Couple anniversary course in Pangyo: yuzu sea bass karaage at Kkweda

Why we picked Kkweda for our Pangyo anniversary dinner

Kkweda Pangyo Avenue France Branch (꿰다) is a course restaurant in Pangyo whose menu changes with the seasons and is built around seasonal ingredients. Our anniversary with Mingkkung was coming up again! We tend to let past anniversaries slide, so this time we decided to do it properly. I went looking for omakase and course restaurants in Pangyo, found Kkweda, and booked because I was drawn to the seasonal course idea.

Looking back, I think Kkweda didn't just cook with seasonal ingredients, they captured the colors of the season too. We went in mid-September and had the summer course: red, blue, and everything in between up to yellow. Plenty of summer colors, so it was a treat for both the mouth and the eyes.

We came for the dinner course, and it was ₩75,000 per person. For reference, Kkweda's lunch and dinner courses are the same, so the price is the same too.

The interior looks bright in tone, but the lighting is low, so the overall mood was calm. There's a private group space too, so it seemed just right for group gatherings and year-end parties, not only dates.

• 🍱 Lunch/dinner course: ₩75,000 per person
• 🍺 Drinks: one order per person required; non-alcoholic OK (highballs, beer, etc. available)
• 🍶 Corkage: ₩30,000 per bottle of wine/sake, ₩50,000 for whisky

Parking and how to get to Kkweda Pangyo Avenue France Branch

If you dine at Kkweda Pangyo Avenue France Branch, you get up to 3 hours of free parking. The big parking space and the generous time were among the things I loved most. There's plenty of time to stop by a café after the meal, which was so nice.

It's located on Avenue France street, which is just so ridiculously pretty. It's also about 10-15 minutes on foot from the subway station, so access was good.

We went in September and had the summer course, but from October the menu will change again to fall seasonal dishes, I heard.

You can check Kkweda's course information in the Naver Map app.

What are Kkweda's atmosphere and seats like?

Kkweda Pangyo Avenue France Branch is a calm, upscale space in light gray and muted beige tones. When I opened the door, it wasn't a dazzling white, so my eyes felt so relaxed right away.

Our seats were neatly set. We had booked in advance through Naver Reservation before visiting.

Next to the bar seats there were also table seats good for groups, and deeper inside the restaurant there's a fully private group space as well. ✅ For reference, online reservations are available for 4 to 8 people, and for 9 or more you need to call, they said.

It's a totally open kitchen! You can see the whole cooking process at a glance, which made it even more fun.

Kkweda's summer course and fall course menu

Kkweda's summer course had 8 courses in total, and that's what we ate.

• 🍉 Watermelon gazpacho
• 🥗 Grilled vegetable salad
• 🌽 Chodang corn custard
• 🍖 Charcoal-grilled Iberico pork
• 🐟 Sea bass karaage (Japanese-style fried fish)
• 🍱 Eel donburi (rice bowl)
• 🥘 Neungi mushroom duck soup
• 🍨 Yogurt sorbet

From October 1 the fall course is being served, so I'll share that too 🍁

The fall course also has 8 courses in total, just like the summer one. If summer was a mix of light summer flavors and stamina-boosting food, fall felt like it's made up of romantic, exotic dishes! I especially want to try the polvo (octopus) and silver cod pot rice 💛 So tempted~!!

One drink per person is required. Is non-alcoholic OK?

At Kkweda you must order one drink per person, and non-alcoholic drinks were allowed. We ordered one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic. 🥂

• Kkweda Mojito ₩12,000 (non-alcoholic)
• Yantai Gold Highball ₩10,000

Kkweda's 8 seasonal courses, tasted one by one

Our meal was starting to get prepared, so exciting!

The drinks we ordered came out first. The Kkweda Mojito was non-alcoholic, a fresh and sweet blend that went well with the food. The Yantai Gold Highball is alcohol, so you definitely feel the strength, and it was a perfect match with the oily steak and karaage! If you like the distinctive aroma of Yantai highball, I recommend it~

Course 1: Watermelon gazpacho

Kkweda's first course and appetizer, the watermelon gazpacho, has watermelon as the main with oriental melon, squid, and oxalis blended in, and tastes fresh and zingy. It looked like beautiful, special holy water, and it was truly a dish you can only get at Kkweda. It's perfect for perking up an appetite that's gone dull from lack of energy.

Course 2: Grilled vegetable salad

Kkweda's grilled vegetable salad brings out the sweetness of the vegetables just right, with zucchini, carrot, almonds, ham, and more. So good!

Surprisingly, if you asked me "Which dish do you most want to eat again?", I'd say this grilled vegetable salad, it was that good. It's the kind of tasty vegetable salad I'd love to eat every morning and noon, healthy and hearty(?)!

On top of that, the almonds make the texture fun and the nuttiness goes up, up!! Totally my taste.

Course 3: Chodang corn custard

Kkweda's chodang corn custard (chodang is a sweet Korean corn variety) combines the corn with pen shell scallop. Seeing the corn-based dish piled beautifully on the plate, I felt like I'd been served some sacred food straight out of the Odyssey✨

Chodang corn with pen shell scallop! Unusual, right? From the crunchy pop to the chewy bite, the texture was really something else. The aroma of dill was nice too. And these tiny grains... I think they're one of the cereal grains but I don't know the name, sob. Anyway, I especially loved this texture!!

Underneath is a creamy corn custard, and mixing it all together let me taste the deep sweetness of well-ripened chodang corn. Satisfying.

From the next dish on, it's the hearty part of the course!

Course 4: Charcoal-grilled Iberico pork

Kkweda's charcoal-grilled Iberico pork is a main dish served with chimichurri sauce and a crispy potato garnish topped with cheese. The hearty dishes you can't help but love started coming out🔥 The Iberico was so tender and full of savory depth! Ahh, so delicious~ Mingkkung and I were both sad watching it disappear piece by piece, sob!

And the highlight is this potato garnish! It wasn't too salty, which I liked even more~! The texture was a textbook crispy outside, moist inside, with a subtle saltiness and nuttiness that was just right.

Course 5: Sea bass karaage with yuzu sauce

They explained that Kkweda's sea bass karaage is first marinated in yuzu sauce and then fried. My first sea bass karaage ever! That's unusual already, and the dipping sauce in the middle is yuzu sauce too. I learned for the first time that sea bass could be this soft and tender.

Put scallion and grated radish(?) on the sea bass karaage, then dunk it in the yuzu sauce! This yuzu sauce was seriously the kicker! The fresh, sweet flavor cut right through any greasiness you'd feel from karaage. With yuzu sauce, I could eat 100 pieces of sea bass karaage!

In the kitchen, they were busy preparing the next dish.

Course 6: Eel donburi, and how much is the truffle add-on?

Kkweda's eel donburi is a rice bowl made with eel grilled very well over charcoal, and I added truffle for an extra ₩10,000. It came with oriental melon pickles and miso soup. They put in a really generous amount of truffle✨

The eel rice bowl... was really delicious. Not greasy, no fishy taste. Add wasabi and the melon pickles and you get a tangier, cleaner taste!

Course 7: Neungi duck soup, both our favorite

Kkweda's neungi duck soup (neungi is a Korean mushroom) is a noodle dish with a broth simmered long from duck bones and neungi mushrooms, loaded with sous-vide duck breast. It became the favorite of both me and Mingkkung! Isn't this basically stamina food, sob? My favorite💛

The broth was really deep, refreshing, and clear with no muddiness...✨ I wish they'd sell it as a single dish all four seasons..! Bean sprouts are in there too, which totally cut any greasiness from the duck fat. A truly perfect dish!

Course 8: Yogurt sorbet

Kkweda's last course is dessert🍨 The yogurt sorbet was piled with berry jam and cookie crumbs. See how chewy it looks? A tangy-sweet finish, just right for tidying up your palate.

Would we go back to Kkweda for a Pangyo anniversary date?

Kkweda Pangyo Avenue France Branch is a place I want to visit again and again on anniversaries and other important days! I'm especially looking forward to this fall course menu! If you're looking for a special omakase or anniversary restaurant in Pangyo, I recommend Kkweda~!