Weekday lunch with a kid at Hey Joji, a Yeonnam-dong pasta restaurant

It's properly nice weather these days — the kind of season you can't buy with money — so since we were already in Seoul, we headed to Yeonnam-dong with the kid. The sun was strong but humidity was low, perfect for walking, and we timed lunch around a pasta place the kid loves. That's how we landed on Hey Joji, a pasta spot in pricey Yeonnam-dong.

Where is Hey Joji in Yeonnam-dong, and where do you park?

Hey Joji sits inside a Yeonnam-dong alley, half a flight of stairs below street level, so you look down into it from the road. I thought it'd be hard to find tucked in the alley, but with the map on, it was an easy walk. Parking is nonexistent anywhere in Yeonnam-dong, so we used the public parking lot, checking availability with the Modoo Parking app.

Being a weekday, nobody was waiting, but I'd heard there's a line on weekends — and sure enough, I was surprised by how many folding stools were set up outside.

Hey Joji in Yeonnam-dong, sitting half a flight below the stairs so you look down into it.

Inside Hey Joji: interior and seating

Inside, Hey Joji felt cozy with a French-bistro vibe, and with the ceiling fan and AC running, it was actually chilly. The table setup fits two to four people, and you just sit at whatever open spot you like without being seated by staff. Visiting with a kid, my eyes kept drifting to all the cute little props and interior touches.

It's an open kitchen setup, and there's a sofa table right in front of it — looked like a fun spot to sit and watch the cooking too.

How QR ordering works and what's on the menu

At Hey Joji you order via a standing QR code set up on each table. There's a mug of tissues, and next to it the standing QR code — scan it with your phone, up pops the menu, and you order by adding items to a cart. What's oddly clever is that everyone has to remember their own table number.

Pasta, risotto, steak, corn ribs, salad, sweet potato fries — the menu might look simple, but the spicy-sweet combos work well. The kid can't eat spicy food and grilled the staff with questions, and they answered patiently every time.

They set the utensils down for us and we waited a bit.

Cajun shrimp rosé pasta: can a child eat it?

That day at Hey Joji we ordered duck steak cream risotto and Cajun shrimp rosé pasta. Both have a bit of spicy seasoning mixed in, but it's hard to really call either one spicy. Even so, the kid, who can't handle spice at all, ate it happily.

Pasta in rosé sauce loaded with big shrimp — somewhere between thick cream and tomato sauce, and it tasted great.

The noodles and sauce come together as one, so you fully taste that thick, rich seasoning. I found myself wishing I had garlic bread to dip in it, which isn't on the menu — a bit of a shame. My personal wish would be for pre-meal bread or garlic bread to be orderable on the side.

There were five peeled shrimp in it too, so it never felt skimpy or left you wanting more.

Maybe because rosé sauce is high in calories, the fullness crept up gradually.

I figured with the spicy elements the kid wouldn't touch it, but they ate way more than expected — made for a happy find at this Yeonnam-dong pasta spot.

What the duck steak cream risotto tastes like

Hey Joji's duck steak cream risotto is a cream-sauce-based risotto topped with smoked duck, and it paired well with the rosé pasta. The smoky aroma was strong.

The smoked duck scent is strong enough that opinions might be divided, but since it's placed on top as a topping rather than mixed into the cream risotto, it shouldn't be too much of an issue either way.

The risotto has grains coated in thick cream, almost oatmeal-like with a slight chewy bite. Alternating bites of pasta and cream risotto, I got fuller and fuller. I thought about getting a Coke but didn't want to overdo it, so instead I just focused on the food and cleaned my plate.

Who is Hey Joji in Yeonnam-dong best for?

Craving pasta and risotto in trendy Yeonnam-dong, I found Hey Joji. It was easy going with a kid, and it seems just as good for couples or friends — no wonder there's a wait on weekends.