Guest Post: Gastro Pub from a Fat Girl's Food Guide

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Here is a guest post from A Fat Girl's Food Guide written and photographed by the fabulous Gemma. It has been reprinted with permission. Be sure to check our her great cooking and eating tips.

Thanks Gemma,

Dan

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Another day, another gastro-pub. Just around the corner from my job is the aptly named  Gastro Pub. We spotted it quite a while ago now but didn’t really think it would be up to much, so we never investigated further. However last night we were released from work rather early. There was time before the bus came so we thought we would take a look at the menu. The place was so much bigger than I had expected and not what I had imagined at all. We’re hardly in a desolate wasteland of restaurants but I certainly wasn’t expecting anything like this.

A big industrial warehouse type space. This restaurant is very deceiving from the outside. A huge long bar greets you as you enter then a large sized restaurant is beyond, with a large terrace at the back which would be perfect for some summertime drinking. An open spaced kitchen fills one long wall. I’ve always admired these, as I like to see what I’m getting. This gastro-pub has more New York feel than English Style homeliness of Reilly’s, but is cool and sleek none the less.

A gastro-pub inspired menu awaits, printed on newspaper style menus that seem to be all the rage these days. A mix of salads, pastas, burgers and grilled meats. They also have various imported beers and a large variety of bottles.Sadly no cocktails were on the menu, but they did have a nice variety of soft drinks and smoothies. Next time I’ll be sure to bring along my trusty hip flask and make some myself. They had a taster of beers. You could choose 5 out 7. This worked really well for us, my boyfriend got to have his real beer and I got my ladies lager. It was only 14,000 for 5 but we went during happy hour and got an extra 20% off which we thought was very reasonable.

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On to the food. We chose the fish and chips. I was still in the middle of taking a few pictures when this rocked up at lightning speed. There were 3 pieces on the plate and a mountain of shoe string fries (they were so thin, I probably could have tied my shoes with them). The fish was coated in a light and crispy batter. Coming from the land of fish and chips I like mine nice and thick. I’m not a huge fan of fish so for me the batter is the star attraction. However the fish here was good. The winner on this plate was the home-made tartare sauce, sharp and tasty, I could have eaten twice as much.

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I was keen to try the prime burger. I am a burger girl through and through and would probably choose this for my last meal on earth. This one looked pretty damn good when it rocked up, slathered with cheese and caramelized onions but sadly didn’t make me go “Mmm” when I bit into it. It was fine and I certainly could have eaten another one but it didn’t really live up to its 20,000 won price tag. I would rather pay the extra 5,000 and get the burger at Reilly’s, or go toBurger B and eat 2! Another point to mention is that this burger was very rare, the blood was actually seeping out on to  the plate. Personally I like my meat still mooing but I know for a lot of people this can pose a problem, especially since the waiter didn’t ask us how we would like it cooked. The burger too came with a mountain of fries. I loved these chips but after a while I still couldn’t see the mountain going down. They gave a choice while ordering of salad or fries but I think a little of both would have been preferable.

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The majority of these dishes available are around the 15,000 – 20,000 mark but they also have a 1kg steak available for 150,000 or a 750g rack of lamb for a mere 120,000.  The people at the next table had the steak and I have to say it was pretty large but I don’t know if I would pay that much for a steak and have to share it. I think this restaurant is more of a Korean style with the larger dishes that are good for sharing. They also had a few desserts on the menu but I couldn’t partake as I had eaten too many chips!

Gastro Pub is located at 810-2 Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. To get there take a train to Naebang station(line number 7) and come out exit 7. Walk straight until you pass the BMW dealership and make a right. Directly in front of you should be Gastro Pub. The nearest bus stop is 22-222. You can call them on 02-537-17222. Or check out their website.

See more great pictures here: http://afatgirlsfoodguide.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/gastro-pub/

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