BonAppetit, Seoul, South Korea
We'd been eating Korean food non-stop since we arrived in Seoul and I badly needed a change of scenery. I've never really been a fan of Korean food to begin with. As the BF puts it, unlike Japanese or Italian food, Korean food isn't for everybody. It's true, I could eat Japanese or Italian food everyday for at least 2 weeks, but not Korean food.
Luckily, Seoul is an extremely cosmopolitan city, even if there's a real language barrier. There's a Starbucks at every corner, French bakeries at every turn, and more international brand names than available in little ol' Singapore. I find it an oxymoron that although the country is so seeped in its own culture where everything is in Korean, the street names, building names, websites, you'll have difficulty getting around if you don't know the language, South Korea is surprisingly cosmopolitan. For example, for a country that has its menus entirely in Korean, there are cosy Italian eateries along almost every street.
There's this Italian restaurant just down the road from the hotel that opens till late. Which was great for us because it was very late by the time we'd finished riding on most of the stomach-churning rides at Lotte World. We also needed a little downtime to get our tummies settled and back down to earth after a particularly scary death-defying ride, aptly named "Gyro-Drop" that plunged us down from a 60-storey height.
We started off with a Sauted Gamberi e Capesante (22,000 Won), sauteed scallops and shrimps. They weren't as huge as I'd like or am used to, but they were delicious. The succulent scallops were perfectly seared, so it stayed juicy, but with a thin caramelised crust. Shrimps were crunchy and sweet, simply flavoured with salt and pepper to focus on its natural sweetness.
We shared a Zuppa di Mare (13,000 Won) a tomato based seafood soup that was rich, tart, savoury and sweet. It was chock full of clams, shrimp, squid and mussels. The crisp watercress lifted the soup and prevented it from being too heavy.
Bread was provided to soak up every last bit of the soup. Too bad it was a little cold.
The Cheese Pizza (15,000 Won) was Ernie's choice. This was really yummy, the different cheeses provided layers of flavours to the wood-fired thin crust pizza.
I got the Risotto Mare (17,000 Won), which was lovely. The rice was perfectly done, soft and starchy with that little bit of bite in each discernible grain. The tomato base made the dish a lot lighter than expected.
The restaurant's obviously a first date favourite. Lights are fashionably dim, there's an extensive wine cellar, and cushy couches are provided for lounging and chilling. I'll definitely be back.
BonAppetit
Tel: 02 566 6282 / 02 516 6282
Open daily from 11am to 12 midnight
Daechi-Dong
Gangnam-Gu
www.5wine.net
Luckily, Seoul is an extremely cosmopolitan city, even if there's a real language barrier. There's a Starbucks at every corner, French bakeries at every turn, and more international brand names than available in little ol' Singapore. I find it an oxymoron that although the country is so seeped in its own culture where everything is in Korean, the street names, building names, websites, you'll have difficulty getting around if you don't know the language, South Korea is surprisingly cosmopolitan. For example, for a country that has its menus entirely in Korean, there are cosy Italian eateries along almost every street.
There's this Italian restaurant just down the road from the hotel that opens till late. Which was great for us because it was very late by the time we'd finished riding on most of the stomach-churning rides at Lotte World. We also needed a little downtime to get our tummies settled and back down to earth after a particularly scary death-defying ride, aptly named "Gyro-Drop" that plunged us down from a 60-storey height.
We started off with a Sauted Gamberi e Capesante (22,000 Won), sauteed scallops and shrimps. They weren't as huge as I'd like or am used to, but they were delicious. The succulent scallops were perfectly seared, so it stayed juicy, but with a thin caramelised crust. Shrimps were crunchy and sweet, simply flavoured with salt and pepper to focus on its natural sweetness.
We shared a Zuppa di Mare (13,000 Won) a tomato based seafood soup that was rich, tart, savoury and sweet. It was chock full of clams, shrimp, squid and mussels. The crisp watercress lifted the soup and prevented it from being too heavy.
Bread was provided to soak up every last bit of the soup. Too bad it was a little cold.
The Cheese Pizza (15,000 Won) was Ernie's choice. This was really yummy, the different cheeses provided layers of flavours to the wood-fired thin crust pizza.
I got the Risotto Mare (17,000 Won), which was lovely. The rice was perfectly done, soft and starchy with that little bit of bite in each discernible grain. The tomato base made the dish a lot lighter than expected.
The restaurant's obviously a first date favourite. Lights are fashionably dim, there's an extensive wine cellar, and cushy couches are provided for lounging and chilling. I'll definitely be back.
BonAppetit
Tel: 02 566 6282 / 02 516 6282
Open daily from 11am to 12 midnight
Daechi-Dong
Gangnam-Gu
www.5wine.net
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