Yeonnam-dong restaurant with white ragù truffle cream pasta: Hey Joji

My sister lives in Incheon and I live way out on the east side, so we were trying to figure out where to meet. I went looking for good pasta near Hongik University Station in Yeonnam-dong, and that's how we ended up at Hey Joji.

Yeonnam-dong has so many pretty cafés and great restaurants tucked into its alleys that it's honestly hard to decide where to go. This time I picked a place serving American home-style dishes. Since you can get both pasta and steak here, I thought it'd also make a solid date spot for a Yeonnam-dong restaurant outing.

Where is Hey Joji? Down a Yeonnam-dong alley from Hongik Univ. Station

Hey Joji, a popular Yeonnam-dong restaurant, is tucked into the alleys past Hongik University Station as you head into Yeonnam-dong. It sits a little off the busy main alley that Yeonnam-dong is known for, so it was nice and quiet for chatting over a meal.

The vibe was so Christmas-y, haha — such an exciting restaurant!

What is the atmosphere like at Hey Joji?

Stepping inside Hey Joji, you get a slightly different feel from your typical pasta place. It's warm and cozy overall, almost like visiting an American family home, haha.

Maybe that's why it felt just as good for a relaxed meal with friends as it would for a couple's date at a Yeonnam-dong restaurant. Yeonnam-dong has so many spots where you can grab a meal and then wander into a café for the rest of the date, so it's also great for exploring the alleys nearby afterward.

What we ordered at Hey Joji

At Hey Joji we ordered three things: house steak, white ragù truffle cream pasta, and zero-sugar cola.

• 🥩 House steak
• 🍝 White ragù truffle cream pasta
• 🥤 Zero-sugar cola

The table setting is pretty cute too, haha.

Hey Joji house steak

First up, the house steak! It came with a thick cut of steak and sides, and it looked delicious right off the bat.

Steak paired with pasta really is a great combo. Pasta alone can leave you a little unsatisfied, but ordering steak alongside it makes for a hearty meal — great when there are two of you. Who picked this menu combo, genius? (Me... yep, haha.)

Hey Joji white ragù truffle cream pasta

And the dish I was most looking forward to that day — the white ragù truffle cream pasta! Just the name alone had my favorite combo written all over it, so I picked it straight off the menu, haha. The smooth cream sauce combined with the rich flavor of ragù, plus the truffle aroma on top, gave it a totally different feel from your usual cream pasta.

🍝 Ragù — a sauce of minced meat simmered slowly with vegetables like onion and carrot, plus tomato or cream, until the meat's savory flavor deepens. White ragù isn't the tomato-heavy red version, but a white meat sauce built on a base of cream or milk instead.

With the ragù mixed in, the meaty flavor came through and made the sauce feel much richer and fuller. If you like thick, savory cream pasta, this is one worth trying at least once. Of everything we ate that day, the white ragù truffle cream pasta was the one that stuck with me :)

Looking for pasta in Yeonnam-dong?

So many people these days are on the hunt for a good pasta restaurant in Yeonnam-dong. If you want something a little different from standard pasta — like American home-style cooking — Hey Joji is worth a look.

There are several pasta options to choose from depending on your taste, plus steak and risotto on the menu, so if you're visiting with a group it's easy to order a variety and share. Hey Joji really does offer a wide range beyond pasta — steak, risotto, and more — so there's plenty of choice for a meal.

Best of all, it's the perfect stop if you're planning a route from Hongik University Station into Yeonnam-dong — meal first, then café. If you're after a Yeonnam-dong restaurant date spot, or looking for pasta in Yeonnam-dong, or just want something a bit different from your typical Yeonnam-dong pasta place, give Hey Joji a try. I had a great time with the house steak and white ragù truffle cream pasta combo that day.

📍 Hey Joji / 42-24 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea / 12:00–21:00 (last order 20:00) / Group-friendly, Wi-Fi, easy payment