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| Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray |
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| Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray |
Italian food in Korea is not like the Italian food that I had while growing up. Then again, the Italian food in America is nothing like the food in Italy.
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The pizzas are brick oven baked on thin crust and the sauces are chunky. Sure there are some notable differences such as the preposterous amount of sauce and the side of pickles, but that’s a cultural thing. Koreans need something salty and crunchy with their food- I think this is a good thing; it’s a way to balance out the meal.
The food at Agio is not bad. It’s nothing special, but I would go there again. If I had a date (incredible as that might sound), I might take her here. There are some great things about this place. They make their pasta fresh and they have a brick pizza oven with wood fire. For me, it’s old news but my Korean friends that I went there with really enjoyed it.
The pizza was on a crisp thin crust with just the right amount of cheese and sauce and topped with basil – not the freshest, mind you, but it was basil. The tomato sauce on the pasta was chunky and fresh tasting and it complemented the al-dente, fresh noodles. The cream sauce spaghetti was a tad sweet for my taste, but the others at the table liked it. For me the mushroom pasta dish was just right- it had the right amount of savory mushrooms in an olive oil sautee with garlic. Yum.
It’s not overpriced; it’s reasonable. Pastas start at 12,000- which is cheap in Korea. And pizzas start at 16,000. The setting at Agio is homey and it would be great for a quiet Italian dinner with friends or a loved one.
Agio
South Korea Seoul Jongno-gu Gyeonji-dong 68-1
+82 2-722-0211
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| Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray |
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| Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray |
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| Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray |
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| Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray |
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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.
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