Anniversary date course dinner with squid ink and carbonara pasta: Hado, Suwon

I went to Hado in Suwon with my boyfriend for our anniversary. Since it was a special occasion, we decided to try a course meal instead of our usual date-night food. It's also a good spot to drop into while dating around Haenggung-dong in Suwon, so we booked a 4pm slot through Naver Reservation and headed over.

Hado's location and hours

📍 Hado 138 Hyanggyo-ro, 1st floor, Paldal-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi, South Korea Monday 16:00–21:30 Tue–Sun 11:00–21:30 Break time 14:20–16:00 Last order 20:00 On Mondays they only run dinner service.

Where to park

You can park right in front at Gyodong Public Parking Lot. The first hour is free, then it's ₩300 per 10 minutes after that. The lot is spacious and sits right by the restaurant, so parking wasn't a worry at all. We parked for just over an hour and, with the low-emission vehicle discount, only paid ₩450.

An atmosphere that suited an anniversary

At first I wasn't sure this was really Hado since the sign isn't very eye-catching, but it was the right place. Inside, other guests who'd come at their reserved times were already seated, and there was a bar table as well as regular tables. The lighting was fairly dim, which made it feel cozy and calm. Maybe because the space itself isn't big, it never felt noisy, and it was easy to talk with my boyfriend while we ate. Since we wanted somewhere quiet for our anniversary meal, this kind of atmosphere suited us well.

What's in the ₩45,000 Hado basic course

We ordered the Hado basic course at ₩45,000 per person.

• Green pea tart
• Sweet shrimp and apple tart
• Two kinds of pasta
• Chicken sous vide steak
• Earl Grey ice cream

We had booked for 4pm and the dishes started coming out one by one from around 4:15pm. Staff explained what each dish was as they brought it over, so we got to eat while learning about each course.

Green pea tart and sweet shrimp apple tart

The first dishes out were the green pea tart and the sweet shrimp apple tart. They came together so we got to try one of each. As the opening dish of the course, it was good for whetting the appetite — crisp and refreshing, easy to eat lightly.

You pick the pasta when you reserve

Next came the pasta, and when reserving through Naver you can choose which kind you want. We picked carbonara and squid ink oil pasta, and I'm glad we went with these two.

The squid ink pasta came with butter-seared cuttlefish and noodles thoroughly soaked in ink. The ink was so dark on the noodles that eating it left the area around our mouths black.

It was funny watching my boyfriend and I eat and end up with blackened mouths. We were having this elegant anniversary meal, but seeing our ink-stained faces made it a memorable moment in its own way.

The carbonara had a strong cheese flavor — rich and nutty, with the sauce clinging thickly to the noodles, so it felt like properly eating a true carbonara. When we first reserved, I thought about picking the same pasta twice since portions would be small, but I'm glad we chose two different ones.

Chicken sous vide steak with carrot purée

After the pasta came the chicken sous vide steak. At first I thought the purée alongside it was sweet pumpkin, but it turned out to be carrot purée.

I expected the chicken breast to be dry, but it was tender and paired well with the purée. If you'd rather switch from chicken to chuck flap sous vide steak, that's an extra ₩21,000.

Earl Grey ice cream to finish

The last dish was Earl Grey ice cream. After all the savory dishes, finishing on something sweet gave a real sense that the course had come to an end. Since everything came out one dish at a time rather than all at once, my boyfriend and I could take our time talking and enjoying it.

Would I go again

If you're dating around Haenggung-dong in Suwon and want a course meal, this seems like a good spot to visit. If I go again, I'd definitely order the squid ink oil pasta once more.