Weekend date pizza pub at Isu Station: big slices & pickles, Raymond

I visited Raymond Isu Branch, famous as a pizza-and-beer spot near Isu Station. With its moody atmosphere and a range of American dishes like pizza, chicken and mac & cheese, it's a popular date place. This is my review from a weekend date!

Where is Raymond Isu Branch, and what are the hours?

Raymond Isu Branch is at 33 Dongjak-daero 23-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul (1st floor), a 7-minute walk from Chongshin Univ. (Isu) Station Exit 9. It's open daily 11:00-23:00 (last order 22:30), and there's no parking support.

Raymond Isu Branch menu

The menu includes sets like the Raymond Set, Ray Set and Mond Set, pizzas like Brown Potato Pizza (Lotus) and Spicy Fusilli Pizza, and chicken like boneless sweet-and-spicy chicken (yetnal yangnyeom, old-school style) and boneless spicy soy garlic chicken.

Besides the main American pizza (whole or by the slice), there's boneless chicken and plenty of sides. You can order just sides too, which makes it an even more appealing Sadang-area pub. The pizza is sold in limited quantities, 20 pies on weekdays and 30 on weekends, and they say the craft beers are of world-recognized quality, so it's a great place for a nice beer near Isu Station.

What's the atmosphere at Raymond Isu Branch?

The interior has an exotic mood with colorful decor.

The light coming through the big windows is another charm of the place.

The antique vibe feels like watching an old foreign movie.

There's group seating, so it looks suitable for group gatherings near Isu Station or a company dinner near Sadang Station. The restroom is unisex, inside the shop, and kept clean.

What's at the Raymond Isu Branch self bar?

There's a self bar in one corner of the shop.

The limited-quantity pizza is baked fresh in real time. The pizza is huge. One slice feels like one serving…

The self bar has napkins, wet wipes, small plates, hot sauce, crushed pepper, straws and more,

and the water comes in plain water, brown rice green tea and dungulle tea (barley-like roasted Solomon's seal tea, I think?), which touched me.

Raymond Isu Branch craft beer lineup

They say the brewer earned an international brewing technology diploma from the World Brewing Academy in Munich, so...

I was curious about the beer lineup, so I couldn't not try one.

Raymond Isu Branch also has Wi-Fi, so it's comfortable to use.

What we ordered on our weekend date, and the prices

• Big Cheese Pizza (slice): ₩6,500
• Big Pepperoni Pizza (slice): ₩7,800
• Boneless sweet-and-spicy chicken: ₩22,900
• Blueberry sour beer: ₩8,500
• Zero Coke: ₩4,000
• Garlic cheese sauce: ₩300

Big Cheese and Big Pepperoni slices

The American-style pizza, Raymond Isu Branch's main dish, came out first. See how one slice is bigger than the Coke…

A pizza server and cutter come with it, so you can cut it however you like.

I snip-snipped it into mini pizzas. Felt a bit like a surgeon, haha.

Both the Big Cheese and Big Pepperoni were true-to-basics pizzas, great with beer. The crust is on the thin side, and adding the crushed red pepper from the self bar wipes out any greasiness.

How does the blueberry sour beer taste?

The blueberry sour beer (₩8,500) was so fresh and tangy with blueberry that it didn't feel like beer. Kind of like drinking blueberry hongcho (vinegar drink)?! I looked it up, and it's a sour ale, which gets a zingy sourness instead of typical beer bitterness through lactic acid fermentation, with sweet-tart blueberry flavor added! Pretty good... recommended! It made me curious about their other craft beers too, a great craft beer spot near Isu Station.

Garlic cheese sauce for ₩300: definitely add it

And at Raymond Isu Branch, definitely add the garlic cheese sauce! It had a richer, heavier flavor than at other pizza places and was so appealing. With this sauce I could eat 100 pizza crusts;

Boneless sweet-and-spicy chicken and homemade pickles

The boneless sweet-and-spicy chicken (₩22,900) was moist and tender, not dry. The sauce was exactly the sweet yangnyeom chicken I ate as a kid, so I'm going to call it my go-to chicken-and-beer spot near Isu Station…

I liked that it seems they even make the pickles in-house.

The Grana Padano cheese sprinkled over the chicken gave it a richer flavor.

Who is Raymond Isu Branch good for?

The atmosphere is great and the menu varied, so Raymond Isu Branch is an American pizza spot that works for company dinners near Isu and Sadang Stations, group gatherings and dates, and even as a casual second round after a blind date. With so many craft beers, I'd like to try the sampler next time! Recommended for beer geeks!

Don't forget on your way out

On your way out, grab a lollipop from the counter and enjoy it as you leave!