Namyangju outdoor terrace restaurant with gorgonzola pizza: Romaok

Whenever the weather turns cool or my head feels stuffy, I crave good food with an open river view. That craving always leads me to my favorite little hideout in Suseok-dong — Romaok Riverside.

Where is Romaok Riverside, and where do you park?

Romaok Riverside is at 16-13 Gangbyeonbuk-ro632beon-gil, Namyangju-si, right next to the Han River Citizens' Park parking lot. Parking is free for the first hour.

The food quality and the atmosphere of the space are so good that this is already my third visit. I've never once been disappointed — if anything, it just keeps getting better every time — so whenever someone asks me for a restaurant recommendation in Namyangju, this is always my number one pick.

Window seats at Romaok Riverside: first-come, first-served

Seating

The 1st floor of Romaok Riverside is decked out as a sleek, upscale Italian dining space. The beauty of traditional hanok touches blends perfectly with the modern interior, giving the whole space a calm, comfortable feel throughout your visit. The biggest weapon this place has, though, is dining while looking out at the sweeping Han River view through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The window seat I sat in is a popular one assigned on a first-come, first-served basis by reservation, so I'd recommend booking early. 📍Chatting with someone you love while taking in a view like this, you completely lose track of time.

There's also a solid wine lineup, and the friend I went with spotted their own favorite wine on the shelf and said this place clearly takes wine seriously.

Dining on the 1st floor, coffee on the 2nd — from an outdoor seat

1st floor (dining) 2nd floor (coffee)

Chatting with someone you love while taking in a view like this, you completely lose track of time. Once you finish a great meal on the 1st floor, you don't even need to change locations — you can just head straight up to the 2nd floor café space. Ordering a relaxed cup of coffee up there while watching the Han River sparkle outside the window makes for a truly perfect healing course. Being able to handle a meal, coffee, and a gorgeous view all in one place makes this hard to beat as a date spot in Namyangju. The view is so good that even though the indoor seats are nice, I ate outside this time.

There's a board with various events, the café menu, and parking info — the first hour is free. There's a public parking lot right next door, but note that it can't be separately validated by the restaurant.

The pre-meal bread with scallions

Pre-meal bread

As always, I showed up this time with happy expectations. Romaok Riverside is well known for being led by a chef who came from a Michelin 2-star restaurant, and you can really taste that background in the basic technique and balance of flavors. The pre-meal bread has scallions mixed in, so the texture and aroma when you bite in are so good — this one piece of bread alone is enough to fill you up nicely.

How does the abalone gonad pasta taste?

For this visit we ordered our usual favorite combo — abalone gonad pasta and gorgonzola pizza. As soon as we sat down, the abalone gonad pasta already impressed us with its looks alone before we even took a bite. The deep flavor of geou, the abalone's innards, is fully melted into the pasta sauce, so the moment you take a bite, the deep taste of the sea spreads through your mouth. There's zero fishiness — only savoriness and umami — so even after finishing the noodles, you end up scraping the leftover sauce out with a spoon. It's that kind of addictive dish. The al dente texture of the noodles was spot on too, and you could really feel the chef's skill in it.

Gorgonzola pizza with honey

Gorgonzola

The gorgonzola pizza had a fantastic combination of the cheese's deep, strong aroma with a chewy yet crispy dough. Dipping it in the sweet honey that comes with it gives you the classic sweet-and-salty combo done right — it's a classic, upscale flavor that anyone, regardless of age or preference, would enjoy. It's the kind of quality that would satisfy everyone whether you came with kids or with your parents.

Final thoughts after coffee at Romaok Riverside

Coffee

It's a Suseok-dong favorite that keeps earning the Blue Ribbon, which is basically the seal of approval for good restaurants, so you can trust it going in. After parking without any hassle and walking in, you also get to enjoy completely different charms in the interiors on the 1st and 2nd floors.

After the meal, we brought our coffee over, looked out at the Han River, and chatted leisurely — the stress and fatigue built up over the week just melted away. Great food, gorgeous interior, kind service, and a beautiful Han River view — nothing was missing, and even though this was already my third visit, I came away feeling fresh satisfaction all over again.

If you're looking for a great weekend drive-out spot near Seoul, or planning a can't-fail date with someone special, be sure to visit Romaok Riverside, the Suseok-dong favorite. You won't regret it!