French restaurant in Nowon, Seoul for a birthday dinner: LA RUELLE

For my mom's birthday, I took her on a mother-daughter date after way too long 💕 We went to LA RUELLE, a French restaurant 🇫🇷 already famous as a Gongneung-dong date spot, booked through Naver Reservation — here's the honest review.

Where is LA RUELLE and what are the hours?

LA RUELLE is a French restaurant at 18 Gongneung-ro 35-gil, 2nd floor, Nowon-gu, Seoul. It's open Tue-Sun 11:30-23:00 with a break time from 15:00-17:30, and closed on Mondays.

It's also close to the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail, so it's perfect to stop by while out on a walk or date. The weather was gorgeous today too — walking slowly with my mom from Taereung Station Exit 7 took about 8-10 minutes, hehe.

Finding LA RUELLE: the building exterior and second-floor entrance

This is LA RUELLE's exterior. You go in on the building's 2nd floor, but there's also a restaurant in the basement level, so what looks like the 2nd floor in photos is actually the 1st floor — once you've climbed up to what's effectively the 3rd floor height, that's where today's restaurant, LA RUELLE, is.

(That's a note for anyone who wanders into the wrong place — it's me, guilty as charged.)

Inside LA RUELLE: a European-style room full of flowers

The moment we walked into the 2nd-floor space, I let out a shriek!!! Hahahaha wait, is this Europe or Korea? So pretty... Flower arrangements are everywhere 🌸💐🌼 and there's a single flower on every table too, adding an extra layer of fragrant, soft, romantic atmosphere. Romantic. Success. Date.

Note a birthday in the reservation memo for a rose and a message

This is the part that really showed how thoughtful the owner of LA RUELLE is. If you mention it's someone's birthday when you book, they'll leave a pretty rose and a birthday message on your reserved table like this.

I didn't know about this so I hadn't mentioned it when booking, but while we were eating, the owner found out it was my mom's birthday and brought out a birthday tart on the house!!!! Flowers are nice, but for someone who loves eating more than anything, this was way more touching... even more touching... hahahahahahaha.

Also, the owner must be a serious Le Cordon Bleu grad... The moment I saw that Le Cordon Bleu certificate, I thought, ah, the food here must be good. French food can be a bit polarizing, but LA RUELLE has such a varied menu that even my mom, who's more used to Korean food than Western food, ate happily and left satisfied!

They also had a separate wine fridge. The variety was insane!!!

Isn't restroom cleanliness surprisingly important at a restaurant too? LA RUELLE's restroom is inside the store and was kept nice and tidy. Good, good!!!

The MBTI wine recommendation QR code at LA RUELLE

Before ordering off LA RUELLE's menu... there's a QR code right at the front you can scan to get a wine recommendation tailored to your MBTI type. I thought it was a fun touch that considers each customer's individual taste, and I actually scanned it and checked myself — it was eerily accurate, which was kind of amazing!?

(But the catch is I'm hardcore soju-only, haha.)

What we ordered at LA RUELLE and what it cost

Since it's a French restaurant, we ordered dishes that represent French cuisine: onion soup (₩14,000), bisque pasta (₩18,000), and bourguignon (₩33,000). Wine was also available by the glass at an affordable price (₩10,000), so we ordered one red and one white glass each!

• Onion soup ₩14,000
• Bisque pasta ₩18,000
• Bourguignon ₩33,000
• Glass of wine ₩10,000 (red/white)

Day drinking that felt so good... curing yesterday's soju with wine, what a stylish version of myself... hahahahahahahaha.

Starting the meal: amuse-bouche and onion soup

Before the ordered dishes arrived, an amuse-bouche came out first — a small shrimp on top of a biscuit, which had a nice bouncy texture and great umami.

One of the classic French dishes, onion soup! It seems deceptively simple but it's actually one of the harder soups to make well, because you have to caramelize the onions for a really, really long time...

I once tried making it at home and deeply regretted it... hahahahahahahahahaha. Ever since then, onion soup is something I only buy when eating out!

The moment the onion soup came out hot and I took a bite — with the melted cheese and caramelized onions piled onto the little baguette that came with it, one bite in and it's exactly this comforting flavor... Highly recommend as a hangover cure too...

Bisque pasta, the dish my mother liked most

I debated between mushroom risotto and bisque pasta, but since my mom loves shrimp, I ordered the bisque pasta — and it turned out to be the dish she enjoyed the most, so I think we'll probably order it again next time we visit, hehe!!!!

It's made with shellfish so anyone with allergies can't have it, but I love shellfish so much that I was sad each bite was disappearing so fast, it was that good. The bisque sauce soaked into the pasta so well, giving it this rich, velvety flavor that was outstanding!!!

Can you see how nicely the sauce coats the noodles~? And the shrimp were a good size, plus there were plenty of them for the price, so at ₩18,000 a bowl, all I could think was how amazing the value was!!!!!

What is beef bourguignon? A classic with red wine

Not 'eminyong' — bourguignon (₩33,000) makes its appearance! Bourguignon is a famous French home-style dish — in Korean terms, it's basically a braised beef stew — served with a wine-based sauce alongside sweet pumpkin purée, potatoes, and mushrooms.

Bourguignon really felt like the textbook definition of a red wine pairing...

Complimentary birthday extras: fried squash blossom and lemon tart

While we were happily buried in the food, out came a fried ricotta-stuffed squash blossom dish and a lemon tart with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY message on it, on the house because it was mom's birthday...!!!! Oh come on, owner... doing this really means I have no choice but to become a regular at LA RUELLE!!! ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Wait, why is this so delicious...? (So good my camera focus actually slipped) I only just learned today that you can eat squash blossoms, and the fact that they thought to stuff it full of ricotta cheese and fry it... eureka...;;; This doesn't seem to be on the regular menu, but please sell this too, owner-nim.......!!!!!!!!!

Is LA RUELLE worth it for a birthday or date night?

I wanted somewhere with a nice atmosphere to celebrate my mom's birthday, so we booked and visited 📍LA RUELLE. I'm already wondering if I should come back for my husband's upcoming birthday too — this is a super satisfying, delicious date/blind-date spot near Taereung Station and the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail!

Definitely visit LA RUELLE!!! 300% would return.