There are plenty of things to do near the Han River- one of Korea's longest and best known rivers. People are attracted to its beautiful landscape in hopes of finding a spot to picnic, letting their children run in the parks, or riding over the water. One of its lesser-known activities, though as great as the others, is finding a nice restaurant near the view. But last weekend, that's just what my family as we headed to Outdoor Kitchen, a camping themed barbeque restaurant, situated just a staircase away from the river.
I was a little confused when we had to make reservations prior to the trip. Apparently, it's hard to get seats there around lunchtime, especially if you bring a large group (as we did with 8 people plus a dog). But as soon as we got there, I realized why we had to make reservations! I'd expected a tiny barely-a-restaurant near the water, but we were greeted with a huge building with outdoor picnic table seating, spacious indoor seating, a balcony, a small café next to the restaurant, and seating for café visitors to enjoy their coffee as they looked out to the river.
The fun part was grilling the food before eating. Everything there was grill-able, including the fruit, veggies, and pot of fried rice (you put the pot on the grill to cook the contents).
But the best part- they are one of the few restaurants that allows dogs! No need to leave your pooch at home for your family trip to the river- he can hang out with all the other dogs at Outdoor Kitchen while your family enjoys their meal. Sparky was definitely excited to find out that he was invited to ours!
There were so. Many. Dogs. I'd never seen so many dogs in one place in Korea before! By the time we finished our brunch and were enjoying coffee at the café next door, so many people and their dogs had come to enjoy lunch at the restaurant. At one point, about five dogs and their owners had stopped on their way to and from the restaurant to let their dogs sniff each other out. Of course, Sparky seemed very curious about the gathering, so we took him over and he met some new friends!
After lunch, as we strolled along the riverside sidewalk, we let Sparky socialize with the passing dogs and watched as paragliders sailed down to the ground. That's right. Paragliders. It just happened to be that there was a paraglider landing zone in the grass on the other side of the bike lane. It was so cool to see people floating down from the sky! The walk to the end is obviously very long, so we only went about 45 minutes in before heading back out to go home. My little cousins, tuckered out from all the scooter-riding, energetically wheeled back up to the car before falling asleep on the way home.
If you're ever at the Han River, check out some of the restaurants and cafés they have to offer! Outdoor Kitchen is only one of the many great eateries around the water. Most restaurants also offer many veggie options on the menu, and are accommodating if they don't. Try the veggie platter at Outdoor Kitchen! And don't be afraid to bring your dog- at least if you're coming to the area we were in!
Outdoor Kitchen - Hangang
Address: 704-7 Paldang-ri, Wabu-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do
Phone: 031-576-5492
Website: http://tinyurl.com/pydobmt
아옷도어 키친
경기 남양주시 와부읍 팔당리 704-7
031-576-5492
http://tinyurl.com/pydobmt
