Namyangju valley BBQ lunch, pork belly with bean sprouts: 2002 Witch's

Where is 2002 Witch's Arpeggio, and when should you go?

2002 Witch's Arpeggio (2002 마녀의 아르페지오) is a BBQ restaurant with valley-view patio vibes at 142 Suraero 661beon-gil, Wabu-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. It is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with break time from 3:30 to 5 p.m. There is a parking lot too.

The weather has been cool lately and there aren't many bugs, so eating outdoors was really great, haha.

What is the valley patio seating like?

There's a big parking area right next to the restaurant, and once you park, the patio is the first thing you see. The valley stream runs right below it, so you get the sound of water and natural shade, and with the cool weather and no bugs it was perfect for eating outside, haha.

There's a big indoor space too, but the valley-view patio tables looked best to me.

As you'd expect from a jar tomato-jang pork belly place, there are tons of tomatoes piled up on top of the jars, haha.

The valley water is really clean, and some people were still wading in to cool their feet in the daytime. This is the valley view from your seat. Just looking at it was healing.

What did we order at Witch's Arpeggio?

Menu

I ordered the signature Witch's jar cheese tomato-jang pork belly for two, a mini potato pancake, and the roe-packed nurungji (scorched rice) cauldron fried rice.

When the tomato-jang pork belly arrived, the staff poured the cheese on later and did all the cooking, so all you do is eat. So convenient.

How do you choose the spice level?

You can pick the spice level for the tomato-jang pork belly. I chose Shin Ramyun level, and it wasn't too spicy, so it was great for lunch. Eating the pork together with the bean sprouts in the middle later is the real kicker, haha.

Side dishes

Side dishes included tomatoes, seaweed, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), pickled radish wraps, jeonbyeong (thin rice crepes), cabbage and lettuce.

What's the best order to eat the tomato-jang pork belly?

Witch's Arpeggio even has a suggested order for eating the tomato-jang pork belly, so I read it while we waited, haha. I tried them all, and eating it plain with the bean sprouts was the best. The natural flavor came through most, and that was my favorite.

Mini potato pancake, good to add for two

There were two of us, and there was a mini potato pancake (gamjajeon) you can add on, so we tried it, haha. It's really crispy and nutty.

Lastly, eat it right when the cheese has been sprinkled on and melted, haha.

Does the tomato-jang pork belly taste like ketchup?

Not even a little. The combo of crunchy bean sprouts and tomato-jang pork belly was my favorite. With "tomato" in the name, I expected ketchup flavor. But there was no ketchup taste at all, just a savory, umami-rich seasoned sauce that went really well with the meat.

It isn't jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork) either, and it was a flavor I've never had anywhere else, but it was delicious. The meat was tender and the sauce felt special.

I ate it with the jeonbyeong too.

Just cheese and meat, tasting it as it is, is good too.

The weather was so nice that just sitting there was healing, and it was the kind of atmosphere where I regretted driving and not being able to drink beer. I want to come back a few more times before it gets colder.

I also wrapped up some veggie wraps nicely and ate them.

Finishing with roe nurungji cauldron fried rice

To finish at Witch's Arpeggio, I also ordered the cauldron nurungji fried rice.

It has roe in it, so it's salty, and it's even better wrapped once more in seaweed. Ending with fried rice was just right.

It would be perfect for a meal on an autumn drive. If you're looking for a Namyangju drive restaurant or a valley-vibe patio BBQ, how about 2002 Witch's Arpeggio?