really fresh, and the cheese and pepperoni went together beautifully.

I could see why people order the pizza..!!

I usually don't eat the crust edges when I have pizza, but I finished every bit of the crust at Bonaricetta. When I put the leftover galbi ragu sauce on the crust, it even felt like eating bulgogi pizza~~

Is Bonaricetta worth the wait?

Overall, the food quality at Bonaricetta is excellent, and you can feel the care put into every ingredient. I fully understood why it's popular enough to have a wait.

It was a day of properly enjoying pizza and pasta after a long time. 🍕🍝✨ Whenever I'm thinking of wood-fired pizza in Cheoin-gu, Yongin, I think I'll naturally end up at Bonaricetta.