Namyangju Italian restaurant, dieter-friendly Friday date: Romaok

A Friday after-work drive date to Romaok Riverside in Suseok-dong, Namyangju

Romaok Riverside (로마옥 리버사이드) is a hanok restaurant on the Han River near Mieumnaru in Suseok-dong, Namyangju. Last Friday after work I went on a drive-slash-date with Dumbo, off to Namyangju! Since moving to Gangdong, Suseok-dong is only 20 minutes away. Easy!

Luckily traffic wasn't bad and we made our reservation time! I'd come here before with my sister, and every single dish was so, so delicious that I wanted to come back. Romaok Riverside is a true Namyangju favorite, haha.

Where to park at Romaok Riverside, and how much does it cost?

For Romaok Riverside you park at the Namyangju Hangang Sports Park parking lot, and the first hour is simply free. Even if you go over an hour,

it's only ₩200 per 10 minutes, which is ridiculously cheap, haha. Even 2 hours of parking is ₩1,200.

The weather was gorgeous, so we walked up looking at the Han River!

Do you need a reservation at Romaok Riverside? And what are the hours?

On a Friday evening, I'd book ahead for Romaok Riverside. I reserved through Naver in advance, and since it was Friday, a walk-in looked like it would have trouble getting a table!

Some people were having coffee at the outdoor seats. The building is a two-story hanok, and the second floor seems to be for coffee or group reservations, or something like that!

Hours are daily 11:00 to 21:30, with a break time in the middle! The café has no break time on weekends! On weekdays there's also a Naver receipt review event, so keep that in mind!

A dieter's order at Romaok Riverside: flounder carpaccio and sous vide pork jowl

This time at Romaok Riverside I ordered the kelp-aged flounder carpaccio (₩18,000) and the sous vide pork jowl with masala sauce (₩37,000). I'm still on a diet today, so this is my order!!!

Romaok Riverside is a Mieumnaru gem! Great for a Namyangju brunch, and great for an evening date too! Last time I had the pine nut caprese salad, the flounder carpaccio and a chicken dish, and all of it was so, so delicious! They have lots of wine, beer too, plus pasta, pizza, basically everything!

Inside Romaok Riverside: the atmosphere and window seats

Inside Romaok Riverside there's an open kitchen, and if you sit by the window you can see the Han River far, far away, all green and lovely! There's another space further in. There are also indoor seats on the way to the restroom.

The restroom is inside and clean! It looks like a good place for a blind date, haha. In fact, another table seemed to be on one, hehe. And it's a Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon restaurant!

Green onion ciabatta bread

Romaok Riverside serves green onion ciabatta as its starter bread, and it's sooo good... Last time the bread was so delicious that I ordered extra, haha.

How does the kelp-aged flounder carpaccio taste?

The appetizer, kelp-aged flounder carpaccio, is aged flounder topped with caviar, wasabi cream, orange and even grapefruit. Wow, this is really... so, so delicious.

The cream itself is so tasty that I dipped my bread in it too... and the flounder is so chewy!!

Is the masala sous vide pork jowl worth ₩37,000?

I ordered the masala sauce sous vide pork jowl for protein. The price is a bit high, but the portion is bigger than I expected! Oh, this one's a stunner too!

I worried the sauce would taste exotic (Dumbo hates that), but it wasn't as foreign as I feared and it was tasty. And the meat is really juicy... it would go well with rice too! Pork jowl is always good, but it's been a while since I had it cooked as a proper dish? Since we'd only ordered one main, we were still a little hungry, haha.

An extra order: crispy squid ink scallops with potato purée

Still hungry, so we added the crispy squid ink scallops with potato purée (₩20,000)! It looks like lumps of coal, haha. Wow, why is this so good too, haha.

Bite into that crispy squid ink ball and there's a scallop inside... and the potato purée underneath... so good. Dipping bread in that is great too, haha. The portion is just right (by dieter standards), and with wine I bet it'd be amazing! Asubeo!

I ordered just 1 extra bread, haha. I think it was ₩1,000. The chewy-soft scallop, the crispy outside, and the potato purée... ahh.

Is Romaok Riverside a good date spot near Seoul?

With the Han River view, this atmosphere, this taste and these prices, Romaok Riverside seems like a great weekend date spot near Seoul too! Every dish is so classy and tasty that I want to try the whole menu. I want to come again with my mom!

They seem to hold outdoor weddings with a Han River view! And first-birthday parties too, haha. Americano takeout is available too!

It was so good, haha, and the food came out so fast it was almost startling, so we didn't pay anything for parking (we cleared everything within 1 hour, haha). Just reporting back!