String-lit Hapjeong pizzeria date night: Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza

I was looking for somewhere to have dinner in Hapjeong and ended up at Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza (홍대화덕피자)! The sparkling lights caught my eye from outside, and inside, the brick and wood interior with warm lighting was really lovely, haha.

It's a great place to enjoy pizza and pasta along with the atmosphere, so I wanted to introduce it to anyone looking for a good Hapjeong restaurant or Hongdae pizza, haha. I was especially excited because you can watch the pizzas being baked right in the wood-fired oven.

What is the atmosphere at Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza like?

Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza is a Hapjeong wood-fired pizzeria with a great evening mood: small bulbs all over the outside, and inside, brick, wood-tone tables and vintage lighting. The vibe is clear from the entrance, haha.

The outside is hung with small bulbs, which made visiting in the evening feel much more atmospheric,

and the inside is styled with wood-tone tables, brick walls and vintage lighting. The chandelier on the ceiling and the pendant lights here and there are soft, so photos come out pretty too, haha.

It's neither too dark nor like a brightly lit restaurant, so it suits a date with pizza and a glass of wine, haha. You can also see the actual wood-fired oven in the open kitchen, which gives a real wood-fired pizzeria feel.

What are the candles on the tables?

The candles on every table at Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza are pizza warmers that keep your pizza hot. When I sat down, each table had its own unusual candle, haha.

At first I thought it was just a prop for atmosphere, but it turns out to be a pizza warmer you set the pizza on to keep it warm! Wood-fired pizza is best eaten hot, and the candle keeps the temperature up so the pizza doesn't cool quickly while you eat, which I thought was thoughtful. It sets the mood and is practical too, so it stayed with me.

Pickles and honey come as standard

At Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza, pickles and honey come by default after you order. The pickles were nice for cleansing the palate in between, and dipping the dough or the cheesy parts into the honey made a sweet-salty combo that worked well, haha.

Especially with a strongly cheesy pizza like the Quattro Formaggi, a light dip in honey gives you a whole different taste.

How were the 4 flavors of the Quattro Staogine pizza?

The Quattro Staogine pizza at Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza lets you taste four pizzas in one, and it was our main order this time. The lineup is below.

Quattro Formaggi / Croccante / Margherita / Diavola

If you order just one kind of pizza, you can get a little tired of it, but this one lets you have a different flavor with each slice, which was especially good when visiting as two.

Quattro Formaggi

If you like cheese, this is the first one your hand goes to! You get that rich, nutty cheese flavor, and dipping it lightly in the complimentary honey made it much tastier, haha. Salty cheese with sweet honey is hard to get wrong!

Margherita

The most classic pizza, with tomato sauce, cheese and basil! One slice among the others feels like it resets the balance cleanly. The freshness of the tomato made it easy to eat, haha.

Diavola

Slightly spicy with a meaty flavor, it had the strongest presence of the four! After the cheese pizzas, a slice of Diavola changes the taste completely, which I liked, haha.

Croccante

It was nutty yet had a different flavor from the other three, so comparing the four was fun! Above all, the crust edges baked in the wood-fired oven with patches of golden char looked just right, haha.

If you're looking for Hongdae pizza and want to try several kinds at once, I think the Quattro Staogine is a pretty good choice.

What does the Gamberi Crema shrimp cream pasta taste like?

Gamberi Crema is the shrimp cream pasta at Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza: big shell-shaped pasta generously coated in cream sauce, with plenty of shrimp too. We ordered it along with the pizza.

The cream sauce had a bit more color than an ordinary cream pasta, so it looked appetizing. Sauce gets inside the shells, so every bite was properly creamy, and the springy shrimp went well with it.

Melted cheese on top added more richness. If the pizza alternates between plain, cheesy and tomato flavors, Gamberi Crema felt like the soft, rich one! So ordering the two together made a good combination, haha.

If you want a pizzeria with a good atmosphere in Hapjeong

Food aside, what stayed with me personally was the atmosphere of Hongdae Hwadeok Pizza, haha. From the sparkling lights outside to the brick and wood interior and the open kitchen where you can see the oven, the space itself was quite charming, haha.

I was also impressed that the tables have candle warmers so the pizza doesn't go cold! Eating the Quattro Staogine pizza, with four flavors in one, together with the thick, nutty Gamberi Crema shrimp cream pasta made the menu combination satisfying too.

If you're looking for a date spot in Hapjeong, or a Hapjeong restaurant with a good mood, I think it's worth a visit! And for anyone who wants to try several wood-fired pizzas at once, I'd recommend the Quattro Staogine pizza!