Mi Piace: Seoul, Korea 07/17/07

I got a new digital camera, Nikon Coolpix P5000. Unfortunately, today was the first day I used it, and I had some difficulties adjusting to the new camera; the pictures aren't that great, therefore. Couple weeks later, after I figure out the stuff and adapt, it would be much better. I am just a little sad I could not depict the looks of the restaurant and food as pretty as it was.

Today, July 17th, is one of the four big national holidays in Korea. It is the day Korea for the first time had the constitution. Yet unlike the 3.1 day, the day many students stood up for independence of Korea under Japanese imperialism, it provokes less emotion; people are happier that it is a red day you get to have a day off, and Mirae and I were one of them. is a small Italian (some dish with French influence) restaurant in Cheongdam, which is next to Apgujeong. These two areas are one of the most lavish areas in Seoul; Cheongdam is famous for its street with big stores such as Louis Vitton, Prada and such.

Yet this restaurant is in one of the small corners that may be a little tricky to find. Under a simple grey building, peaking out is a green little flowershop, which turns out to be a small restaurant with maybe fourty seatings or less (It recently opened second floor named Vino, mainly for group wine&dine events).

The restaurants in Korea usually don't have a different price for lunch and dinner. That is for the single dish, but often times they have a course menu, and lunch courses are usually short and relatively cheap for the people who have tight budget; that would me!

Appetizers are 15,000~25,000 and primo(pasta) 19,000~28,000 secondo 32,000~70,000. The lunch courses are 27,000(A) 33,000(B) and 35,000(C) + 10% VAT. Course A includes a small appetizer platter-today's soup-your choice of pasta among three daily specials-dessert. B and C include a small appetizer platter-today's soup or today's pasta-main dish among three choices (B is fish and C is meat).Originally aiming for a seafood risotto, I was tempted by the C course and ended up ordering lamb chops for my meal. Among the three choices were tenderloin steak, Osso Bucco, lamb chops. Unfortunately, no sirloin steak today!

The bread was very warm, almost hot, and the texture was nearly perfect.

The small appetizer platter included a small portion of salad with italian dressing, caprese and fried sea bass with tartar sauce. The salad was simple with good dressing, and fresh mozzarella had a nice texture. My favorite was the sea bass with a nice crispy coating and very fine tartar sauce.

For the lunch course I ordered, I could choose between soup of the day or small portion of gnocchi with rose sauce (tomato cream sauce). I am not a big fan of gnocchi, but did not try to ask for a substitute with an extra charge because I wanted to try the sauce. And actually, while the gnocci was a disappointment, the other stuff such as broccoli, peppers and mushroom went very well with the nice sauce. I even dipped the remainder of my bread and asked for some more.

The only thing that made me unpleased today was that when I asked for some more bread, they were pretty late. I don't blame them because judging by the warmth of the bread, they got some new ones or at least was heating them up. Yet what made me a little upset was that they took the remainder of my love, nicely made tomato cream sauce and also a dip for me, before the bread arrived pretty late. It defeated the whole purpose of asking for extra bread! Nah, I should have told them, maybe. But I was talking passionately to my friend that I couldn't do anything else at the time.

My lamb chop, ordered medium, was cooked nicely. Though I like my steaks medium rare, lamb may be the only exception. For garnish, there were garlic, asparagus, zukini, eggplant, mushroom, a cherry tomato and a tiny potato. On the side are mint jelly and seedy mustard to go along.

Well, I must say that I was quite upset with the small amount that was served, despite its pretty look! Yet the meat itself was charming, and so were the garnish. Though many Koreans like mint jelly to cover the unique taste of lamb, for me it was rather sweet. Mustard was better, but I enjoyed it best with the seasoning already on the meat.

Here is the genovese pasta Mirae ordered. With olive oil, basil, parmesan cheese and pinenuts, it had a pretty nice taste. The spaghetti was cooked nicely and the flavor was good as well. The portion was pretty generous; maybe not by American standards! Mirae had a hard time finishing her dish after having bits of dish from my course, so my fourth demension stomach helped her not having any leftovers.

Taking back leftovers are not a common concept in Korea, and therefore you usually don't have them in the first place. Personally I like the American way, though I do not advocate huge portions from some restaurants. Still you may order some various dish just for the sake of it!

The dessert was a cheesecake tart style, mango sorvet and pieces of... probably plum, if I remember correctly. The cheesecake, though not my favorite, was above average and the sorvet, though a little rich mangoness for my taste, was okay as well.Yes, I wanted to order a chocolate cake with extra charge, but was out of budget. I was going to have a seafood risotto, not a course meal! Ah, but Mirae's selfish temptation got me at its first try. I actually wanted sirloin steak, which was not on the menu today.

The bill was 38,500KRW(approx 42USD) for me including 10% VAT, and 22,000 (24USD) for the Genovese pasta Mirae ordered. This was the biggest amount of money I ever paid for a single meal by myself, since I am a student who is not allowed to work and live upon allowance.

So? I would say it was a nice experience, though I regret a little about how I ordered a lunch course instead of a simple pasta dish. After all, I was not happy with my gnocchi and would have been much happier with risotto. Yet the lamb chop was nice and I was satisfied, except for the fact that I spent twice my expected budget for the day. I guess I would lament a little less if the small pasta included in my course was something else, especially because the spaghetti Mirae ordered was tasty.

The service was very nice, not too stiff but kind, just like the flowershop or houselike interior. The bread story was a little upsetting but acceptable, and in general I was pleased. I would definitely like to visit again, next time when I am again charged with what I call my 'gourmet buget'.

Food in Korea, Early to Mid July

I finally bought my own digital camera! Checking all the aspects such as ISO, I chose Nikon Coolpix P5000. Though there were some other models from Nikon or other brands such as Canon that are compact, slim, and pretty, I am happy with this somewhat plain black design. I am currently charging the battery for the first time, and can't wait to check it out!


Koreanized version of Japanese Soba. This cold noodle is very nice for a hot summer day. It is in a nearby huge grocery store, where I visit quite often, eating by the stand with my mom.


A cake from Duchamp, with caramel coated hazelnuts and hazelnut cream.


Mandoo guk, Korean Dumpling soup. My mom and I were making the dumplings, though mine was a lot uglier and not fit for a picture. It tasted the same though!


My lunch. Rice with barly, black rice, onion, carrot and broiled egg pieces in Kitsune(fried bean curd). Japanese influenced snack, I should say, Korean style.


A tofu dish I love. It is a type of banchan(many side dish accompanied with rice, soup, and possibly a main dish. Most of them can be stored as left over for days. It's a uniquely Korean thing). Though tasting best when just cooked and served warm, it gives a different kind of delight the next day, cold after being kept in the fridge.


Galbi jjim. This would be more of a main dish, not banchan. It is simmered beef, similar to a stew. A popular Korean dish and one of the food that I am putting in the small Korean cookbook that I am working on with my mom. We used Angus instead of Korean beef to see how it would work out, and though Korean beef is better for soup or stew type dish(American beef is better when grilled), it worked fine.

Gran Gusto: Seoul, Korea 07/06/07

Today, with a friend I just met today, I visited Gran Gusto. She is staying in Korea for summer SAT classes and such. Her family moved to New Jersey about three years ago and she is staying at her uncle's house this summer. Yes, it was time for her to crave something non-Korean. So we walked twenty five minutes under the summer sun, mostly up the hill. We sat down at 11:45AM, waiting for the today's lunch menu to be printed out (the opening time is 12:00PM).

What a shame I forgot to bring my camera. After all, I did not know that I will meet somebody who is willing to spend nearly thirty minutes walking, and a full hour eating, and then another half hour walking back. So I borrowed her camera phone, though I forgot to set up the pixels right; the pictures are very small now. Because the picture taking with the phone makes some noise (protecting privacy), I took minimum number of pictures, very cautiously.

We both ordered Lunch Course A. During weekdays, they have 19,000KRW menu including appetizer-soup-pasta-dessert. I ordered baby squid stuffed with something like vegetable paste. My friend ordered fried mozzarella, which I ordered last time. Both of them were good.

The soup was cream based made with peas, which I had last time. This time, though it looked the same, it tasted much better. It was not bland like last time. I really liked the soup and asked for more bread. The bread was also better this time, served warm.

For the pasta, out of five choices, I chose spaghetti with tomato cream sauce and tenderloin pieces. The pasta was cooked just right, and the sauce was tasty, though I would liked a little bit of spiciness, just a personal preference. It had little pieces of black olive, not something I like but adding a point to the creaminess. The only thing I did not like was that the tenderloin pieces were rather covered by the sauce, not just the appearance but the taste. But overall, I was pretty satisfied with what I had.

My friend ordered spaghetti with cream sauce, green and red peppers, and mushrooms. The green and red peppers made the rather plain look of the cream sauce more vivid, though it may not look very flattering in this picture.

Though we both liked our pasta, I still think Gran Gusto is best at olive oil based pasta. Actually, I wanted to try the fresh anchovy pasta, which is served only during its season, because I was very happy with the mackerel pasta last time. Yet those two are always on the menu (at least during my summer stay in Korea), while the tomato cream sauce appears occasionally.

My choice for dessert was caramel gelato with a hazelnut crunch. It was okay, but I liked the yogurt icecream I had last time better. Maybe the hazelnut would have been better with chocolate.

My friend ordered tiramisu, which was also pretty good. So we finished a happy lunch, and I said goodbye to my friend who might possibly late to her next class, about five minutes or even ten. And yet I was happy to hear somebody say, "let's come here once again". I finally found someone to have lunch with! All my other friends are too busy or do not like to spend money on food.

So including the 10% VAT, today's bill was 20,900KRW (approx 23USD) each. I only wish I ordered the B course, for I wanted to try the fish with asparagus cream sauce and puff. I think it was red snapper, though my memory may be wrong. Anyway, next time.

Previous Review for Gran Gusto: http://kimmoon.blogspot.com/2007/06/gran-gusto-seoul-korea-061707.html