Gwangju date brunch with spicy puttanesca: MooDoo Cheomdan

It was a rare day when my husband and I both had a weekday off at the same time. We only get to eat out together a few times a year once the kids are at daycare. Trying to decide where to go, the thing I hate most is parking stress at mealtime, so I searched for a Cheomdan date brunch spot with easy parking as my main criteria. That's how we ended up at MooDoo, right near Lotte Mart Cheomdan.

Where to park at MooDoo: the entrance beside 'Yuhyang'

Yastech Tower, where MooDoo is located, has parking down to B2, so there was no worry there. But the entrance can be a little confusing — don't go into the nearby 'Yuhyang' parking lot; instead enter through the parking entrance right next to it.

After parking, we took the elevator up to the 2nd floor store.

7 groups waiting at 1pm on a weekday — book MooDoo on Naver

We arrived around 1pm and there were already 7 teams waiting. Luckily, my husband had booked a 1pm slot on Naver Reservation the day before, so we were shown straight to a table marked as reserved.

Looking around the restaurant, quite a few groups were there for lunch. If you're meeting a group or on a tight schedule, I'd recommend booking through Naver Reservation or lining up in advance with the Table Waiting app.

When we left around 1:30pm, there were still 2 teams waiting.

Two high chairs, and ordering by tablet at MooDoo

MooDoo has 2 baby chairs on hand, so families with babies were eating comfortably too. It was just the two of us that day, but I checked with my own eyes.

There's no paper menu — you order using the tablet at the table. Nice not having to flag down staff.

Three dishes for two people at MooDoo: 55,000 won

Since it was a rare outing for the two of us, we didn't want to miss out on anything, so we ordered all three: margherita wood-fired pizza, soufflé pancake, and puttanesca spaghetti. That came to ₩55,000 for two, about ₩27,000 per person. Three dishes for two is definitely a lot though — if you're eating light, two dishes will be plenty.

MooDoo's margherita wood-fired pizza and its chewy crust

First to arrive was my favorite, the margherita wood-fired pizza. The dough was really chewy and delicious. The pizza isn't huge, so one person could easily finish a whole pizza alone. Dipping the crust ends into the garlic dipping sauce that came with it was great too.

When you look for a Cheomdan date brunch spot, a lot of places turn out to be coffee-and-dessert cafés, so having wood-fired pizza and pasta together at MooDoo, where each of us could order what we wanted, mattered a lot to us.

How fluffy is the souffle pancake at MooDoo?

The soufflé pancake comes with butter, apple jam, honey, and ketchup. I dug into the accompanying salad first. The potatoes on the side had a slightly undercooked texture — not sure if that's how they're meant to be. There's a fried egg on top of the pancake, which I set aside to put on the spicy spaghetti that was coming later. The pancake itself was fluffy and soft.

MooDoo's puttanesca spaghetti is spicier than it looks

Last to arrive was the puttanesca spaghetti. The menu didn't have any spicy marker, so I was a little caught off guard by how spicy it was on the first bite. Still, it was a good kind of spicy and I enjoyed it. Adding the fried egg I'd saved from the pancake and eating it with the yolk worked well, and alternating bites with the slightly rich cheese pizza made a good combo. If you can't handle spicy food, keep this in mind when ordering.

Gwangsan Sarang gift certificates accepted, leftover pizza boxed to go

I found out while paying that MooDoo accepts the Gwangsan Love Gift Certificate. Since Cheomdan is in Gwangsan-gu, if you carry these certificates around, bring them along.

Ordering three dishes for two people turned out to be quite a lot, so we had 3 slices of pizza left over, which we packed to take home. Planning to reheat them in the air fryer.

Would I bring the kids back to MooDoo Cheomdan?

To sum up: at MooDoo, there's a 7-team wait at 1pm so booking ahead is the safe move, and for parking, enter through the entrance next to 'Yuhyang'. There are 2 baby chairs. It was a rare relaxed brunch with my husband, but the whole time I sat there, those 2 baby chairs kept catching my eye. Yuha loves pancakes, so I think next time we'll bring the kids. Recommended for anyone looking for a Cheomdan date brunch spot, especially those who want easy parking.