Peninsula Italian Restaurant at Lotte Hotel Osso Bucco over Saffron Risotto You must have pickles at Italian Restaurants in Korea Osso Bucco and Pumpkin Gnocchi are Top Notch! by Daniel Gray (Seouleats) The other day, my good friend and president of the company, Jia Choi said that every day seems to be a party. With many social functions and invitations to lunch, it seems that way. Recently, I was invited by Lotte Hotel to come visit their restaurants and give my thoughts on the food and service. So I went under the condition that I would be free to write whatever I liked. They encouraged me to be honest so I will. Since it is winter, I was in the mood for some good Italian food. Overall, I haven't been too impressed with many Italian places in Korea, but I figured that Lotte Hotel should be able to make something impressive- especially for the prices that they charge. The first thing I did was to call the restaurant to make a reservation. This was a tad frustrating since the perso...

Agio Italian Food in Insadong by Daniel Gray 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.  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 ...

Luxury Italian Cooking Class and Lunch with Chef Sebastiano Where: O'ngo Culinary School (www.ongofood.com) Cost: 60,000 KRW Date: April 27, 2010 at 10am Buongiorno! If you are interested in learning real Italian cuisine from a world class Italian chef, then you should come join on on April 27th. Our energetic chef, Sebastiano, has worked in top restaurants in Rome and moved to Korea in 2007 with his Korean wife and their son, and joined the Grissini Beinnale chain. He is currently the chef at the famous Antonio in Cheongdam and has his own line of Italian meals with Pulmone. The class will start with a demonstration and tasting of a classic Italian seafood dish and balsamic chicken entree, and then we will have a hands-on cooking workshop of puttenesca pasta. After the class we will have lunch together to enjoy the real Italian food. Ingredients will be on sale after the class for those that would share their lesson with their family. Class will start at 10am and finis...

Guitarra Pasta at Antonio My good friend, Sebastiano at restaurant Antonio and I had a meeting last week and I was lucky enough to test out a new menu that he had. It was pasta made from a guitarra: a device that has many metal strings like a guitar that would be used to slice a sheet of pasta into noodles. It gives the noodles a square, edged cut and a smooth texture. The pasta he used was mixed with some squid ink to make them dark and then he tossed it in a buttery sauce with popcorn-like scallops and shrimp. The light sauce was complemented with the crisp asparagus and ripe tomatoes- a perfect spring pasta. He also shared with me a glass of his homemade lemoncello and we finished the meal with a strong espresso. Thank you Sebastiano for your hospitality. Cheers, Dan Barunson Bldg., fl. 193-8, Cheongdam-dong Seoul, South Korea 02-3443-4333 www.antonio.kr Guitarra Pasta at Antonio                        ...

장 소 : 온고프드 커뮤니케이션 ( www.ongofood.com ) 참가비용 : 60,000원 Buongiorno! 세계적인 이탈리안 쉐프로부터 정통 이탈리안 요리를 배우기를 원하시는 분들은 3월 24일에 열리는 쿠킹 클래스에 참가해 보세요. 매우 열정적인 쉐프 세바스티아노는 로마에 있는 최고급 레스토랑에서 일을 하였으며 2007년 한국인 부인과 아들을 데리고 한국으로 건너와 Grissini Beinnale 체인에 합류하였습니다. 쉐프 세바스티아노는 현재 청담동에 있는 유명 레스토랑 안토니오(Antonio)를 총괄하고 있습니다. 쿠킹 클래스는 먼저 쉐프의 시연을 본 후 쉐프가 직접 요리한 클래식 이탈리안 해산물 요리와 발사믹 치킨 요리를 맛볼 수 있는 시간을 가질 예정입니다. 시식이 끝나면 푸테네스카 파스타를 직접 만들어 볼 수 있습니다. 수업 후에는 직접 만든 요리와 쉐프의 특별 메뉴로 점심식사를 하게 됩니다. 또한 집에 돌아가서 가족 또는 친구들을 위해 만들어 볼 수 있도록 필요한 재료를 소량 포장하여 저렴한 가격에 판매할 예정입니다. 수업은 오전 10시부터 12시 30분~1시까지 진행될 예정입니다. 온고 푸드 커뮤니케이션은 인사동에 위치해 있습니다. 수업은 영어로 진행 될 예정이며 경우에 따라서 약간의 이탈리아어와 한국어로도 진행될 것입니다. 이메일과 전화로 예약할 수 있고 더 궁금하신 사항이 있다면 아래 연락처로 연락 주시기 바랍니다. ongofood@ongofood.com Tel : 02 - 3446 - 1607 Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to...

Hold the Gnocchi Written and Photographed by Jonathan Bates My friend invited my partner and I to her birthday this past weekend, which was to be held at an Italian restaurant named Sortino’s. Needless to say that I was less than excited when she told me it was in Itaewon as it not being my favorite area and offering little more than overpriced and mediocre-grade “western” restaurants among other things. Nevertheless, we put on our winter gear and hit the streets of Itaewon, eager for some good Italian food. I must confess that I was doubtful of having truly great, let alone good, Italian food in Korea as I was raised in a house with my grandparents who were “Off-the-boat” Italians. I knew that my friend had good taste and a knack for the finer things in life so I was hopeful that she wouldn’t steer a group of festive partygoers into utter disaster. She didn’t. Getting to the restaurant (which we found with ease), we told the hostess we were with “Harry Potter” (yes, my friend ...

District: Vintage Cafeteria in Jongno 3-ga I'm always suspicious of the new big, shiny restaurants in the busy areas of Seoul. The trainwrecks are often they are the punchline of the pun: "What do you get when you combine a cafe, wine bar, Italian restaurant, beer, desserts, and waffles?" It was cold out and District was open, so I went in with my friends for a quick lunch. I was pleasantly surprised at their menu: shrimp pizza with truffle oil, chicken and broccoli cream spaghetti, and salad with fresh pineapple. Their citron ice tea has flavorful globes of frozen yuja orange- very refreshing and creative. Also, bottles of wine and alcohol aren't too expensive either (both start at 30,000). On top of that, the atmosphere is open and well decorated. Maybe restaurants are finally starting to get it: good food in a nice atmosphere at a decent price = business. Oh, just one little thing: they need to work a bit on service. Cute doesn't mean efficient. District:...

Divino Ristobar in Hongdae, Seoul Korea Recommended by my foodie friend Irene, we went to Divino Ristobar after a long week of work. We started with a bottle of pinot grigio recommended by Joe the waiter. The wine was crisp and very refreshing and good value at 49,000 won. The place is cozy. It is candlelit and the open patio lets in a bit of the nightlife on the busy Hongdae Streets. Sorrentina Pizza Special at Divino Ristobar in Hongdae, Seoul, Korea As a starter we had the Sorrentina Pizza (21,900). Crust was nice, but needed a bit of salt. This white pizza had mozzerella, prosciutto, shaved parmigiano, and rucola lettuce. I liked it, but the rucola was basically shredded on put on the pizza, so the bitter leaf was a bit tiring after a while. I like the option of having a whole leaf so I can eat it separately or together. We then had the steak special. It was cooked medium rare and topped with various greens, tomato, and dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil. Not a...

My friend, Chef Tim likes to send me restaurant tips every once in a while. All of his places have been gems so far, so I wanted to pass the recommendation to you. Now I just need to get a name and directions from Tim. Once I get them, I'll post them up. Cheers. Scallop Here's Tim: A few shots of our meal from last Tuesday. The restaurant is located in the hills above the city, with an amazing unlimited view. The food is pretty amazing too, with a 6 course lunch for W35000 to W38000. The set menu included an appetizer/amuse (scallop that was perfectly translucent in the center), soup, salad, seafood pasta, sorbet and the main. I had a lamb tenderloin, which was amazing. Patricia had some truly massive shrimp with lobster risotto, and my mom had a rib eye steak. The quality of all the courses was great, and they offered a choice of coffee, juice or ice cream after all of that... We got to get you up there! Tim

Lista del cibo     La bruschetta del ben venuto @ 4500 Welcome bruschetta 브루스게따   Antipasti   Insalata mista con pomodoro @ 6800 Mixed green salad and tomato, tossed with extra virgin oil and balsamic home dressing 발사믹 드레싱의 그린 샐러드 Insalata Caprese @ 8800 Tomato, mozzarella and basil 모짜렐라 치즈와 토마토 Insalata Contadina @ 7800 Mixed salad, grilled chicken breast (Korean) and sundried tomato 구운 닭 가슴살 ( 국내산 ) 샐러드 Vegetali misti alla griglia e parmiggiano @ 6800 Mix-grilled vegetable and parmesan cheese 그릴에 구운 야채와 파마산 치즈 Piatto formaggi Italiani @ 8800 Parmiggiano, provolone, scamorza and gorgonzola 이탈리안 치즈 플레이트 Piatto Trattoria @ 8800 Prosciutto, salame, mortadella and  grilled vegetable 이탈리안 햄 플레이트 Minestrone di verdura all' Italiana @ 7800 Italian minestrone with vegetable and pasta 이탈리안 야채 수프 Crema di funghi misti @ 7800 Mixed mushrooms cream soup 버섯 크림 수프   Pasta & R isotto Spaghetti al pomodoro e basilico @ 1160...

Sometimes I am selfish and I don't like to share where I find my good eats. This is a place that I discovered several weeks ago, but I didn't want to share with you, because...well...I like it too much. Chef Franco and his business partner Jina have made an excellent Italian Restaurant over by Seoul National University. The keyword at this place is fresh. Everything is fresh. The bread that arrives at your table has the perfect foccaccia texture and it is topped with carmelized onions and herbs. The open kitchen lets you see the chefs at work, so it's a bit of a show and a meal. Here is the welcome pizza that Franco made for us. The crust is thin, the cheese is crusty with the good brown bits of baked cheese, the prosciutto is salt-porklicious, and the arugula added just the right accent of green. YUM. Here is the minestrone soup. I LOVE minestrone soup and Franco's is divine. It is full of beans and vegetables in a soft chicken broth. They have carafes of house wine; p...