Weekday family lunch course for five at Gimpo Italian restaurant Polia

Not long ago, as summer vacation was wrapping up, our family of five — two adults and three elementary school kids — headed out for some quality time together at Polia, well known as a Gimpo steak spot. Picking a family dinner place is always tricky, trying to satisfy both the kids' favorite menus and the adults' tastes.

This time we chose an Italian restaurant where we could cover steak, wood-fired pizza, and pasta all in one place.

We used a Naver reservation ahead of time to visit during the relatively quiet 2pm weekday slot, and were seated right away with no waiting.

Booking Polia at 2pm on a weekday: was there room for five?

Restaurant Polia Gimpo Unyang Branch takes Naver reservations, and thanks to ours, we were shown straight to a 6-person table in the back as soon as we arrived. I'd worried the table might be too tight for five people, but there was plenty of room to set out several plates at once.

Right at the entrance, a big wood-fired oven caught my eye. Watching pizzas being baked right there got me even more excited to try their wood-fired pizza.

One side of the restaurant has a full glass wall, so the warm afternoon sunlight streamed in, making the atmosphere feel even brighter and calmer.

Before you go: Polia is on the 2nd floor with no elevator

There's one thing anyone planning to visit should check first. The building has no elevator, so you have to take the stairs up. If you're bringing a stroller or visiting with elderly family members who have some mobility issues, it's worth keeping this in mind when planning your route. We marched up with the kids and it wasn't a big problem.

The medium-cooked sirloin steak that won over three elementary schoolers

The star menu of this visit was, without question, the sirloin steak.

For a total of ₩136,300, we thoroughly enjoyed sirloin steak, wood-fired pizza, two pastas, risotto, soup, bread, and coffee for dessert.

Bread and soup came out first, and the hungry kids happily dipped their bread in the soup.

Worried it might not be enough, we ordered an extra soup — an excellent call.

Since the kids love meat so much, we ordered the sirloin steak medium.

Ordering by tablet was convenient because you could carefully select the doneness.

I'd heard it was a famous steak spot in Gimpo with all sorts of steak options, so I was even more excited waiting for the food to arrive.

If there's too much bloodiness, kids can be put off, but this came out cooked just right for eating.

Slicing into the meat, the cross-section looked moist and tender. The kids' eyes went wide after one bite and they ate it right up.

Even our youngest, a first grader, ate it all without a single complaint about it being tough, which made me really proud as a parent.

If you're looking for a Gimpo steak spot, I'd recommend the sirloin steak — it suits kids' palates well too.

Wood-fired Margherita pizza, carbonara and rosé steak risotto at Polia

The second big hit with the kids was the handmade Margherita pizza. It tasted worlds apart from your typical thick-crust pizza.

Baked right in the wood-fired oven we'd seen at the entrance, the crust was thin yet chewy and clean-tasting.

Because it was thin, folding it in half made it easy for the kids to eat neatly without dropping toppings everywhere.

For pasta, we ordered two classic cream carbonaras. Eating only cream pasta can get heavy after a while, but alternating with the rosé steak risotto and pizza made for a really nice combination.

The risotto, with rice and steak mingling in a savory, tangy tomato-rosé sauce, showed off a charm all its own, distinct from the pasta.

Having each of the five of us pick our own dish and share it around turned out to be a really fun and satisfying choice.

Free coffee after the meal and a walk nearby in Unyang-dong

Polia offers a free Americano as a dessert service, and we just went ahead and ordered it along with our meal from the start. Having food and coffee together meant we didn't need a separate café stop afterward, saving both time and money — very satisfying.

Eating out with kids can feel like something's missing if you just eat and go straight home, but here, a short walk from the front of the restaurant leads to Unyang-dong Park, perfect for a light stroll with the kids.

Letting them run around the playground for a bit after the meal made the kids happy and let us wrap up the meal at a relaxed pace.

136,300 won for five: was Polia good value?

Being able to feed a family of five until they were full for around ₩130,000 was great in terms of value too. This isn't just a place with a nice atmosphere — I don't think there's a better spot to enjoy steak, wood-fired pizza, and pasta all together with kids. Seeing even our youngest, who doesn't usually eat much steak, dig in enthusiastically, I really felt this deserves to be called a Gimpo steak spot.

We've decided that the next time we're craving sirloin steak in Gimpo, we'll come back here again for a family meal.

Restaurant Polia Gimpo Unyang Branch: hours, parking and address

• Address: 200-9, 2nd floor, Gimpohangang-11-ro 438beon-gil, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: 11:00–21:30 / break time 15:30–17:00 / last order 20:20
• Closed: Every Tuesday
• Reservation: Available via Naver Reservation
• Parking: Available in front of building
• High chair: Available
• Note: 2nd floor, no elevator
• Dessert: Free coffee/tea after meal