Monday fine dining lunch in Mangwon: beet tart & gabrisal, Noju

While looking for a restaurant with a nice atmosphere in Mangwon, I found this great-value fine dining spot, Noju (NOJU), and I'm bringing you my review!

These days a lot of places charge close to ₩20,000 for a single pasta, so what really appealed to me was that Noju lets you try a full course for under ₩40,000.

Noju location, hours and reservations

Noju is at 56 Donggyo-ro 9-gil, 2F, Mapo-gu, Seoul, about a 2–3 minute walk from Exit 2 of Mangwon Station. The listed hours are Tue–Sun 11:30–23:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 21:00–21:30. It's listed as closed every Monday.

(That's what the listing says, but I was able to book a Monday on Catch Table, so I went. Check before you visit on a Monday!!)

• Parking: no dedicated lot, use a nearby paid public car park
• Reservations via Naver Reservation and Catch Table
• Lunch and dinner courses
• Wine pairing and corkage available
• No-kids zone
• Bar seats for solo diners

How do you find the Noju entrance?

Noju is on the 2nd floor of a building in a side street near Mangwon Station. There's no big sign on the ground floor, so first-timers might get a bit confused. Look for the black 'NOJU dining 2F' standing sign in front of the building and you can head right up.

Noju interior and open kitchen

The inside has big picture windows that let in lots of natural light.

The sun comes in on the window side, so I bet you'd get pretty food photos if you visit at lunchtime.

What impressed me was the open kitchen! You can watch the chefs cook up close, so there's fun in seeing how the food is made. There are also bar seats in front of the kitchen, which looked good for enjoying a course on your own.

Noju lunch course prices and menu

Noju serves only courses, for both lunch and dinner. There are two lunch courses: the Chef's Choice Lunch at ₩38,000 and the Noju Signature Lunch at ₩55,000.

• Chef's Choice Lunch ₩38,000
• Noju Signature Lunch ₩55,000
• Wine pairing, 2 glasses ₩30,000
• Wine pairing, 3 glasses ₩55,000
• Daily tea ₩3,000
• Americano ₩5,000
• Corkage ₩20,000 per bottle (check conditions)

This time I chose the ₩38,000 per person Chef's Choice lunch course!

What's in the 38,000-won Chef's Choice lunch at Noju?

A course under ₩40,000, so I figured it would be pretty minimal, but it even included pasta and a meat main!! Here's what the lunch course looked like that day.

• 1. Yuzu ricotta & focaccia
• 2. Beet & endive
• 3. Oyster, breadcrumbs & cittara pasta
• 4. Gabrisal (pork neck) & jalapeño
• 5. Walnut ice cream

The dishes come in order from the starter bread to the main and dessert, so it was a nice way to try a variety of dishes without feeling overwhelmed.

1. Yuzu ricotta & focaccia

The first dish was house-baked focaccia with yuzu ricotta cheese.

Focaccia is an Italian bread, lightly golden outside, fluffy yet chewy inside. At Noju it came with ricotta cheese mixed with yuzu (a Korean-Japanese citrus).

The soft, nutty flavor of ricotta plus the fresh aroma of yuzu made a really good combination.

2. Beet tart & endive welcome dish

Next came a welcome dish called 'Welcome to NOJU'. Two tiny, adorable finger foods were plated, and they looked so pretty.

First, a beet tart! Vivid red beet sat on a crisp tart shell, and the color was really striking.

Second was a finger food made with endive. Endive is a kind of chicory, a vegetable with a crunchy texture and a subtle bitterness.

It was a great way to whet the appetite before the main meal.

3. Oyster, breadcrumb & cittara pasta

Cittara (chitarra) is a traditional Italian pasta whose strands have a square cross-section, unlike regular spaghetti. The noodles are thick, so they have a springy, chewy bite!

Noju's cittara pasta combined the savory depth of anchovy with the flavor of in-season oysters.

It was topped with plenty of golden toasted breadcrumbs, so the contrast between soft noodles and crunchy crumbs was great.

The salty anchovy and the oyster flavor blended together, giving it a different charm from ordinary cream or tomato pasta.

4. Gabrisal (pork collar) & jalapeño main

Next was the main of the Noju lunch course: gabrisal! Gabrisal is a special pork cut from between the neck and the loin, with moderate marbling that makes it tender yet chewy.

The golden-seared gabrisal came with carrot purée and jalapeño relish.

The carrot purée adds a soft, gentle sweetness, while the tangy, slightly spicy jalapeño relish cuts the richness of the meat.

I liked noticing the difference between eating the meat on its own and with the sauces, haha.

Having a meat main in a lunch course under ₩40,000 is, I think, a big plus for Noju.

5. Walnut ice cream dessert

The last course was walnut ice cream.

The rich, nutty walnut flavor with a smooth ice cream texture made it an easy, light dessert.

Sweet yet nutty, it worked well as a palate cleanser after the meal.

Would I go back for Noju's Chef's Choice lunch?

Going through everything from the starter bread to dessert, the whole Chef's Choice lunch course felt quite substantial. Next time I'd like to try the ₩55,000 Signature Lunch, which adds arancini (fried rice balls) and truffle gnocchi!

If you're looking for a Mangwon date spot or good-value fine dining in Seoul, I recommend a special meal at Noju.