Suwon course restaurant where couples trade pasta bites: Hado

When you're dating around Haenggung-dong, there's no shortage of cafés or good restaurants, but on days you want something a little more special, it's genuinely hard to decide where to go. This time I wanted a Haenggung-dong date a bit different from the usual, so I visited the course dining restaurant 'Hado.'

Finding Hado in Haenggung-dong and booking the basic course for two

Hado is a course restaurant on Hyanggyo-ro in Haenggung-dong, Suwon, and we booked the basic course for two. Here's the exterior of 'Hado.' The simple, monochrome front immediately gave off a clean, tidy feel.

We booked the "basic course for two," where ordering one course lets you slowly enjoy everything in order from start to main. The menu included in the course is even posted outside the restaurant for you to see.

Why Hado's open kitchen keeps a course dinner relaxed

Hado was great for slowly soaking in the atmosphere from the start. Course dining can sometimes feel like it requires formality and a bit of pressure, right? But once we actually walked in, the vibe was more relaxed than expected, and I loved that.

Since it's an open kitchen, it was fun watching the food being prepared, and even the wait for the next dish never felt boring.

We ordered the basic course for two and picked "minari yuzu bisque" and "vongole" as our pastas, one each. For the steak, we also asked to upgrade to chuck flap steak (for an extra charge).

Starters at Hado: green pea tart and sweet shrimp apple tart

The starters that opened Hado's basic course were "green pea tart" and "sweet shrimp apple tart." These were small, bite-sized appetizers, but the plating was so pretty I couldn't help photographing them right from the start. The green pea tart was a soft, gentle opener, and the sweet shrimp apple tart stuck in my memory — the combination of sweet shrimp and apple worked better than I expected.

The portions were light, but tasting two different flavors one after another naturally woke up our appetites. More than anything, right from the first dish it felt so different from what we usually eat that I really felt "we're here for a course meal." After the appetizers, I was already looking forward to what the pasta would be like.

Minari yuzu bisque vs vongole: which pasta to pick at Hado

What I was most curious about at Hado was the "minari yuzu bisque (Korean watercress-yuzu bisque)" pasta. Just from the name, you can tell it's different from the pasta you'd usually eat. The rich flavor of shrimp bisque gets minari (Korean watercress) and yuzu added in, and rather than each aroma fighting for attention, they blended together more naturally than I expected. It felt rich, but the fragrant minari and yuzu kept it from getting too heavy by the end.

The vongole, on the other hand, was a more familiar, clean flavor that was easy to enjoy. Trading bites and saying "I like this one better" was surprisingly fun too. Little moments like this might just be what makes dating in Haenggung-dong so enjoyable.

Hado's sous vide chicken breast steak: the unexpected favourite

The main dish, "sous vide chicken breast steak," honestly wasn't the one I was most excited about going in. Chicken breast tends to bring dry texture to mind first. But one bite completely changed my thinking. Maybe because it was cooked sous vide, the inside was moist and tender, definitely different from the plain chicken breast I imagined. Satisfaction shot up precisely because it came from a dish I wasn't expecting much from, which made it even more memorable.

Was the chuck flap steak upgrade at Hado worth the extra charge?

We upgraded one of the two basic-course steaks to "chuck flap steak." That meant we got to try both sous vide chicken breast and chuck flap, and personally, I was really happy with this choice. The chuck flap definitely delivered the rich flavor and chew that beef itself brings. Eating it, I immediately thought "good call upgrading."

But the funny thing is, the sous vide chicken breast held its own against the beef steak and stayed just as memorable. I didn't expect chicken breast to be this satisfying. If you're visiting as a couple, going the way we did — one basic, one upgraded to beef, sharing bites — seems like a good approach.

Hado's final course: Earl Grey ice cream

At the end of Hado's course came "Earl Grey ice cream." The cold, fragrant Earl Grey ice cream cleaned up the palate nicely.

It wasn't just a plain sweet dessert — the distinct Earl Grey aroma lingered subtly, which suited the ending of the course well. If your usual Haenggung-dong dates of eating and then moving to a café have started to feel a bit repetitive, sitting in one spot and slowly working through to dessert could be a nice change of pace.

What kind of day suits a course dinner at Hado?

Hado suited a special anniversary just as well as a day when you simply want to slow down, set the mood, and eat something delicious. I enjoyed the basic course for two so much that if I go back for another Haenggung-dong date, I'd love to try different pasta picks next time.