Crispy potato pancake, medium-spice pork belly: 2002 Witch's Arpeggio

2002 Witch's Arpeggio is a dog-friendly restaurant with a creek view, known for its aged tomato-jang pork belly. I'll admit I was secretly surprised at how good it was.

• 📍Address: 142 Surero 661beon-gil, Wabu-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• ⏰Hours: Open daily Mon–Sun 11:00–21:00 / Break time 15:30–17:00 (*Mondays close at 20:30)
• 🚗Parking: Dedicated lot on-site, free public parking nearby
• *Dog-friendly
• *20% off at the café next door after your meal

Finally hitting the creek in September, a dog-friendly restaurant in Namyangju

Hi, this is Rittle. 🚗🚗 When the weather softens up, I'm the type who just grabs the car keys and goes wherever without a second thought. In summer, even a creek trip never really felt cool enough, so I held off until September finally arrived.

Eating at 2002 Witch's Arpeggio, a dog-friendly restaurant in Namyangju that's perfect for this kind of weather, while listening to the cool sound of water and actually seeing the waterfall with my own eyes — the heat just melted away.

Parking, the opening-run rush, and creekside seats filling up fast

You can use the restaurant's own parking lot — all the nearby lots are public anyway, so just park wherever's convenient. When I visited, there was some grass-cutting going on, so I parked safely right in front of the restaurant.

Opening time is 11am, but even if you arrive early, orders aren't taken before then — and reservations through Catch Table are possible too, so keep that in mind. I did an opening run, but by the time I was leaving, the creekside seats were already completely full :)

Outdoor seats if you've got a dog, indoors if it's hot

If you're visiting with a dog, I'd recommend the outdoor seating — you can park a stroller there too, and looking around, most people had brought strollers, making for a comfortable meal.

I liked that the air conditioning was on inside, so you can eat comfortably in the cool. It's not a private room, but there's a semi-private space set up inside too.

48-hour aged tomato-jang pork belly, medium spice

Ordering is done via kiosk, and it's pay-after-you-eat, which made it easy to add more along the way. The most famous item on the menu is the tomato-aged pork belly.

Fresh tomatoes placed all around the restaurant turned out to be the actual base of the sauce. 25 years of research and a 48-hour aging process — it's a menu item packed with real effort. 🍅🍅 I was curious how it would taste since it's not the usual gochujang pork belly but a tomato-based sauce — just trust it and order it :) Between cheese+pork belly and plain pork belly, I picked the basic pork belly! It was ₩20,000 for one serving.

You can also choose your spice level. We figured cheese would suit something closer to buldak-level heat, so we went with medium spice, and it hit the spot perfectly. Tomato plus spicy actually works surprisingly well together.

Side dish: crispy potato pancake, ₩25,000

For a side, we ordered the crispy potato pancake — if you're a fan of thick-cut kettle potato chips, just order it, no questions asked. I'd never had a potato pancake this crispy before, and I was won over. It was ₩25,000.

For drinks, there's zero-sugar cola, regular cola, and a full range of alcohol, plus I was curious about the house-made makgeolli :) The pollack roe fried rice, currently part of a review event, should be ordered at the end of your meal.

Basic side dishes, self-serve bar, and tomato kimchi

The basic side dish spread came out generously, and since I was told the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) is best eaten warm, I dug in right away. It tasted like the japchae we all know, so it's the kind of dish everyone can enjoy.

The tomato kimchi is also made in-house, and with cheongyang chili peppers mixed in, it had that charming refreshing-yet-sharp taste.

If you need a refill on the wheat crepes, just ask a staff member, and everything else is self-serve at the bar.

Honestly, I had this bias that a creekside restaurant would just mean paying extra for the view, but Arpeggio changed my mind. The owner is kind, and being able to fill up as much as you want at the self-serve bar made for a really filling meal.

Staff sliced it for us and even added smoky flavor with a torch

Here's today's star, the tomato-jang pork belly, fully soaked in the sauce. A staff member sliced it for us themselves, checked the doneness, and told us the perfect moment to eat it, which made things really easy.

At the end, they torched it for extra smoky flavor, so there was no way it wasn't delicious. Leave a little of the mung bean sprouts piled on top aside — adding them to the pollack roe fried rice at the end makes it even tastier.

Following the proper way to enjoy pork belly step by step, I could enjoy it even more.

Gochujang-based sauces can sometimes taste a bit heavy, but with the tomato base you'd never guess unless someone told you — the aroma isn't overpowering, it's just simply delicious.

The crispy potato pancake felt like eating fried potato in pancake form, with a satisfying ASMR-like crunch. Needless to say, we couldn't stop eating it, and I thought it would've been even better with some ketchup.

Finishing with stone-pot pollack roe fried rice

For the stone-pot pollack roe fried rice, when you order it at the end, they clear the grill plate and place it on top. Wait until the hourglass runs out, then mix it up and dig in.

The crispy scorched rice and the pop of pollack roe went really well together, and wrapping it in seaweed made it even better.

Paying and a 20% discount at the café next door

After you finish eating, take your bill to the counter to pay. Show your receipt at the café next door and you can enjoy drinks at 20% off, so keep that in mind :)

The tomato-jang pork belly was unexpectedly delicious, and I'd definitely go back to 2002 Witch's Arpeggio.