Hapjeong Thai restaurant, lunch after a salon visit: Saeng Augustine

Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch (생어거스틴 합정점) is at B1118, B1F, Mecenatpolis, 45 Yanghwa-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It is open daily 11:30-22:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 21:20. There is no break time on weekends and public holidays.

This is the story of a visit to this Thai restaurant near Hapjeong Station, which we went to together after my wife had her hair done in Hapjeong.

Where is Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch, and how is parking?

The restaurant is 232 m from Hapjeong Station Exit 9, at the entrance of the food street you see as you come into Mecenatpolis. If you drive, you can park in the underground car park for free for 3 hours 30 minutes.

It is easy to get to even when it rains or the weather is bad, and the exterior looks clean and upscale overall.

In front of the restaurant, standing signs show the best-seller menu, a weekday lunch discount promotion, and a cold Stella draft beer event.

Is the interior at Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch good for a date?

Open the door and a spacious, comfortable room unfolds. Soft, warm lighting and wood-toned interiors create an atmosphere that is upscale yet relaxing. Props and exotic decorations placed here and there make you feel like you are in a stylish restaurant in Thailand.

The kitchen, visible past a curtain, is bright and the kitchenware is neatly arranged.

There are many kinds of seating, so it looked good for family meals and get-togethers with friends, and for dates with a partner too.

Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch menu and prices

We ordered the popular set for two (₩59,000), which has a generous lineup.

The all-day weekday and weekend sets let you try several signature dishes at reasonable prices. The Hapjeong branch also has its own drink promotions, and the alcohol lineup is solid too: draft beer, kaoliang liquor sets, highballs and wine.

The first page of the elegant menu book announces a wine promotion,

and you can see sides like tod mun kung (shrimp cakes) (₩14,000) and vegetable spring rolls (₩7,000), which are part of the set we ordered, plus soups like tom yum kung (₩25,000). There are also rice noodle dishes like Vietnamese rice noodles (₩13,000) and various pad thai.

You will also find nasi goreng (₩16,000), assorted fried rice and rice-bowl dishes. Curries like poo pad pong curry (₩36,000) looked good too.

There are also seafood dishes, meat dishes, and drinks including juices.

You order on the kiosk on the table. There is also a Naver receipt photo review event that gets you crispy vegetable spring rolls as a freebie.

Individual plates, spoons and wooden chopsticks are neatly set on a clean illustrated paper mat with a distinctly Thai feel.

The sweet-and-sour, crunchy purple homemade pickles served as the basic side dish kept refreshing my mouth between dishes.

How was the first dish in the set for two, tod mun kung?

The first dish out from the set for two at Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch was tod mun kung, a Thai shrimp croquette. I cut one in half and the cross-section was packed full of minced shrimp with no gaps.

The moment I picked one up with chopsticks and bit in, there was a crisp crunch and a wonderfully bouncy texture filling my mouth. It is mild and tasty on its own, but dipped in the sweet sauce that came with it, it cuts the oiliness and the savory flavor doubles.

How was the signature poo pad pong curry?

Poo pad pong curry is the signature dish you have to eat at Saeng Augustine, a classic Thai dish of tender soft-shell crab fried crisp, shell and all, and enjoyed with curry. It came in a big bowl with a little Thai flag stuck in it.

True to its name, the soft-shell crab was so soft and crispy that eating it shell and all felt perfectly fine, with nothing odd in the mouth.

The sweet-salty curry sauce, with the aroma of coconut milk, soaks in moistly, and the taste is rich, with a texture that seems to melt in your mouth.

When I piled curry sauce over warm rice, put crispy crab on top and took a bite, memories of how good the food was on our trip to Thailand came flooding back.

King prawn pad thai: how were the sauce and noodles?

The king prawn pad thai came with one big king prawn on one side of the plate, and next to the nutty stir-fried noodles were crunchy bean sprouts, peanuts and Thai chili flakes.

I squeezed a little lemon juice over it to lift the flavor, then tried the noodles. They were stir-fried so they didn't go mushy and were very chewy, and the sweet-and-sour tamarind sauce typical of pad thai had soaked into every strand.

Mixing chili flakes and ground peanuts into the noodles added heat and nuttiness, and the texture was good. The sauce felt a little strong, but the freshness of the lemon balanced it well, so I enjoyed it.

The big king prawn in particular looked great, and it was plump and satisfying to chew.

Verdict: is Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch good for a Hapjeong Station lunch date?

Eating the set for two at Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch, with tod mun kung, poo pad pong curry and king prawn pad thai, felt like being in Thailand, and it brought back happy memories of our Thailand trip.

If you have a date or a get-together near Hapjeong Station, I recommend Saeng Augustine Hapjeong Branch: easy to reach, no parking worries, and tasty Thai food in a stylish setting.