600-day anniversary lunch, four pasta dishes at Allegro, Songpa

For our 600th day with Juro, I didn't want anything over the top — just a proper meal, done well. Most places around Songni-dan-gil have waits on weekends, and standing in line on an anniversary felt wrong, so I looked for somewhere I could book ahead and landed on Allegro in Songpa.

Cutting to the chase: this was a great pick for a 600-day lunch. We laid out four dishes — citrus feta cheese salad, melanzane, puttanesca, and sous-vide pork shoulder steak — and every single one delivered.

Usually a place with great atmosphere nails one or two dishes and coasts on the rest. Not here — both the food and the vibe were fully satisfying, and by the time we left we'd already decided to come back for the evening jazz set.

Allegro at a glance

• One-line take: Italian dining with Lotte Tower views by day, a live jazz bar by night — a new spot in Songpa perfect for anniversaries and dates
• Location: 3F, 57-1 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul · 238m from Exit 2, Songpa Naru Station (Line 9)
• Hours: 12:00 - 23:00 · Break time 15:00 - 18:00 · Last order 21:30
• Closed: Every Tuesday (also closed September 25, 2026 for Chuseok)
• Reservations: Available via Catchtable (essentially required for anniversaries or the evening live set)
• Parking: No parking support · use nearby paid lots
• Jazz live: Evening Set 1 19:30 - 20:10 / Set 2 20:40 - 21:20 · Cover charge ₩10,000 per person weekdays, ₩15,000 Fri/Sat
• Signature menu: Sous-vide pork shoulder steak ₩33,000 / Mushroom cream potato gnocchi ₩24,000 / Puttanesca ₩19,000 / Melanzane ₩19,000 / Citrus feta cheese salad ₩18,000
• Amenities: Reservations, separate restrooms, high chairs, mobile payment

Allegro's location and hours (third floor of a Bangi-dong dining alley)

The address is 57-1 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea, on the third floor. It's 238m from Exit 2 of Songpa Naru Station (Line 9), under a 3-minute walk.

If you're only looking at the ground-floor signage, though, it's easy to walk right past. The building sits in Bangi-dong's dining alley, and the ground floor has another restaurant's sign dominating the front. Check the floor directory next to the entrance for the 3rd floor and take the elevator up.

Hours run 12:00 to 23:00, with break time from 15:00 to 18:00. Last order is 21:30. If you're going for lunch like we did, get in between noon and 2pm for a relaxed meal (arrive around 2:30 and you'll be rushed by break time).

They're closed every Tuesday. This trips people up a bit — Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday are all normal business days, so just remembering 'closed on a weekday' can easily get you a wasted trip. Just avoid Tuesday.

Allegro parking (read this if you're driving)

This is the one weak point. Naver Place lists it flat-out as 'no parking support.' We drove and ended up parking at a nearby paid lot.

The Bangi-dong dining alley itself is narrow, and on weekend afternoons the roadside is fully packed, so if you show up and start looking for a spot, you'll be late. It's much easier to pick out the cheapest nearby lot on a parking app before you leave (some run ₩1,200 an hour).

Honestly, with Songpa Naru Station just 3 minutes on foot, public transit is the most convenient option. It's also an easy walk afterward to Seokchon Lake or Lotte World Mall, so if you're building a date course around this, skipping the car makes the whole route much smoother.

Still, if you do need to drive, competition for parking gets especially tight during the evening live set, so plan to arrive about 20 minutes before your reservation.

Allegro reservations (book through Catchtable)

Reservations go through Catchtable. We booked a weekend noon slot, and since it's a timed reservation, we walked straight in with no wait.

Standing outside for 30 minutes on an anniversary would have deflated the mood before it even started. Just skipping that alone made the reservation worth it.

Seats for the evening jazz live set are limited, so you might not get a seat without a reservation. If you're planning to catch the show, book on Catchtable before you head out.

Allegro's atmosphere and Lotte Tower view

It's bigger inside than you'd expect. Black tables, white tile walls, and low-hanging pendant lighting keep it calm rather than flashy. It wasn't dressed up in a way that felt like pressure for an anniversary, which actually made it more comfortable.

Being on the third floor, the window seats have a clear view of Lotte Tower. It looks bright and cool during the day, and apparently the night view comes in the evening — so it must look different depending on the time you go.

One wall is lined with line-drawing portraits of jazz musicians, with the stage set up right in front of it. There's also a wine cellar, records, and a bar counter hung with rows of wine glasses — that's the spot for the best photos.

There's a terrace too. It was still hot out when we went, so we sat inside, but once it cools down a little, the terrace seems like the obvious choice.

All the seating is at tables, with 2-top tables as the default — no floor seating or private rooms. The gaps between tables aren't especially generous, but every seat has a view of the stage, so it doesn't much matter where you sit.

Orders go through a tablet at the table. There's almost no need to flag down staff, but they still kept an eye on water and cleared plates without being asked — the service was genuinely kind.

Allegro's jazz live show times and cover charge

Half of this place's reputation comes from the evening jazz live sets. We went for lunch, so we didn't catch a show, but there was mellow jazz playing in the background regardless. The stage and instruments are set up even during the day, so you get a preview of 'ah, this turns into a jazz bar at night' even at lunch.

Shows only happen in the evening. Set 1 runs 19:30-20:10, then after a 30-minute break, Set 2 runs 20:40-21:20 — two 40-minute sets.

The thing most people miss here is the cover charge. On top of the food bill, it's ₩10,000 per person on weekdays and ₩15,000 on Friday and Saturday. Budget an extra ₩20,000 for two people on a weekday.

There's also an announcement asking guests to keep their voices down during the performance. If you're meeting up for a long catch-up conversation, that's a mismatch — lunch is the better call for those days.

The lineup changes daily and is posted at the third-floor entrance or on the restaurant's Instagram. Next time, we're planning to check the lineup first and pick our date around it.

Breaking down everything we ordered

Before the menu arrives, they start you off with bread — warm, savory, and genuinely good.

Citrus feta cheese salad, ₩18,000

Grapefruit and orange come piled with vegetables and feta cheese. The fruit is bright, the feta lightly salty, and together they keep the sweetness from tipping over while the seasoning stays balanced.

There's a crunchy topping mixed in throughout, so the texture never gets boring. If you're ordering something heavier after, this is a good one to start with.

Melanzane, ₩19,000

Melanzane is an antipasti of grilled eggplant topped with tomato sauce and cheese.

The eggplant's distinct flavor comes through without going mushy, and the cheese stretches out while cutting through the tomato's acidity. It's best piled onto the bread that comes with it. Juro isn't usually a fan of eggplant, but she kept going back for more.

Puttanesca, ₩19,000

Puttanesca is a pasta with olives, anchovy, capers, and tomato. They apparently cure the anchovies in-house here, which might be why the saltiness spreads out into savory depth rather than hitting sharp.

The tomato's acidity leads, followed by the salty layers of anchovy and capers underneath — perfect for anyone tired of just cream or rosé sauces. The pasta was cooked exactly right too.

Sous-vide pork shoulder steak, ₩33,000

The sous-vide pork shoulder steak uses domestic pork shoulder, sous-vide cooked and then seared hard on the outside.

Sliced open, the center stays pink — and the fact that pork shoulder doesn't turn dry here is the whole point of this dish.

It comes with a pepper cream sauce and a generous pile of fries. Save some of the sauce instead of using it all on the meat — dip the fries in it.

That combo was so good we almost ordered a side of fries just for the sauce, haha.

Allegro's wine (wide selection, reasonable prices)

The wine list is longer than you'd expect.

Red, white, and sparkling are all covered, with bottles starting in the ₩40,000s. For a place with this kind of atmosphere, that's a pretty fair starting price.

Wine is also available by the glass, so two people can each try something different (or if only one of you can drink because of driving, glasses solve that too).

You don't need to know wine to feel comfortable ordering. The tablet menu lists the varietal and a description, and when we asked, staff recommended pairings based on the food. A crisp, acidic white pairs well with a salty pasta like the puttanesca.

Lunch happy hour if you go during the day

The first page of the menu has a big banner for the lunch happy hour: pasta for ₩16,000 during lunch hours, with 15% off everything else.

Purely on price, lunch clearly wins. But since the jazz live only happens in the evening, it splits down to: lunch if food is the goal, evening if the show is the goal.

We went during the day for our 600-day lunch, and honestly, that suited a quiet, slow conversation better anyway (since talking is discouraged during the performance). Discount terms follow whatever's posted on the menu that day.

What we liked

• We ordered four dishes and none of them fell short — that kind of hit rate is rare at a place with great atmosphere
• Both the gnocchi dough and the anchovies are apparently made in-house. Places that do the labor-intensive stuff themselves rarely disappoint
• The third-floor window seat with the Lotte Tower view — bright by day, and the night view is probably even better
• Staff are kind. Even with tablet ordering leaving little reason to call anyone over, they took care of everything without being asked
• 3 minutes on foot from Songpa Naru Station, making a natural date course leading into Seokchon Lake and Lotte World Mall afterward
• Wine bottles start in the ₩40,000s, and glasses are available too, so it doesn't feel like a stretch

What fell short · good to know beforehand

• No parking support. If you're driving, pick out a nearby paid lot on a parking app ahead of time — the narrow alley makes it hard to find one on the spot
• Closed every Tuesday, and also closed September 25, 2026 for Chuseok

Final verdict

Our goal for a 600-day meal was to eat well without waiting in line or fighting for a quiet spot — and that was achieved. The reservation meant no wait, the food was a full four-for-four, and Lotte Tower sat right outside the window. This feels like it could be a benchmark spot for an anniversary lunch.

To sum it up: go for lunch with the happy hour if food is your goal, or go for the evening live set if atmosphere and the show are what you're after. The two sides of this place are different enough that deciding your purpose beforehand really pays off.

It would be perfect if not for the parking, so next time we've decided to just take the subway. Juro and I are planning to check the lineup and pick a date to come back in the evening.