Duck poke bowl and sweet pumpkin sandwich with parking: Eopcheonri382

Ah, I've been stressing about my diet lately... haha it's real, I swear ㅠㅜㅠㅠ Summer's ending but honestly this diet should've been done back in summer, and here I am dragging it into fall. But hey, I didn't work out, that's on me!!! Still, for the sake of my conscience I figured I'd call it a 'meal plan' and started looking at poke bowls, which everyone's been going for as a healthy option lately~

So! Since I had a good memory of poke at a taco place last time, I thought I'd try it at a proper poke specialty spot this time and started scouting nearby. Turned out there was a poke place near Chungbuk National University — famous as a café among students there, but with such a good retro concept that I went straight over~

Location and hours of Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch

• 📍Location: 713-1 1F Ilsunhwan-ro, Seowon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
• 📍Hours: 10:00 - 23:30 (daily)
• 📍Restroom: Shared building restroom, separated by gender
• 📍Parking: Dedicated parking between villas and the alley

A café near Chungbuk National University with easy parking

Even if you drive, there's a decent amount of dedicated parking right in front of the store~ There's this stereotype that parking near Chungbuk National University is impossible (a stereotype I hold too, despite owning a car...), so finding a famous café here with parking this convenient basically means you have to go~!

You can also park right next to the store like this!

A farmhouse café concept in the middle of the city — outside and inside vibe

The outside of the store had this kind of Saemaul Movement-esque retro energy going on~

Turns out Eopcheonri is actually a real village name in Gyeongsangbuk-do~! It feels like everyone knows this name by now — Eopcheonri382 is a chain café with franchise locations all over the country, but each branch seems to have its own charm~ Since Eopcheonri382's whole concept is a rural café in the middle of the city, this Chungbuk National University branch had that same appeal even just looking at it from outside!

I checked out the menu posted outside before heading in!

Coming inside, wow!! The lighting was soft and the vibe was so cozy~! The table spacing was great too, and since it's originally a café, it had this comfortable atmosphere where you could just sit back and relax!

With all the wood tones and plants growing here and there, it really did feel like being at a countryside café haha

Even the wall clock and calendar... ah, calendars like that are actually getting harder to find these days. I used to love the ritual of tearing off a page each month, so seeing one at a café like this was kind of a nice surprise.

The owner must be good at drawing! There are paintings all over the place — did the owner draw these themselves!?

Here's a video capturing the overall vibe~ Hope it helps when you're picturing the interior!

Menu and how to order, kiosk and tumbler discount

Okay~ let's take a look at the menu now?

Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch was running a review event~ They give you a free Americano just for leaving a review, so joining in is a total win!

You order through the big kiosk inside the store~ It was a nice touch that there were usage instructions posted right next to it for anyone who finds kiosks confusing.

Apparently Eopcheonri382 does a sealing process where drinks get sealed into cans when ordered~ If you bring your own tumbler, you can skip that step and take your drink straight away, so the tumbler discount is pretty significant — worth noting!

I was more focused on the poke and sandwich than the drinks, so I mostly photographed those~ The basic poke starts at ₩9,900, which makes for a great-value single meal, don't you think?!

Here's what I ordered

• 🥗Poke salad (citron dressing): ₩9,900
• 🥗Smoked duck poke salad (ranch dressing): ₩12,600
• 🥪Sweet pumpkin sandwich: ₩6,900

You can choose your dressing and also pick your toppings~

You can check out the drink menu here~ There are seasonal items too! This is what they're selling right now.

What's at the self-serve bar?

After ordering, I went over to check out the self-serve bar.

There are wet wipes and napkins at the self-serve bar, free for anyone to use~! There's extra water too, and if you ordered poke like me, make sure to grab a fork and spoon here~!

Honestly I think Eopcheonri382's concept is more distinctive than any other café out there. The village chief hat sitting in the café — how cool is that, seriously~!

How the poke looked and how big the portions were

After a short wait, the food came right out~ Since it's poke, there's almost no wait — you get it basically right away!

Wow ㅠㅠㅠ so colorful and pretty, right?! Poke bowls have such a wide variety of vegetables in them that honestly, if you tried to make just one bowl at home, the vegetable cost alone... honestly ends up more expensive than the meat. And you're not just buying one of each vegetable, right? With so many different vegetables going in, if making it at home feels like a hassle and a burden, I really think ordering poke at Eopcheonri382 café is exactly the answer~!

Also, starting from the basic poke, the flavor changes depending on the toppings on top, so you can experience a variety of flavors that way, or you could take the basic poke to go and add your own side dishes at home — that would probably be delicious in its own way too!

Smoked duck poke salad (ranch dressing)

First, let me show you the smoked duck poke salad for all the smoked duck lovers out there! I went with ranch dressing, and before adding the dressing, I tried it plain first — and yeah, eating duck meat with rice just turns the whole thing into a duck restaurant. It had this savory, salty seasoning already on it that made me think, wait, is this really a health food? But hey, it's good for you~!

Oh, and the fluffy, finely chopped yellow egg garnish on top was such a nice touch, I thought~

Poke salad (citron dressing)

This one's the basic poke salad~ Basic, but the most poke-like flavor of all! The dressing was citron dressing, so it had a slightly more refreshing taste than the ranch dressing earlier~

But when the refreshing flavor blended with the other vegetables, it was kind of like a balsamic salad, and eaten with just the rice it was kind of like inari sushi — it had a lot of different charms~

Drizzle the dressing on and mix it up like bibimbap and it's got a great chewy flavor!

The look of it might be a little rough once mixed! But the taste is genuinely amazing~ If this counts as health food, I honestly feel like I could eat it every day just switching up the toppings.

Sweet pumpkin sandwich

I saw a review saying Eopcheonri382 is known for its Goheung sweet pumpkin~

Honestly, I don't really eat sweet pumpkin (I'm basically not a fan...) but for some reason I got weirdly drawn to it on the menu and picked it anyway??? And wow, the pumpkin was steamed to a perfect fluffiness and paired so well with the bread and lettuce that my mouth basically danced. Genuinely, super fresh flavor! Plus, insanely sweet pumpkin.

Personally? If even a pumpkin-hater like me could enjoy it this much, I genuinely recommend it.

Never thought I'd find pumpkin delicious!

Why I'd recommend eating in over delivery

And while I was eating there, so many delivery orders kept coming in too~ But when you eat in the store, you get to enjoy your food with this lush green backdrop in front of you! I really do recommend eating in the store if you can : )

Wow, I'm so full.... is this really diet food? lolㅋㅋㅋㅋ The poke had a pretty generous portion, and since I also ordered a sandwich on top of it, I ended up eating a very full, unintentionally-not-so-diet meal. For anyone looking for a famous café near Chungbuk National University! The poke and sandwich here are genuinely worth it too, so I recommend pairing a café drink with poke on your next visit♥