Hongdae Western restaurant for Korean-food fans: soba yaki, Omil

Why a Korean-food person went to Omil Hongdae

Omil Hongdae is a Hongdae pasta restaurant that won over my Western-food-skeptic taste buds. This is my own space, so no lies here. Also, yes, I paid myself (with a note that some costs may have been covered).

Here's how little I get along with Western food: pasta on a date is something I'd pick only after I'm dead (?), and when I make pasta at home, even though I normally eat two bowls of rice, I go "three chopsticks' worth of pasta is plenty!!" and stop after three bites, hahahahaha.

On this day I was picking dinner with my mom, who usually loves pasta, so I decided to be a good daughter (?) and made the effort to come. It was so insanely good that I ate as much as she did. This is my review of Omil, a Hongdae Western restaurant.

Omil Hongdae hours and last order

• Mon–Fri 11:30–21:15
• Sat–Sun 11:00–21:15
• Last order 20:30

Where is the Omil Hongdae entrance? Use the indoor stairs, not the outdoor ones

Omil Hongdae is on the 2nd floor of a building very close to Exit 4 of Hongik Univ. Station. It's on the 2nd floor, and

Climbing the outdoor stairs and trying to open the door thinking it's the entrance — let me be the only fool to do that... This is not the entrance. You have to take the stairs inside the building to reach the 2nd floor. I still can't forget the despair when the door just wouldn't open.

How to wait at Omil Hongdae

Waiting at Omil Hongdae is done through Catch Table (a Korean waitlist app). Even on weekends or at peak time, you can't just stand there: register on the machine near the entrance and then wait!

Omil Hongdae seating and baby chairs

Inside, Omil Hongdae was bigger than I expected, with around 15 small tables that look right for 2 or 3 people?! Of course if four come they'd push two tables together, but two tables side by side have to be empty, so it'd be a headache.

If you're looking for a restaurant with baby chairs in Hongdae, Omil is great~ Above all, Omil is famous for menus plated with cute rubber ducks, its cute dishes and its atmosphere, so it's a perfect place to go with kids in Hongdae.

Omil Hongdae menu and set price for two

The Omil Hongdae set for two, the oh! Set, is ₩48,700 as a base, with surcharges depending on which two mains you pick. As a Hongdae Western restaurant, the lineup is solid: steak, gnocchi, pasta, risotto, omurice (omelet rice), and set menus!

• oh! Set - ₩48,700
• Spicy flat iron steak risotto - +₩1,000
• Spicy roe pasta - +₩2,000

The signature dish is the rubber duck omurice, which comes out in a cute duck shape, but at my age I ordered what I actually wanted to eat, cute or not ❤️

You order at Omil Hongdae by ringing a bell

At Omil Hongdae, once you sit down they bring a menu and a bell; after choosing, you ring the bell and a staff member comes back to take your order. It's so adorable, but extreme introverts might never manage to order, hahahahahaha.

I was holding the bell, agonizing over "do I ring it or not, do I ring it or not," when a staff member happened to walk over right then, perfect timing, so I ordered without ringing~ ^^

What's at the Omil Hongdae self-service bar

The self-service bar in the middle of Omil Hongdae has everything from a water purifier to paper cups, wet wipes, beet pickles and phone chargers, so grab what you need there and bring it to your table.

The set comes with 2 soft drinks as standard. I could roughly tell this was a great Hongdae pasta place just from the cola. It's Pepsi Zero, not Coke Zero!! ㅠㅠ Honestly Coke Zero tastes bland and Pepsi Zero is the real deal... whoever put out Pepsi Zero really knows their stuff.

Omil Hongdae roe pasta: is it fishy?

The Omil Hongdae roe pasta was an oil pasta that felt like aglio e olio with pollock roe (myeongran) added, and there was almost no fishy taste from the roe. It was full of whole garlic, which I loved as someone Korean to the bone, and when you mix it, the roe is quite noticeable! There's a generous amount, just like the name promises.

I'm a pasta noob (?), but the noodles were cooked well, the seasoning was right, and above all the salty roe and the aglio e olio blend together beautifully. It's incredible......

I like roe itself, but things like roe bread often taste fishy to me, so I worried the roe pasta would too. Almost no fishiness, just rich flavor... Truly a great Hongdae pasta place, and no lie, my mom and I finished it in about 2 minutes? Also, I'm someone who has to eat two pickles per bite when eating pasta, but here the taste meant I didn't need to rely on pickles → the highest praise by my standards.

Omil Hongdae spicy flat iron steak risotto: how spicy is it?

The Omil Hongdae spicy flat iron steak risotto is cream-sauce based, not that spicy, and comes with plenty of steak. I'm more of a rice person than a pasta-noodle person, so I picked it, and the plating with cherry tomatoes and greens (?) is nice too.

The cubed flat iron steak isn't rare to find in there; there's enough that every spoonful has meat! It's labeled spicy, but not that spicy, I think even an elementary schooler could handle it. It's a cream-sauce risotto, but it goes down smoothly without feeling heavy, so it was super tasty. Of course it pairs brilliantly with the oil-based roe pasta...

Omil Hongdae's signature Omil soba yaki: what does it taste like?

Omil soba yaki is the signature dish at Omil Hongdae, and of the three dishes that day, the writer's favorite. At Omil, this was the biggest shock. Buckwheat noodles rolled up like rice: I couldn't imagine the taste, and it doesn't look all that delicious either, or is that just me? ㅠㅠ

It comes with wasabi and pickled ginger to add as you like, and honestly I lost it, I really lost it. My mom couldn't pick just one of the three, saying all were delicious, but I can... this was the best, hahahaha ㅠㅠㅠ It's not that the other dishes were worse; this one's shock was just too big.

Dry, non-soggy buckwheat noodles wrap around a mayonnaise-based sauce, cucumber, burdock (?) and Japanese-style sweet rolled omelet. From the first bite the harmony of these ingredients was so astonishingly good that I squinted.

When ordering, they asked if I eat cucumber. If you don't, would they leave it out? Fill it with something else? I can't imagine it without cucumber. Even if you hate cucumber, just eat this ㅠㅠ

Would I recommend Omil Hongdae to Korean-food people too?

Omil Hongdae is a place where even a Korean-food person who isn't friends with Western food ate happily without a single pickle refill, and I especially recommend the set for two that includes Omil soba yaki. Honestly this was our second round of dinner, hahahahaha, and we still cleaned it all out, tsk tsk.

With the overall atmosphere, the rubber duck menu lineup and even baby chairs, it seems like a good Hongdae restaurant for going with kids. Omil soba yaki!!!!!!!!!!! I highly recommend the set for two where you can eat it. Pick the mains as you like, but seriously, you must, absolutely, definitely order the Omil soba yaki......