Menupan’s Top 10 Restaurants as of Wednesday, July 8th Thursday, Jul 9 2009 

Seoul Eats and korea and menupan and restaurants deconstructacon 2:14 am


2009년 06월 | 레스토랑부문 1위
치폴라로쏘
강남구 삼성동
평점: 13,060.00
| 이달의 Best 30Ｉ업종별 | 지역별 | 연령별 | 성별 |
2009년 06월 BEST 30 : 일반 프리쿠폰 : 예약 서비스 : 프리미엄 : 동영상
순위 | 상호 | 업종 | 지역 | 평점 | 서비스
1 (2) 치폴라로쏘 양식 강남구 13,060.00
2 (64) 로쉐프 양식 종로구 11,090.00
3 (65) 가젠(강남) 일식 서초구 10,972.00
4 (10) 아그라(이태원점) 기타 용산구 10,245.00
5 (32) 크레이지오션 뷔페 마포구 9,703.00
6 (2) 소담한정식 한식-한정식 계양구 9,472.00
7 (4) 프리모바치오바치(홍대점) 양식 마포구 9,071.00
8 (1) 더크랩하우스 양식 강남구 8,245.00
9 (1) 보노빠스또(홍대본점) 양식-이탈리아음식 마포구 8,160.00
10 ( 8) 부숑 기타 마포구 7,909.00

You can click on the above links for more information and for directions.

1. Cipolla Rossa. It’s in Samseongdong by the Coex. It’s an Italian Trattoria. They make their own pasta and their other speciality seems to be steak. Signature dishes include Onion stuffed with Garlic Cheese and Sweet Cream Cranberry Pizza.
2. Lochef. It’s near Hwehwa. It looks like French Style Korean food on white tablecloth. You can get their PIX E Pasta if you want Fusilli in a fried Tortilla and Tortilla pizza on the side. (I’m being sarcastic. Would you want to eat that?)
3. Gazen. It’s near Gangnam Station. It’s got Japanese style food. Signature dishes include Okonomiyaki (10,400) and the Tuna and Avocado Maki Roll (8,400). I’ve actually been here and it’s not bad. http://www.gazen.co.kr
4. Agra. It’s in Itaewon under the Burger King. I have no respect for Menupan because they have put this awful restaurant on the list. The environment is stylish, but the food is overpriced and cheap. I ordered Palak Paneer- my favorite Indian Dish- and they put 2 pieces of paneer in the dish and tried to substitute potatoes in it’s place! Boo! But hey, maybe this is what you can get if you pay to advertise on Menupan.
5. Crazy Ocean. It’s in Mapo-gu near Hongdae or Hapjeong Station. It’s a seafood buffet.
6. Sodam Hanjeong-shik. It’s in Incheon and the only way you can get there is to take a special bus or drive. Their specialty dishes are hanjeong-shik and Korean food. Now this restaurant doesn’t make sense because it’s really far out of the way and yet it has made it’s way into the top 10. Most of the other restaurants are in high traffic areas.
7. Primo Bacio Baci. It’s in Hongdae and I’ve been to this place and it’s quite good. Their signature dishes are: cream pasta in a bread bowl (Pane-11,000) and Al Forno Manzo (Steak and Pasta 16,000.) They have a decent wine selection and it’s not over priced. I had a decent bottle of Rancho Zapato there for 30,000 won. This is a restaurant that deserves to be on the list.
8. The Crab House. It’s in Apgujeong and I’ve heard decent reviews about this place, but it’s not as good as the Singapore original. Their specialty is crab.
9. Buono Pasta. It’s near Hongdae’s front gate and they have pasta and western food.
10. Bouchon. It’s near Hongdae as well and it is a wine bar with Caprese salads, sausage and chicken, and other dishes in a stylish atmosphere.

 

A Hamburger Today posted my article on Chili King! Tuesday, Jun 23 2009 

Itaewon and hamburgers and itaewon reviews and restaurants and reviews deconstructacon 6:04 am


Cool. Thanks Robyn. Here is the post.

Kevin Cyr’s chili burger at Chili King is like a mining excavation. You get a mountainous hamburger dripping with golden cheese over boulders of kidney beans, green jalapeños, and rubble-like ground beef. This mountain could be intimidating for some, so let me give you some advice.

1. First, use your fork to get through the mounds of chili. The chili, with the flavors of onion, peppers, and spices married together after slowly simmering in crock pot for hours, is exceptional.

2. If the fork becomes too heavy, you can use the french fries to pick through the chili.

3. Once you get to sesame-speckled bun, grab hold with both hands and don’t let go until you finish. This is a burger that needs to be wrangled.

Click here for the rest.

 

Cheap Eats: Good Food at Good Value Tuesday, Jun 9 2009 

Seoul Eats and cheap eats and hwae and recommendations and restaurants and seafood and uzbekistani food deconstructacon 2:08 pm


Samarikand

I was told over by the man who ran the Samarikand that there are 17 locations all over Korea and the same family runs them all. The food is authentic and portions are hearty. You can get a giant, flaky pastry bread stuffed with savory lamb (Samsa) for only 3000 won. 2000 won gets you a hearty frisbee sized sesame roll (Lepeshka) and 6,000 won gets you a big bowl of Borsch. The entrees don’t cost all that much either. You can get cabbage rolls stuffed with meat (Golubtsy) for or, my favorite, fried lamb over french fries (Chiz-Biz) for only 7. And you can wash all this down with big Russian beers labeled 3, 6, and 9.

Samarikant
02-2277-4261
Directions: Go out Dongdaemun Stadium Station Exit 5 and walk until you see the 광교빌딩 and Woori bank. To the left is the A+ noraebahng, Samarakand is a few buildings before the A+ noraebahng.It is across the street and down an alley. Ask someone on the street. They all know where it is. (Thanks Paul for the update)


영진수산 (Yeong Jin Su San)
What recession? For 5,000 won you can usually go into any Korean restaurant and get a feast. This place is called 전짐회수산 and it is right down the street from the Institute for Korean Traditional Foods . If you want to find it just go to Jongno 3-ga (Lines #3,5) exit 7. Walk straight for a block and cross the street. You’ll see tanks with fish out front. The food is good. For lunch I just had the 알 탕 (Al Tang). This is a spicy fish soup that has fish eggs in it. It’s great on cold days. Now accompanying this main dish came a plethora of side dishes. I had some grilled mackerel, fried fish cake noodles, kimchi, two pieces of sushi, a spicy turnip kimchi. It’s just amazing I got all this for so little.

영진수산 (Yeong Jin Su San)
02 747 1868
서울시 종로구 묘동 139-1

 

Restaurants I am going to check out Sunday, May 31 2009 

Seoul Eats and restaurants and seoul deconstructacon 3:19 pm

Todai
https://www.todaikorea.com/main.cgi?cmd=samsung

The Crab House
http://www.thecrabhouse.co.kr/

오세계향
http://www.go5.co.kr/

Who’s interested in coming out? It’s going to have to wait until July because I’ll be traveling for a bit.

Dan

 

Paul Ajosshi gets Jiggy with Fowl Thursday, May 28 2009 

Seoul Eats and friends and itaewon reviews and recommendations and restaurants and reviews deconstructacon 2:51 pm



Paul Ajosshi has found another culinary gem in the wilds of Seoul. This is a roast duck restaurant in Hannamdong and the pictures look scrumptious. The place is over in Hannam dong and it is called “The Ginko Tree House” (은행나무집) and they specialize in roasting duck in their own little clay bricks. This kind of duck is called: 황토 오리 진흙구이 (Duck baked in yellow clay). Yum.

Click here for the rest of the story

 

Menupan’s Top 10 Restaurants on May 27th, 2009…or what Seoulites are eating Tuesday, May 26 2009 

Food and Seoul Eats and menupan and restaurants and top 10 deconstructacon 10:44 pm

1 ( 8) 플로렌스(구, 맛있는풍경) 양식 서대문구 10,619.00
2 (80) 화씨167도 한식 강남구 9,122.00
3 (2) 로쉐프 양식 종로구 8,181.00
4 (45) 씨푸드키친 뷔페 금천구 7,946.00
5 (1) 촛불1978 양식 중구 7,895.00
6 ( 8) 프리모바치오바치(홍대점) 양식 마포구 7,749.00
7 (37) 상파울루 양식 서초구 7,681.00
8 (21) 후레쉬빌스테이크 양식-스테이크전문 강남구 7,569.00
9 (575) 미차이 중식 노원구 6,820.00
10 (7) 더크랩하우스 양식 강남구 6,657.00

So this is the second week of the Menupan top 10 list. Has there been many restaurant moves? NO! Menupan: FAIL. I was hoping to update their top ten on Seoul Eats every week, but it doesn’t look like they update it that often. Maybe I’ll give it a try in another week or so. Sorry for the let down folks, but apparently the Seoulites are still eating at the same restaurants from the week before.

Dan

1. Florence. It’s over by Ewha and it serves up heavily sauced faux Italian.
2. Hwa Ssi 167 Do. It’s in Gangnam Gu Cheong Exit 3 and they serve up Korean Food.
3. Lochef. Steak and Pasta over by Hwehwa station. They have fancy steaks and pasta on their menu. It doesn’t look half bad. It’s expensive, but…it looks good. Also
4. Cfood Kitchen. Seafood buffet. It looks like they’ve got a nice spread and for 19,000, it doesn’t seem bad. It is over by Doksan Station.
5. Sokbul 1978. Fancy Steak over by Myeongdong exit 3. They can dress up a minutes worth of steak to look like a million dollars…and you only have to pay W29,000 for the privilege.
6. Primo Bacio Baci. Ok. I’ve eaten here and it’s not bad for the price. The place always has a line and they have decent pizza, salads, and they don’t gauge out your eye on wine. It’s in Hongdae out exit 5.
7. Sao paulo. I don’t know how it sounds but it is a Brazilian Steak place over by Gyodae Station (Seoul National University of EDUCATION exit 14). It looks alright. I’d be willing to check it out.
8. Freshville. It’s got foreign food and steak. It’s over by Samseong Station exit 4. It looks like the serve up a lot of steak on the cheap. The interior has a very…X-mas feel to it. Feliz Navidad.
9. My Chai. It looks like a smiley face that’s really expensive to eat. Lots of yellow, fancy plating, and small portions. Yeah…let’s see. If you wanna give it a try head out to Gongteong Station exit 4.
10. The Crab House. I’d actually like to give this place a try. It’s over by Apgujeon Station Exit 4 and it looks like good seafood. You’ve got whole crabs done tempura and sauce. They also have pastas that start at 12,000. Not bad…so why is it at 10? Hmmmm….Don’t know.

 

A whole lotta food for 5,000 won Friday, May 1 2009 

hwae and korean food and raw fish and restaurants deconstructacon 12:11 am

Recession my ass. For 5,000 won you can usually go into any Korean restaurant and get a feast. This place is called 전남회수산 and it is right down the street from the Institute for Korean Traditional Foods . If you want to find it just go to Jongno 3-ga (Lines #3,5) exit 7. Walk straight for a block and cross the street. You’ll see tanks with fish out frong. The food is good. For lunch I just had the 알 탕 (Al Tang). This is a spicy fish soup that has fish eggs in it. It’s great for cold days. Now accompanying this main dish came a plethora of side dishes. We had some grilled mackerel, fried fish cake noodles, kimchi, two pieces of sushi, a spicy turnip kimchi. It’s just amazing you can get all this for so little.

영진수산 (Yeong Jin Su San)

02 747 1868

서울시 종로구 묘동 139-1

 

Toque Dining Events Wednesday, Apr 29 2009 

Hannam and Itaewon and american food and restaurants deconstructacon 6:47 am

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that Toque is having some specials this month. It’s a quaint restaurant that serves up homestyle Americana cuisine. I’m a big fan of their brunch, burgers, and chili. They have some other specials as well this much. Be sure to tell them Seouleats told you!
Dan

Dear Toque Friends,
 
I hope everyone is enjoying this BEAUTIFUL weather!
May in Korea is the “Family Month” of the year and we have some upcoming events for this special month.
 
1. We have started handing out Toque Stamp Coupons this month.  We give you one stamp for every bill over \30,000.
The offer is: a free cappuccino or latte after 3 stamps, \3,000 discount after 5 stamps, one free appetizer after 8 stamps
and 40% off your bill(excluding alcohol and Chef’s Course) after 10 stamps.  
Many of our regulars and enjoying this benefit and looking forward to the 40% food discount so come by to get the coupons.
 
2. May 5th is “Children’s Day” and Toque is offering a special deal for families with younger children.
On this day, children under the age of 7 who order from our “Kid’s Menu” will eat for free.  The portions are fit for 7 year olds and 
we will need to limit one item per child.  
 
3. May 8, Friday is “Parents’ Day” in Korea.  We will be offering 10% off your total bill, including beverages and alcohol(except Chef’s Course), to those families withparents wearing a carnation corsage.  
 
4. We have introduced some new items on the menu last week and some are already looking to be a steady best seller.  For example, 
we cannot make enough of the ”Garlic Onion Burger” and “Santa Fe Pizza“(spicy cheese sauce, chicken, spinach, mushroom, salsa). 
 
 
Please let us know if you have any suggestions or if you crave food from back home that you cannot get here in Seoul!
We’ll try our best to take you back to your mom’s table. 
Thank you and have a wonderful month!
 
Jane Chang     

장정은  Jane Chang
Owner/Chef  Toque Diner
682-1 Hannam-Dong Yongsan-Gu, Seoul
Tel: (02)794-3834
Fax: (02)794-3828

 

Craving Tandoori? Go to Chakraa Indian Restaurant in Hannamdong Sunday, Apr 12 2009 

Itaewon and indian food and recommendations and restaurants deconstructacon 9:32 am

I recently went over to the new Chakraa restaurant over in Hannamdong. I’m a big fan of Chakraa because they make authentic Indian food. Sure there are quite a few Nepalese restaurants in the city such as Everest, Namaste, and Himalaya and they all serve Indian Curry. These restaurants serve Indian Curry because they realize that it is popular. If you notice on the menu’s the authentic Nepalese dishes such as Dal Bhat (Lentils and Rice) and Vegetable Pulao (Vegetable Fried Rice) only have a small section in proportion to the whole menu. If you want authentic Indian food, then there are only a few in the city.

In Itaewon there is Agra, Wazwan, Curry Town, Taj Mahal, The Foreign Restaurant, and Chakraa. Over in Hannamdong- if you go down the road from Cheil there is a little curry joint that’s way overpriced and with small portions. Over by Myeongdong there is a place…I don’t recall the name, but I do remember they served me kimchi with my curry. KIMCHI! Grrrr. In Samcheongdong there is Dal in the Artsonje Center. Now I judge Indian restaurants based on their palak paneer and their palak paneer was spicy. Grrr.

Oh, and there is Ganga.

In the past, the only really good Indian restaurant was Ganga. But Ganga is expensive because they were the only game in town and they marketed themselves as premium.

Taj Mahal used to be my favorite, but they changed chefs. Wazwan did the same. Agra, I’m not a fan at all. Sure the place is pretty, but they put potatoes in my Palak Paneer and tried to pass them off as paneer. I’ll never go there again.Then on a whim I decided to check out Chakraa and I’ve been hooked ever since. They make authentic curries, the naan is always big and made fresh, their palak paneer is authentic and it has the right proportion of paneer (a curded cheese) and their tandoori is moist and spicy. It’s a great place to go for real Indian food.

I’ve gone to the buffet as well. I love Indian buffets. There are so many different curries and I just love Indian desserts. I just love Gulab Jamun and Gajar Halva. Gulab Jamun are Indian munchins flavored with cardamon, rose water, and saffron. Delicious. And Gajar Halva is an sweetened carrot salad with raisin, cardamon, and milk. It’s awesome. I always feel bad because I make several trips for the Gajar Halva.

One note about the buffet. I would recommend that you go around 12:00 that’s when they start putting out the really good stuff.

Dan
www.chakraa.co.kr
796-1149 Korean
796-2255 English
info@chakraa.co.kr

 

Tutti Matti Tuesday, Apr 7 2009 

Karisukgil and Seoul Eats and restaurants and seoul deconstructacon 10:20 am

This was published in Eloquence magazine this month. Sadly, it is my last month writing for Eloquence, but hopefully I’ll be writing for another publication soon.

Dan

A Restaurant introduction by Daniel Gray with Chris Sanders, Penny Brook, and Carla Schmitz

The idea of a resto-lounge sounds avant-garde. Especially in a city known for apartments that may also serve as offices and cell phones that are multi function computers, calculators, dictionaries, and entertainment devices. Everything seems to be compressed in Seoul. And on top of that you have parts of the city that specialize in certain activities. You should go to Myeongdong to shop, Apgujeong to eat, and then Hongdae to dance. All of this probably prevents 50% of people from even going out.

So Tutti Matti decided to introduce a new concept to Karisukgil. They bought an entire building and designated each floor to a different activity. When you walk in you are welcomed into comfortable café where you can have a frothy cappuccino. Walk up one flight of stairs and trained wait staff will present you with a fine meal and a selection of wines. Go all the way to the basement and you’ll be given a martini whose liquid will dance to the beats of their house DJ. And, if you are privileged enough, you could go into the VIP room on the top floor.
Everything is in one place and the transition is as easy as climbing a flight of stairs.
Chris, Penny, Carla, and I were invited to come to Tutti Matti, which means, “Everybody is Crazy,” to dine by Lachlan Winner: owner of the bar. Lachlan is the perfect host. He is polite, warm, sophisticated and gregarious. He introduced us to his staff and his Italian Chef: Maximillian and the courses were on their way.

The first dish we had was the Vodka with Penne. The pasta was al dente (like it should be) with a complementing sauce that was creamy and flavorful with a cunning hint of vodka. There was only the sound of silverware and plates until Penny quipped, “See, no talking. That means that the food is good.” We all agreed with her.

The next dish that came was big pan seared scallops wrapped in bacon and served with a roasted pepper puree and sautéed spinach. This one I wasn’t such a fan of, because I thought it was too… familiar of a dish. On the other hand this was Carla’s favorite. She said, “I like to cut it in half so I can savor it.”

Lachlan then picked for us a 2005 Masi Campofiorin. This wine had hints of cherry, silk, and chocolate and paired well with the dishes. While we were enjoying the wine, my ears did perk up to the music. It was soothing song mixed with a modern techno track. It was a good match.
The next dish was the Branzino al Cartoccio Mediterraneo. Wrapped in parchment, it looked like a British Christmas cracker. The parchment was cut open by the chef and the air was filled with the wholesome smell of fresh basil and rosemary. The fish was cooked perfectly and it was topped with black olives and tomatoes. There was silence as everyone passively fought for forkfuls of the flakey fish.

The finish (well for dinner anyway) was a homemade Tiramisu. This was, hands down, the best tiramisu I’ve had in Korea. It was so authentic. The bitter chocolate powder was restrained by the creamy mascarpone cheese and the top layer of ladyfingers held a hint of espresso, while the lower layer had sopped up more of the robust cacao bean. The layers of flavors broke apart and then came back together in a swirl of flavors. We all gave high marks to the chef for this dish, but he said some guests didn’t feel the same way. We told him, that they had not experienced a real tiramisu.

As we were finishing up our wine, Chef Maximillian brought up one more dish. Maybe it was because our praise of his Tiramisu. It was his mushroom risotto. This dish was very rustic, nutty, and full of flavor. Penny said she really enjoyed the al dente bite and flavors in the dish.
After our meal, we had to go down to the basement to see what the bar was like. A French bartender served us Lychee cosmopolitans as trendy guests danced on the dance floor. For me, the lychee cosmopolitan turned into a dry martini, the martini became a single malt scotch and the scotch: absinthe. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t remember much about the bar, but I did know that I did have a good time and I believe the rest of my crew did as well.

Tutti Matti
511-0334
Karisukgil
Go out Sinsa Station exit 8 and walk 3 blocks. You’ll see a sign that points to Karisukgil. Tutti Matti is down the street across from “Free School.”

Entrees range from 17-45,000 won
Extensive Wine Menu available

 

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