Euljiro blind date Italian restaurant: octopus ink risotto, Athlonga

Today I visited Athlonga (아스론가), a restaurant near Dongdaemun's DDP that appeared as a date spot on Heart Signal 4.

How do you find Athlonga's wine-bottle secret door?

Athlonga is on the 3rd floor of a building on Dongho-ro 34-gil. You climb the stairs and press a wine bottle on what looks like a wall, and the door opens. When we first arrived we were wondering, where is this restaurant? and a man standing nearby told us it was right here, haha. He told us before we even asked, so I figure lots of people end up wandering around right in front of it like us.

Once we got upstairs, the entrance was amazing. It's just walled off at the side, but when you press the wine bottle firmly the door opens, and it was so fun! haha

What is the stone interior at Athlonga like?

The Athlonga main branch has a stone interior, and in the evening only soft lighting is on, so the whole place feels dark. We came almost right at opening, so it looks bright at this hour, but once evening arrives only the soft lights are on and the overall feel is dark.

Athlonga runs two branches, the Euljiro main branch and a Yeonsinnae branch. The main branch is decorated with a stone interior, so you get to eat in a unique atmosphere, which I liked.

It was our first date in a while, so we wore matching outfits!

Athlonga menu: lunch vs. dinner

Scanning the QR code on the Athlonga menu takes you automatically to a Naver Map menu with photos. The lunch and dinner menus seemed to differ a little: lunch has café drinks, while dinner has a wide variety of wines.

Corkage is allowed and the wine list is varied, so it's a good Euljiro date restaurant. It really does seem to be famous as a blind-date spot too. Even though we went on a weekday, quite a lot of people were there on blind dates!

How does Athlonga's truffle cream gnocchi taste?

We ordered 3 dishes at Athlonga, and the first to come out was the truffle cream gnocchi! The chewy potato gnocchi, the truffle cream sauce and the assorted mushrooms mixed in went really well together.

If you dip it deep into the cream sauce, it's even more moist and tasty.

What is Athlonga's signature polpo risotto like?

The poppo risotto (뽈뽀리조또) is Athlonga's signature dish, a squid ink cream risotto topped with a whole large octopus leg. The look is seriously striking, so if you visit I recommend ordering it!

They give you scissors and tongs, so you cut the octopus leg into bite-size pieces and eat it with the risotto.

Eaten with the plump leg, it was really delicious!

Skip the octopus ink risotto on a blind date

But! I recommend ordering the ink cream risotto only if you're in a long-term relationship or eating with friends. The reason is something we'll show you with our own mouths, hahaha. As you eat, your mouth is bound to turn black, so even though this is a blind-date hotspot, if you come on a blind date I suggest leaving this dish out 🤣

But! It's so tasty that we finished it all like this, so I still recommend the dish, hahaha

Is Athlonga's lemon butter pasta too rich?

The lemon aroma in Athlonga's lemon butter pasta is so strong that I felt none of the butter's richness. Of the 4 pasta options, we had already tried the prosciutto, burrata tomato and basil cream, and the lemon butter was one we'd never seen before!

So I ordered it out of curiosity, and it was beautiful from the first look.

You squeeze the lemon over the top, toss it around so the butter melts, then eat. The moment I took the first bite the lemon aroma hit me, and I thought, yes, this is really lemon butter pasta, haha. When I first saw it I worried the large amount of butter would be heavy, but the lemon was so strong that I felt no butter richness at all, haha.

Athlonga restrooms, drink policy and rooftop

The Athlonga restrooms are neatly separated for men and women, and there's Listerine too, so it's handy for a quick gargle after eating. Since we'd had the ink risotto, I wanted to gargle, and it was right there, which was great.

Athlonga, known as an atmospheric wine bar near Dongdaemun's DDP, requires a drink order at dinner on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays. The wine selection is so varied that I think it would go well with whatever you eat.

The restaurant is made up of the 3rd floor and a rooftop, but when we visited it was very hot and a weekday rather than a weekend, so I think the rooftop wasn't open. And so many people on a weekday evening! We were surprised, and my boyfriend and I were surprised all over again wondering whether this many people could really be on blind dates after work on a weekday, haha.

We ate well and we're off! This is the mirror we passed on the way out. The stairs are a bit steep, so be careful after drinking!

Where is Athlonga and where can you park?

Athlonga is at 18 Dongho-ro 34-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, 3rd floor, close to Exit 7 of Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station. If you drive, you can use the paid Sangmyeong Building parking lot behind it.

Sadly we couldn't drink, because we came by car. Athlonga, a atmospheric spot near Dongdaemun History & Culture Park, is easy to reach by subway and also has parking if you drive. But since drinks are required at Friday and Saturday dinner, I recommend public transport~