Ilsan Italian restaurant for seafood risotto with Mom: Millepollie

Why I took Mom to Millepollie on Bamlidan-gil for lunch

Millepollie is an Italian restaurant on Bamlidan-gil in Ilsan, and I went for lunch with my mom because we wanted pasta in the daytime. I'd been wondering where to eat with her, and it had been a while since I last craved pasta.

If you look for good pasta places in Ilsan, there are quite a few decent ones around Bamlidan-gil. Millepollie was one I'd wanted to try for ages, so this time I went with my mom.

Millepollie reservations and days off

You can book Millepollie ahead on Catch Table, and the regular day off is Wednesday. I didn't want to show up and wait, so I reserved on Catch Table first, and it really put my mind at ease. I'd book ahead especially on weekends or at mealtimes.

Millepollie offers a range of Italian dishes, including pasta, risotto, gnocchi and pizza. Since Wednesday is the regular day off, just check that before you go.

What is the daytime atmosphere at Millepollie like?

When I visited during the day, Millepollie felt comfortable and tidy overall, and the first impression was good. Very formal restaurants can actually feel awkward with my mom, but this place has just enough atmosphere without feeling heavy.

It would be fine for a date too, but it suited a mother and daughter chatting over lunch really well.

What we ordered and the prices

We ordered three dishes in total!

• Frutti di Mare: ₩26,000
• Aglio e olio: ₩17,800
• Salmon salad: ₩21,700

It was just the two of us, but we figured we'd go all in with one salad, a pasta and a risotto, so we ordered generously.

Warm bread to start

The bread at Millepollie is 2 warm slices served with olive oil and balsamic. It came out first while we waited after ordering, and it may seem like nothing, but warm bread like this always puts me in a good mood.

Dipping the warm bread lightly in olive oil and balsamic before the mains got my appetite going. It wasn't cold or hard, and the warmth made it taste even better.

Salmon salad (₩21,700)

Millepollie's salmon salad pairs smoked salmon and vegetables with a fresh dressing, and it costs ₩21,700. It was the dish that caught my eye first, and it worked well alongside the pasta and risotto.

When I eat out with my mom, I like adding one salad like this rather than ordering everything heavy. The soft, slightly salty smoked salmon with the freshness of the vegetables worked like a palate cleanser between bites.

If you're not a fan of rich, creamy Western food, I'd recommend ordering a salad to share.

Frutti di Mare, seafood tomato risotto (₩26,000)

Millepollie's Frutti di Mare is a rich tomato-based risotto with fresh seafood, priced at ₩26,000. This was the dish I was most looking forward to.

I usually love tomato sauce with seafood, so the moment I saw it on the menu I knew I had to try it. It's not just sharply tangy because it's tomato-based; the savory depth from the seafood made the sauce taste quite rich.

With risotto, the harmony between sauce and rice matters most, and here the sauce didn't feel separate from the rice. It blended in well, so I kept going back for bite after bite.

If you like seafood, this is one to keep an eye on at Millepollie. Even sharing it with my mom, we kept reaching for it.

Aglio e olio (₩17,800)

Millepollie's aglio e olio is the most basic oil pasta, with garlic, olive oil and peperoncino, and it costs ₩17,800. With such simple ingredients, it's actually not easy to make well, right?

Too much oil and it's greasy, too little garlic and it's bland, too much peperoncino and all you taste is heat. Millepollie's version was nicely balanced: light, with a clear garlic aroma and a gentle spicy kick that never felt heavy, even as we kept eating.

How did the risotto, oil pasta and salad combination work?

Ordering the rich tomato-based Frutti di Mare together with the clean aglio e olio turned out to be a good choice. One was a deep, savory tomato risotto and the other a clean oil pasta, so alternating between them never got boring.

Adding the salmon salad made the three-dish combination work quite well too. It was a generous order for two, but sharing a bit of everything while chatting slowly with my mom was actually nice.

These days, a tasty place matters, but who you go with seems to change how you choose a restaurant, too.

Is Millepollie a good lunch spot with Mom?

Millepollie had good food and was easy to talk in, which made it a good place for lunch with my mom. With friends I don't mind a bit of bustle, but for a daytime meal with Mom I look for good food and a place where we can chat comfortably.

There's a wide choice beyond pasta, including pizza, gnocchi and risotto, so it also seems good for a group where everyone picks what they want and shares. Next time I'd like to try the dishes we missed this time.

If you're looking for a pasta place with a nice atmosphere on Bamlidan-gil in Ilsan, or can't decide where to meet your mom for lunch, Millepollie is worth a visit. Booking ahead on Catch Table was convenient, and I was happy to take my time over everything from the warm bread to the salad, pasta and risotto.

Above all, it stuck with me because I got to eat good food with my mom in the daytime for the first time in a while and talk about all sorts of things. For a day when you want pasta and risotto somewhere nice but not stiff, it suits a lunch with Mom, a date or a family meal.