Day drinking at a Samsung Station Italian restaurant: Mano di Chef

Summer's fading into fall and it's getting cooler, and honestly I just didn't feel like working, so it turned into one of those days where you take a half-day off and crave a daytime drink. My friend used shopping as an excuse to duck out early, and we came to Samsung Station for lunch.

Right across from the Korea City Air Terminal building where my office is, there's Mano di Chef, supposedly a Samsung Station Western-food spot known for its bisque pasta near Coex — so we went in for lunch~

How to walk to Mano di Chef Samsung Branch from Samsung Station

Mano di Chef Samsung Branch is a 5-minute walk from Samsung Station, on the basement level of Dongsung Building. Mano di Chef has its main branch in Myeongdong, plus locations in Jamsil, Gangnam, Samsung, and more, apparently. My friend had been once before, but it was my first visit. I'd heard the pizza was that good, so I went in with high expectations.

It's easy to find if you come out through the 1F entrance of Hyundai Department Store. If you're driving, mechanical parking is available, and the restaurant itself is on B1 of the building.

What is on the autumn 'Carrot Table' seasonal menu?

Mano di Chef's fall 2026 season theme is Carrot Table. It seemed like the season menu was made up of dishes themed around carrots. The poster by the entrance was so cute that we wanted to make sure we ordered at least one season menu item.

Inside Mano di Chef Samsung Branch: lighting, seating and the private room

Since we'd made a reservation, we were seated at an adorably cute round table. Mano di Chef near Samsung Station — this pasta spot — is nicely decorated in a charming way.

I don't know the details, but apparently it's often used as a filming location for dramas, movies, ads, and so on. It seemed like a great place to visit for a blind date, an anniversary, whenever you want to set a mood. Personally, it's dim enough that it felt like the perfect blind-date atmosphere, hahaha.

Even when we visited, there were quite a few tables of office workers using the place in groups — whether it was a meeting or a lunch get-together, I'm not sure.

There was a private room in the back too, and it looked like it could fit around 12–16 people. Seemed pretty good for a group gathering...!! My sister's been having engagement-invitation parties lately, and I thought a spot with this kind of vibe would be perfect for that.

A half-day-off day-drinking lunch for two

Honestly, we came here specifically to set the mood for daytime drinking, hahaha. It'd been so long since I'd had a daytime drink. I thought about wine, but I ended up on beer that day, haha. My friend ordered red wine. The moment the drinks got served, our mood instantly lifted.

Steak pizza at Mano di Chef

The first thing we ordered at Mano di Chef Samsung Branch was the steak pizza. Everyone kept saying it's that good, so I was about to find out for myself.

We rolled it up and ate it like finger food — piled with cheese topping, the sauce was delicious, the steak was tender and delicious, and I pulled the tomatoes off to eat separately for a refreshing bite one at a time — it was so good, ugh. Taking a bite of pickle or jalapeño along with it kept it from ever feeling greasy. I want to eat it again.

While we were marveling over a slice of pizza, our today's lunch — or should I say, daytime drinking table (?) — was complete, hahahahahahaha.

Carrot puree octopus gnocchi

The second dish was the carrot puree octopus gnocchi. The sauce was seriously... good enough that you never get tired of it. The gnocchi was really chewy, and the octopus was so tender.

I took a bite and it just melted in my mouth. It was strange and delicious how well carrot and octopus went together. I suddenly became an octopus lover.

Are two dishes enough for two people?

We scraped the plates clean. I actually wondered whether we should order a third dish, but between chugging beer and each polishing off 4 slices of pizza, it turned out to be a hugely satisfying meal.

If we'd ordered more, we probably would've had leftovers. Now I just want to come back with a bigger group and try a wider range of the menu.

We visited two weeks before Chuseok, and apparently during Chuseok week they even hand out ₩50,000 coupons, so don't miss that chance — I really recommend visiting.

Two dishes were so good that I'm curious about the rest of the menu at this Coex-area bisque pasta spot, Mano di Chef... The atmosphere is great too, so I'd love to come back again.