I had a reason to head out to Insadong for the first time in ages, so I dropped by Duomo while I was at it. Duomo is a place that makes home-style Italian food with good ingredients. The flavours and the clean execution of the dishes are impressive, but the interior and the service also make for a very relaxed atmosphere, which seems to make it especially popular with women. With this much care going into everything, it is not exactly cheap, but if you like this kind of atmosphere you cannot help becoming a regular. On this visit too, most of the customers were women.
Bread with basil pesto
The basil pesto was really fresh. In the way you can see their dedication to flavour even in the little details, it reminds me of Polpo, though the styles are different.
Pumpkin soup
A soup that warms your heart. I think Duomo is about the only place in Korea that takes soup this seriously.
Spaghetti with meat sauce
A pasta with a humble elegance, as if it deliberately avoids anything flashy. The meatballs are delicious and the sauce is smooth. It normally comes with a white sauce, but even though we specifically asked for tomato sauce, the balance was so good it felt like it had always been that way.
Clam spaghetti
Again, it felt like seeing the essence of home-style pasta. The broth was clean and tasty, but the seasoning is on the light side, so if this style is not your thing you might come away less satisfied.
My personal favourite pastas in Seoul are at Polpo and Molto, but Duomo is where you can taste the finished form of a completely different style: feminine, homely pasta. That is why I make the trip every now and then, even though it is far. I hope they keep that style for a long, long time. Of course, I suspect they will even without me saying so.
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