Pohang kid-friendly seaside restaurant: chili oil pilaf at Plan A

Last Sunday we'd originally planned to go to a valley, but Hayoon seemed a little off, so after resting at home we decided to see the sea instead and headed out for lunch to a Songdo, Pohang restaurant.

What kind of restaurant is Plan A Restaurant in Songdo, Pohang?

The Songdo, Pohang restaurant we visited is the ocean-view spot "Plan A Restaurant." It opened in November 2015 and has held the same location for over ten years. My husband and I used to go before Hayoon was even born, and we've kept coming with her too. I posted about it 10 years ago and again 8 years ago, but hadn't since — so here's an update after a long while.

Plan A Restaurant opening hours and break time

• 11:45 ~ 21:00
• Last order 20:30
• Mon–Fri break time 15:15 ~ 17:00
• Sat–Sun break time 15:30 ~ 17:00

Where do you park at Plan A Restaurant?

For parking at this ocean-view Songdo, Pohang restaurant, you can use the spaces along the beach road in front, but it's more convenient to park in the free public parking lot behind the restaurant.

Songdo Beach ocean-view seats and bringing a pet

Ocean view

The interior has a bright feel with wide spacing between tables, so it's comfortable to dine in. Through the windows on the front and side, you can enjoy an ocean view of Songdo Beach, which made the meal feel even better.

Pets welcome

Pets are apparently allowed too, so it seems like a nice spot to eat after a beach walk with your pet. That said, they need to be in a carrier bag, cage, or stroller.

Around the restaurant, various products and dishes used in cooking are displayed, adding to the restaurant atmosphere, and in the middle of the space there are cushions, blankets, a baby chair, and disposable aprons prepared — feel free to use them if you need them.

What three of us ordered at Plan A Restaurant, and the prices

The menu includes steak, pasta, pilaf, risotto, salad, and fried side dishes, and we picked mostly from the best-seller menu: beef chop steak 240g (₩35,000), shrimp rosé spaghetti (₩16,000), beef pilaf (₩17,000), and cola (₩2,500). The steak comes in two sizes, 240g and 120g, so choose based on how many are eating. There used to be pizza on the menu too, but it seems the lineup has changed a bit.

Open kitchen

Once you order through the kiosk, cooking begins in the kitchen led by an owner-chef with 20 years of experience. The kitchen is open-style, so you can see inside clearly. It looked neatly organized and well maintained.

Self-service corner

What looked like house-made cucumber and radish pickles came out as a default side, and if you need more, you can grab extra from the self-service corner. There were also extra small plates, spoons, forks, scissors, and tongs available there.

The dishes we ordered came out almost at the same time. The portions for each dish were pretty generous! There were three of us including Hayoon, and we ate really well — enough to fill three to four adults.

Plan A beef chop steak 240g, ordered without chili oil

The main dish, the Plan A chop steak, normally comes with chili oil, but we asked for it without, worried it might be too spicy for Hayoon. It came with fries and a fresh salad on the side, which made for a nice variety of flavors.

The chop steak was cut into bite-sized pieces, and the bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions were sliced to match. For young kids, cutting it in half with scissors would make it even easier to eat.

Eating the steak together with the other ingredients gave a mix of textures — crunchy, chewy, tender — plus the sweetness of the vegetables and the flavor of the mushrooms, which made it even tastier.

The steak was cooked to about medium-well, which made it easy for Hayoon to eat and gave it a tender texture, along with the beef's savoriness, the flavor of its juices, and a subtly sweet-and-savory sauce that added to the taste. Even Hayoon, who usually eats little, enjoyed it and finished the whole plate.

How was the shrimp rosé spaghetti?

The shrimp rosé spaghetti came with a generous amount of sauce, so we could enjoy the rosé sauce flavor throughout the meal. There was even white rice on the menu — enough sauce that you could've ordered rice to mix in.

The noodles were cooked just right, and the sauce seemed to have minced shrimp mixed in. The small, springy bits of shrimp added good texture, and the sweet-tart tomato flavor blended well with the smooth, savory cream sauce, so it never got tiring to eat.

Besides the minced shrimp, there were also large peeled shrimp mixed in, which gave an even richer shrimp flavor.

Beef pilaf, ordered with the chili oil

Curious about what the chili oil version on the menu tasted like, we ordered the beef pilaf with chili oil. It came on a long, shallow plate, stir-fried together with mushrooms and beef.

The beef pieces were nice and big, so you could really taste the meat. It had just the right moistness and a good depth of flavor, but with meat in there, it can get a bit greasy, right?! The chili oil balanced that out perfectly. The spiciness was about as mild as ramyeon, with a slight kick at the end that was just right. It made the dish even more enjoyable.

A 10-year regular's verdict and what to do nearby

Plan A Restaurant, the ocean-view Songdo, Pohang restaurant, has stayed in the same spot for 10 years, so having come here since Hayoon was little, it's become a place full of memories for us. The location hasn't changed, but the food has gotten even better than before, and with Songdo Beach developing a lot lately, there's more to see and enjoy, so we'll probably be coming back even more often. If you visit, take a walk through nearby Songdo Sol Pine Forest Urban Park and cross Haeoreum Bridge to enjoy the area.

Address: 1189 Huimangdae-ro, 4th floor, Nam-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea