Songdo brunch restaurant: shrimp rosé pasta at Cenacolo Artfore

Hope you're having a nice weekend! I had a great memory of visiting Cenacolo Artfore with coworkers before, so this time I came back with my mom. Songdo is surprisingly short on good pasta and brunch spots, but Artfore has a nice atmosphere, convenient parking, and above all, the food is good — so I wanted to recommend it!

Where is Cenacolo Artfore, and is there parking?

• 211, 2F, Artfore Building C, 257 Incheon Tower-daero, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea
• Parking: available (Artfore parking lot)
• Those taking the subway can walk from Exit 2 of Central Park Station.

What the Cenacolo Artfore space and atmosphere are like

The brick exterior of Cenacolo really sets the mood! It's the warm, cozy atmosphere I love, so I always feel good coming here. You enter and order via QR code.

Cenacolo Artfore menu picks and prices

This time I only ordered my BEST2 from what I had before — last time I came with more people so we ordered a variety: shrimp rosé pasta, mushroom cream gnocchi, aglio e olio, salad, and more.

• Shrimp rosé pasta ₩26,000
• Mushroom cream gnocchi ₩24,000
• Soup of the day ₩7,000

I love that you can order things 'less spicy.' If you can't handle spicy food, you could order the shrimp rosé pasta less spicy. I'm a lightweight when it comes to spice but I can handle Shin Ramyun-level spiciness, and it wasn't spicy at all for me.

Starting with the bread and the 7,000-won soup of the day

Isn't the bread always good at a great pasta place!? Some might think of it as a place to slack off, but I think the start is the most important part of a meal. The chef seems to think so too — the bread came out nutty, crisp on the outside and moist inside, exactly how I like it.

Couldn't just eat it plain! I dipped it into the soup of the day we ordered together — the soup of the day changes daily, so it's fun wondering what kind you'll get.

The funny thing is, Mom and I ate the exact same soup, and Mom said: 'It's sweet pumpkin soup!!!' and I said: 'No way, this is 100% sweet potato!!!' It's tricky.... So which was it in the end.....?

Pumpkin or sweet potato... what matters is that it was really delicious. If you're picturing store-bought soup, think again. The deep flavor of the actual ingredients came through, and it was great whether eaten plain or dipped with bread. Oh! It's really, really hot, so be careful.

Mushroom cream gnocchi, my favorite dish at Cenacolo

Cenacolo's mushroom cream gnocchi is ₩24,000. It was my mom's first time having gnocchi, and she really enjoyed it. Even if you already like gnocchi, Cenacolo's has that crisp-yet-chewy texture that makes it even better. Most of all, the combo of cream and generous mushrooms is great. I'm already a potato lover, and potato as gnocchi felt even more charming.

Owner! Most people probably eat this in pairs of two, so please make the gnocchi in sets of 8,,, sniff, odd numbers are sad. It's so good, it's a shame.

Shrimp rosé pasta: the safe bet at Cenacolo Artfore

Cenacolo's shrimp rosé pasta is ₩26,000 — I thought it was a bit pricey at first, but seeing the size of the shrimp changed my mind. A lot of shrimp rosé pasta places give you tiny cocktail shrimp, but here they load it up with genuinely large shrimp, so the price didn't feel wasted at all.

I've seen people who dislike cream pasta or tomato pasta, but I've never met someone who dislikes rosé — and I think Cenacolo's rosé pasta would split opinions even less. If you don't know what your dining companion likes and have to pick something, I'd order the shrimp rosé pasta without hesitation.

The shrimp were so large that their springy bite really stood out, and the rich rosé sauce soaked into the noodles well, so it stayed delicious to the last bite. The pasta felt al dente to me, which I think made it pair even better with the soft-textured shrimp and the rosé sauce!

Is Cenacolo Artfore a good Songdo brunch and date spot?

Cenacolo clearly has both a great atmosphere and great food, because it was fully booked even on a weekday lunch. I'd recommend it both as a Songdo date spot and as a brunch place! Had another delicious meal with Mom today :)