Pocheon Italian restaurant for Saturday lunch waiting, 11 teams: Eoneu

When my first kid was really little, Eoneu Dal was in Gasan-myeon. I knew it had moved closer to city hall two or three years ago but never knew exactly where — until I spotted it near the Eoryong-1-tong village hall during the local elections this past June. I kept saying 'I should go, I should go' and finally made it!

Hours weekdays 11:30 - 21:30 / break time 16:00 - 17:00 / last order 15:00, 20:30 / weekends 11:30 - 21:30, last order 20:30 / closed every Monday / no break time on weekends and holidays / parking O / baby chair O

Location and parking at Eoneu Dal

Eoneu Dal, a Pocheon pasta favorite, is located near the Eoryong-1-tong village hall. It's a 5-minute drive from Eogagil Bakery Cafe, 5 minutes from Pocheon City Hall, and 18 minutes from Pocheon Art Valley. There's plenty of dedicated parking in front and behind the restaurant, so you don't have to worry about finding a spot (about 45 cars can park there).

When it was in Gasan, the place felt cozy, but the current Eoneu Dal has a white, bright interior with an impressive sense of spaciousness and openness.

How long is the Saturday lunch wait?

You can't avoid peak-time waiting 🥹 You register for the wait using the Table-ing system inside the restaurant, or you can reserve up to 3 hours before your visit through the Catch Table app (if you want to visit at 15:00, you can only reserve via Catch Table before 12:00). I visited at 13:00 on a Saturday and there were 11 teams waiting; I got seated around 14:00.

Even past lunch hours, Eoneu Dal is loved by many customers. It's a great spot for couples, friends, parents, or families with kids.

It's not a fully enclosed space, but there are somewhat private group tables, so it also looked good for group gatherings. This table had customers sitting at it just moments before, but it was cleared so quickly that I snapped a photo right away.

Since I registered the number of guests with Table-ing, they prepared tableware to match — including cute baby tableware. The water served has herbs and lime in it, refreshing without any watery off-taste, which was a delight for someone like me who can't drink plain water 💗

You order via the QR code attached to the table, and pay at the counter after your meal.

The menu and free corkage

Here's the menu at Eoneu Dal. They serve steak, salad, pasta, pilaf, risotto, wine, and beer. They've boldly cut out the usual alcohol markup, offering wine and beer that pair well with the food at some of the lowest prices in the country — and it's free corkage! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pre-meal bread: salt bread

We got salt bread as a pre-meal bread. Just getting complimentary bread was already appreciated, but it was warm and soft, which made it even better. They give two pieces as standard, and they even refilled it when we asked!

The three dishes we ordered

• Garlic shrimp pasta ₩21,000
• Beef tomato pasta ₩20,000
• Chicken risotto ₩22,000

Eoneu Dal is known as a Pocheon pasta favorite and a Pocheon risotto favorite, so we mainly ordered pasta and risotto.

Garlic shrimp pasta

The garlic shrimp pasta reportedly uses dalma shrimp, ttak shrimp (mantis shrimp), and whiteleg shrimp in a house-made bisque sauce. Three types of shrimp go into the sauce, plus generous chunks of whole shrimp on top.

There's also a whole king oyster mushroom and what looked like about half a zucchini. Just looking at it, I thought 'wow, that's colorful and hearty,' but once I mixed it and started eating, I really felt 'this is SO much food.'

Tasting it, I could tell there was blue crab blended in along with the shrimp — rich, deep shrimp-and-crab flavor, paired perfectly with minari (water dropwort) for a fragrant finish. The dalma and ttak shrimp melted softly in the mouth, while the whiteleg shrimp were plump and juicy 🦐🦐🦐. It could easily turn greasy with all that oil, but the subtle garlic aroma and a touch of spiciness made my eyes widen. Seriously, seriously good! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Beef tomato pasta

The beef tomato pasta comes topped with beef carpaccio. Carpaccio originates from the Venice region of Italy, referring to dishes of raw sliced octopus, sea bream, or trout eaten as sashimi. Beef carpaccio, specifically, is an Italian appetizer of thinly sliced raw beef dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, served with cheese or vegetables.

The thin beef slices are piled on generously, and the sauce itself is packed with minced beef too, so it seemed great for a protein boost. The pasta was cooked just right, and the noodles blended well with the sauce rather than sitting apart. The mellow flavor of tomato and onion, plus the umami, made it kid-friendly too.

Chicken risotto

The chicken risotto reportedly uses firm, nutty Pocheon rice cooked in chicken stock made in-house.

The well-grilled chicken had a nice smoky char, crispy with no gamey smell, and paired well with the smooth, mild cream risotto. Since the rice itself is firm, the grains weren't cooked to mush but retained just the right bite for good texture. The pepper on top of the chicken risotto was a great kick that completely offset any richness from the cream 👏🏻

In summary

Overall, each dish is about 1.5 servings, so you can eat delicious food to your heart's content at Eoneu Dal. If you're looking for a Pocheon Italian restaurant or a Pocheon pasta favorite, I'd definitely recommend it!