What's for Lunch? OK Kitchen in Itaewon

What’s for Lunch? OK Kitchen in Itaewon

The OK Kitchen is a play on the Korean word, Hanok, which means traditional house. My friend Paul Ajossi calls this place the “best lunch set in Itaewon.” You can see his take on this restaurant here.

The interior is a stylized mix of modern and old.

I went on a Saturday and for lunch and the set included Sweet Pumpkin and Gnocchi soup, Salmon two ways, Parmesan Flan (they ran out of the fig tartin), Australian Wagyu steak, dessert, and coffee. My friend had the Casareccia with Mushroom and cream. My meal cost 35,000 won, while hers only cost 20,000.

The meal starts out with some homemade foccaccia, tortilla, and cornbread. The cornbread is scrumptious.

Here is the pumpkin soup. In the center is the cloud-like gnocchi that melts in your mouth.

The salmon course (BTW, they smoke their own salmon) had one flavored with orange and capers, while the other had grapefruit sorbet. Delicious.

This Parmesan Flan was a substitute, but wow was it brilliant. the crisp, savory taste of the parmesan chip blended in an orgasmic fashion with the creamy, buttery flan.

They also gave us a vegetable dish. This one was just OK.

The Casareccia was great, but…

Not as good as my steak. I had asked them to cook it Bleu (which means it’s cooked on the outside, yet bloody in the middle). They were able to do this (often when I ask chefs this at Korean restaurants, I just get strange looks and speeches about how they cannot do, nor should I eat steak this way.)

Coffee

Dessert. A warmed chocolate cake topped with ice cream, a butterscotch caramel pudding, and a beet brulee cake topped with gorgonzola ice cream and swirled shortbread cookies. The beet cake was brilliant and I loved the gorgonzola ice cream.

Here is my friend Amy^^

Our waiter gave great service. He explained every dish and cleared between courses.

Oh, and they brought us Bay Leaf Sorbet to taste. Wow.

Directions go out Exit one of Itaewon Station and make the third? right (it’s the one near the traffic light): make a right at “Pacific Shopping,” you’ll see OK2 Kitchen on your left.

www.ofoodart.com 02.797.6420

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About the Author

Daniel

Daniel Gray is a Korean adoptee that returned to Korean in 2005 because he wanted to try and find his birth mother and to learn about Korean culture. He started a restaurant review blog in 2007, www.seouleats.com, that became a local and international hit. He and his blog has been featured in the New York Times, Monocle Magazine, The Kimchi Chronicles, Bizarre Foods, Rudy Maxa, Olive Magazine, Euronews and much more. He now is a partner at O’ngo Food Communications (www.ongofood.com), which is a culinary tourism and consulting company that offers Korean cooking classes and restaurant tours to travelers. Their food tours and cooking classes are ranked as one of the top attractions in Seoul according to tripadvisor. Daniel can be found at the links below or at Google+.