Hongdae lunch date pasta: Beet Set with bunny shrimp rigatoni, Brivit

Where is Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam and what are the opening hours?

Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam is at 93 Woldeukeopbuk-ro 2-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 2nd floor, Unit 2, about 62 m from Exit 3 of Hongik Univ. Station. It is open daily 11:30–21:15 with last order at 20:30. Break time is 15:15–16:30 Monday to Friday, and there is no break time on Saturday and Sunday.

Today's story is a date at Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam, a Hongdae pasta favorite!!

It had been a while since we'd come out to Hongdae. There are so many good restaurants and nicely decorated places here, right? While looking for somewhere to have lunch, we found Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam, a Hongdae pasta spot close to Hongik Univ. Station, and went there.

Is Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam a good spot for a date?

Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam is on the 2nd floor, and you can get up by stairs or elevator. The place feels cozy and warm, and sunlight comes in through the windows, which made it a lovely spot for a date.

The interior was really prettily decorated too. The sun coming in by the windows made the mood even better. There are plenty of tables, so it's good for a meal with friends, and it seemed fine for a Hongdae date or a get-together as well.

How do you order at Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam?

Sit wherever you like, and a staff member brings you the menu and a bell. When you're ready to order, you ring the bell to call them. The table was already set with cutlery, plates, wet wipes, tissues and so on.

So you can take your time choosing, then ring the bell to call the staff when you're ready.

What we chose for the Beet Set at Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam

From the Beet Set (비트세트) we chose mushroom soup + Yorkshire pudding, scallion cream corn gnocchi and the Hopping Bunny Pasta, with a cola as the drink. The menu had set menus, signature dishes, sides, highballs, ades and more, but we wanted to try a bit of everything, so we went with the set.

Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam also had a receipt review event going. If you visit, you might want to join in too.

There's a self-serve bar on one side of the restaurant, too. Water, cups, tissues and so on are set out, so you can help yourself to what you need, which was handy.

We sipped the drinks that came out first and chatted about this and that while waiting for the food.

How are Brivit's mushroom soup and Yorkshire pudding?

First out from the Beet Set were the mushroom soup and one piece of Yorkshire pudding (a puffy baked British bread). The soup was packed with mushrooms, the portion was more generous than I expected, and it was rich and nutty, perfect before the mains arrived.

I tore the pudding by hand to make it easy to eat, and it pulled apart so softly.

The Yorkshire pudding was fluffy and nutty. It was tasty on its own, but dunked deep in the mushroom soup it was even better. The two go really well together.

While we were eating the soup and pudding, our main dishes came out pretty quickly.

What does Brivit's scallion cream corn gnocchi taste like?

Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam's scallion cream corn gnocchi (gnocchi are soft Italian potato dumplings) comes with big gnocchi, plenty of scallion cream, grilled corn and chicken breast. It was the first main I tried, and it looks so delicious just from the look of it, doesn't it?

The scallion cream came in a generous amount, too. A nutty aroma rose up even before I ate, and I couldn't wait to taste it.

The gnocchi were big and appetizing. The soft gnocchi went well with the nutty scallion cream, and the grilled corn mixed in was delicious too.

I dunked the gnocchi generously in the scallion cream. The cream was smooth and nutty, and the grilled corn was sweet with a nice chew. Chicken breast is in there as well, so it all goes well together.

Why the Hopping Bunny Pasta gets photographed hundreds of times

Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam's Hopping Bunny Pasta (깡총깡총! 토끼파스타) is a tomato sauce rigatoni with a bunny on top that looks like it's made of mozzarella cheese. It was so cute the moment I saw it that I took hundreds of photos!!

I wondered what a bunny pasta could be, and out came this adorable bunny. It was far cuter than I'd expected, so I couldn't help taking pictures. No matter how much I looked, it was just so cute. It looked so pretty I felt bad eating it and spent a long time admiring it.

It was almost too cute to eat, but we were hungry, so we had to. With every bite I felt a little sorry for the bunny.

Instead of ordinary long noodles, the bunny pasta uses thick, short rigatoni (tube pasta). The pieces are big and hollow, so they're great with the sauce. It's a tomato sauce pasta, so it was tangy with a savory depth, and the sauce clung well to the pasta. There's shrimp in it too, which went nicely alongside, and even for two people the portion was quite generous.

Is Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam good for both dates and family meals?

We were happy with both the food and the atmosphere at Brivit Hongdae Yeonnam, and I'd recommend it as a date spot and for a family meal with kids. It had been a while since we'd visited Hongdae, and we ate good food and had a great time.

If you're looking for a good Hongdae pasta restaurant, it works well for a date and seems fine to visit with kids too. The cute bunny pasta in particular is the kind of dish kids will probably love, so I'd recommend it for family meals as well!