Story & Review

Visited: 📅 20 April 2024; Weather: 16°C 🌧️🌧️; Consumption: Dinner Service; Group Size: Solo
Location: (What3Words) /// describe.haven.embedded
Address: 101 119, 50 Convensia-daero, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea
Contact: +821099950310 (You can also reserve by sending a DM on IG, link at the bottom)

(Location) Zaneuk Wine Bar is a bar & diner located near Songdo Central Park in Incheon, South Korea. The bar is owned by YouTube & Instagram public figures Kang Hee Wong (thizisdan) and Yu In Jun (rural_jun). Although located relatively close to the Central Park of the international district in Incheon, it still took me about 45 minutes to get from Songdo Central Park Station to Zaneuk. This includes waiting times for buses and walking for about 10 minutes, but I’m sure you can get there much quicker by taxi.

(Reception & Service) Upon entering the bar, I was immediately greeted by the staff and seated at the bar counter. During the service, the staff were friendly and approachable, and we made small talk while I was there, enjoying the food and drinks. Upon hearing the country from which I came, the owner even got me a free dessert on the house, which was a lovely treat to have, even when I was already fully stuffed. I have nothing bad to say about the service at this bar. The bar welcomes foreigners and solo travellers, and there are English-speaking staff at your service, ready to take your order.

(Interior & Cosiness) The bar has only recently opened, for only a few years now (as of visiting in 2024), but it is already very established in this area and beyond. The popularity of the owners helps a lot to make it a go-to place for travellers from across the world, as well as many locals.

I can personally see that the owners have a great eye for detail, as the interior design and the design of the bar itself are very well thought out, making it a very cozy place to be for an evening out. The warmth of the lighting particularly made me feel at ease and welcoming, and complemented the food very well.

While talking to the owner, he mentioned to me that the bar-counter was a bit too large and that he will be redoing this in the future, making the area behind the counter, where the staff usually stands, smaller and reducing the width of the counter, allowing for more tables to be placed inside the restaurant.

Because I was solo, I was seated at the counter instead of a table, but despite that, I had no problems having my meal there, as there was more than enough space for me, and I got to meet the owner in person and hear his story about the bar and his travels across Europe.

(Quality of Foods and Drinks) The food was nice and tasty. The pasta (Sondeulchan) was excellent, with quality ingredients, and the seasoning was well-balanced. I only managed to eat half of the side-dish (Buchimgae) I ordered, though, I think this dish is actually meant as a main dish for people with less appetite; however, because the dish was fried in oil and topped with a lot of cheese, it felt really heavy to eat… The dessert was sweet and went nicely with the main dish. My compliments to the chef. My only suggestion is with the dessert: Either soften the cookie by dipping it in some coffee or milk, or use crumble instead of the whole cookie, or a combination of both; it makes it really tough to cut through otherwise. I also got a slab of tofu, garnished with some green onions, sesame seeds and oil as an appetizer for free, which was a nice addition to switch to, especially from the Buchimgae dish.

I would also like to suggest to the owner to have a house wine on the menu, so that people can order just a glass of red, rosé, or white wine, instead of buying a whole bottle. Since I had to buy a whole bottle, I had to bring the remaining half of the bottle I didn’t finish with me back to my hotel, which was a bit of a faff, to be honest, but you shouldn’t have to deal with that if you are with two or more people in your group, or decide to drink the whole bottle anyway.

(Pricing) Overall, the food felt fairly priced and in line with other places in the area. The wine, however, seemed noticeably more expensive because you can only order it by the bottle rather than by the glass. The bottle I chose was around €30, which is quite steep when you know the exact same bottle (same year) goes for about €5.60 at a Carrefour Market back home. Even accounting for import costs and bar service, it still feels pricey, though to be fair, you’d pay a similar amount for a bottle in a Belgian restaurant. What puzzled me was the note on the menu stating that you can only order whole bottles on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and not just a glass. I’m not entirely sure why that rule exists. Then again, it is a wine bar, and I suspect this is simply where they make most of their margin. But from a personal view, it would have been better if I could order a glass from one bottle, and another one from the same or another bottle.

All in all, I had a pleasant evening, with great food and good drinks. If I were to be in the area again in the future, I would definitely come by and visit again.

My Order (Totalled ~€55~)

• (Main) Sondeulchan 손들찬 (€14.23)
  A Korean fusion pasta dish with green onions, a raw egg yolk, mushrooms, creamy/cheese sauce and some complementary spices;
• (Side) Buchimgae 부침개 (€10.17)
  A dish made from shredded potato at the bottom, fried in oil, and topped with (lots of) cheese.
• (Appetizer) Slab of tofu (free)
  A slab of tofu, garnished with green onions, sesame seeds and sesame oil.
• (Drink) A bottle Costières de Nîmes from 2022 | Gallician Prestige (€30,50)
  You also get some water for free with your order.
• (Dessert) Dalbodre 달볻레 (€0.00, it was gifted)
  This is a traditional Korean-style fried pancake, aka “hotteok 혿덕”, topped with a Lotus speculoos (Biscoff) based sauce and a whole Lotus speculoos cookie, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Typically, I’d pay about €8 for a glass of wine, maybe an additional €4 for a soft drink like a cola, a sprite or sparkly water, for a regular dinner service at a restaurant in Antwerp; The side (Buchilgae) was too much to eat, combining it with the main-dish, and I wouldn’t have ordered it if I knew it was that much. €55 is somewhat an expensive dinner, but taking into account the wine and the extra side dish, I think the price is about right with what I would pay for a dinner service at home.

Review Scores (Total: ★★★★☆ 4.4/5)

Category: (Fast/Street-food, Casual, Niche, Fine-Dining, Michelin)

• Location: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
• Reception & Service: ★★★★★ (5)
• Interior, Cosiness & Cleanliness: ★★★★★ (5)
• Quality of Foods and Drinks: ★★★★☆ (4.5)
• Pricing: ★★★★☆ (4)

My Verdict

Should you avoid this place? ,
Should you consider it? ,
Should you shortlist this place? , or
Should you go right ahead and have dinner here?

I think you should shortlist this place.
This place absolutely earns a spot on your shortlist. The bottle policy (Fri–Sun) isn’t ideal for solo diners, but it’s a small footnote compared to how much the restaurant gets right. The food was genuinely outstanding, the service was warm and attentive, and the whole experience left me wishing I had discovered it sooner. The pricing score dips slightly because of the bottle‑only rule, but it doesn’t take away from how enjoyable the visit was. If I ever return to Incheon, this is one of the first places I’d go back to, and if you’re visiting with two or more people, it becomes an easy, confident recommendation.

Links and other sources

• Zaneuk Instagram: @Zaneuk.dining (To reserve: Send DM on Instagram)
• Costière de Nîmes | Gallician Prestige Blanc
• YouTube: This Is Dan
• YouTube: Opening my wine bar (…) Zaneuk
• Menu: https://shorthaired-kitchen-881.notion.site/zaneuk-d221eac4852e48dc84b395398e47efa3

Disclaimers

I declare that this review is an unbiased personal account, not influenced by the pub’s owner or local people. I received no sponsorship or affiliation rewards from any products, establishments, or brands featured in this post, images or associated videos.

All images are created by me; all rights are reserved.