Three kinds of bread were all pretty okay, though I wish it were served a little warmer. Yet it went well with olive oil with balsamic vinegar served on the side.
There were four or five appetizers to choose from, including squid and salmon, but I chose fried mozzarella with garlic and anchoby sauce. I like the green line with such a pretty color! It wasn't anything special, but the taste and texture of fresh mozzarella was nice.
Today's soup was made of green peas. Though I love peas, soup of peas isn't my favorite because of its texture. I usually like the soup creamy, while this one was rather light. However, overall I liked it, except that it was a little bland salt-wise. 
This was the penne Mirae ordered. The server kindly asked if we wanted the extra pasta to be served in the course sequence or as soon as it is done, and we chose the former. Mirae claimed she is not big fan of western food and would go safe with tomato sauce, and I chose the penne with chicken and mushrooms. She liked how her pasta was done, and I did too. The chicken was very soft as well. Though it would be a nice dish for tomato lovers, I still think Gran Gusto has lots of better dish to offer.
Gran Gusto is famous for its creative menus, mackerel & leek pasta and anchovy pasta. Both are olive oil based and has a little bit of spiciness to it, but no fishiness or whatsoever, which is very surprising considering how fishy both mackerel and anchovy are. Today I ordered the former, and it was very satisfactory. I love how the spaghetti was perfectly cooked aldente. Mirae, fascinated by the taste, was willing to try another oil based pasta here when she is a tomato sauce lover. 
Since my pasta portion included in the course was smaller than Mirae's which she ordered separately, I finished a little faster than she did. But my main dish was served at the exact moment I wanted, and we could finish the meal together.The course I selected offered either sea bream with saffron sauce, Chicken Diablo or wild pork with mustard sauce. Though the first one was very tempting, for Miare who does not quite like seafood, I chose the last one. I loved the grill taste of the pork, and the seasoning was just right. The only thing I did not like about it was that it had a minor part which was hard to chew, but in general the meat was good. Though it was named "wild pork with mustard sauce", the mustard sauce wasn't very strong. But I heard this is Gran Gusto's style, not covering the taste of meat with the sauce. I like seedy mustard and would have enjoyed it if it were strong, but it was still good.
I chose yogurt icecream for dessert, which is also made in Gran Gusto every morning. The coffee included in my course went to Mirae since I am only 13 weeks through my yearlong not-drinking-coffee plan. The dessert was also a delight.
I really enjoyed the lunch at Gran Gusto. The bill for me, the course, came up to 35,200KRW(approx 38USD) including the 10% VAT. Since Korea does not have a tipping culture, in these kind you have the 10% added. Certain restaurants even add 10~15% with another name on the VAT, but in general it is just 10% flat. I never spent this much of my own money before for a meal, but I was very satisfied that I would like to visit once more before I leave Korea. The more affordable one is the weekday lunch, excluding the main, which is 21,900KRW including VAT(approx 24USD).
The portion is not very big, the pork being about the size of my palm or slightly bigger (not the whole hand!), which is not that big. But at least they don't torture you by making you full before the good thing is served! The interior is calm, the servers graceful and very polite, and the food, especially pasta, superb. I love this place except that it torments my student budget.
*Recently(2007), 1USD has been worth around 930~940KRW, which is used for the conversions I did.
