I have been going to Polpo quite often lately, but even I did not expect to end up there back to back like this. Someone I know asked me to put together a meetup, and there are not many places around Gangnam you can drop into without much fuss. Plenty of well-reviewed French places have opened up around Seorae Village recently, and holding the meetup at one of those would have been fine too, but a place with an atmosphere that nice should be saved for a date.

White wine

There are a lot to choose from, so I asked for a recommendation, and it was pretty good. Sadly the Madame Coco I had enjoyed last time was already sold out. It seems that in Korea even drinking a cheap, tasty wine takes a bit of luck.

Bread, as always

I want to go back to Lee Boulanger, but I just cannot find the time. Time aside, I am also focused on losing weight these days, so I have been keeping my distance from bread. I need to get those abs finished soon, but now that it is getting hot, going out to exercise is not easy.

Salad

Kept simple.

Trippa

A friend wanted to try it, so I asked for it specially. Like all offal dishes, it divides people. I am firmly in the camp that loves it, of course. It is good on its own, and just as good with bread dipped in the sauce.

Avocado and octopus salad

Same as ever today..

Abalone

Abalone is another dish that splits opinion more than you would expect. A lot of people cannot handle the liver, it turns out. I, of course, get to eat double and am all the happier for it, but for those who cannot, it is probably a bit of a letdown. Once you start meeting up regularly, the organizer learns to check the menu accordingly, so the pickier your palate, the better it is to stay on good terms with whoever runs the meetup.

Eggplant gratin

Gratin is honestly a hard dish to get wrong. Pile in tomato and cheese and there is no way it will not taste good.. Plenty of people would want to order something like this, so it would be nice to see it on the regular menu. The only issue is that it overlaps a bit with the bolognese in flavor, but you could solve that by checking the day’s pasta menu and ordering one or the other.

Donated wine

That night, as it happened, one of the elders of the gourmet club was sitting at the next table and sent a bottle of wine over to us. They had happened to be at the next table last week too.. (No, I did not come to Polpo hoping for that.) Anyway, I always seem to end up in their debt. It was delicious, thank you, Oxxni!

Shiitake mushroom salad

The wine had changed, but the food that came out was still white-wine fare. Polpo’s concept has always been about bringing out the flavor of fresh seasonal ingredients as much as possible, so the seasoning is bound to be on the light side, and with a set course like this it would be hard to switch dishes to match the wine. When I talked to the chef, he said he is going to drop the course menu altogether. That seems to fit Polpo’s direction better anyway.

Chawanmushi

The portions felt a bit generous again that night. Not that I mind.

Whole steamed squid

They were on the small side. Then again, this may have been on the house..

Cilantro salad

The highlight is the soft-boiled egg, which somehow makes you want to toss some noodles in. Rice noodles would work, ramen would too.. I hope they develop a noodle dish someday.

Pork shoulder

The pork is a little under-seasoned, and I would love to see a more interesting twist on it.

Clam pasta

I had it not long ago and loved it, and a pasta packed with seasonal ingredients really is hard to beat.

Bolognese

I really like this pasta too. It is not one of the seasonal-ingredient showcases Polpo prides itself on, but it is a perfect match for red wine. Drinkers, it seems, are instinctively drawn to good bar food. If you could drop in late at night for a drink and keep it light, abalone with white, trippa or bolognese with red, that would beat most haejangguk joints by a mile.

My dessert contribution

Red velvet and banana mille-feuille from Lady M, which were not quite as impressive as I had hoped. The original mille crepes or the cheesecake suit my taste better. Lady M seems to be opening branches all over the place these days, and I am glad, since it should raise the bar for cake in Korea considerably. I hope Pierre Hermé comes in soon too.

The coffee was outstanding again that night, but sadly I have no photo of it.

It is still early days and there are some rough edges, but this was another thoroughly satisfying evening. Going so often, I am building up some know-how on what makes a meetup a success. Time to plan even better ones. Though first the weather needs to cool down a bit.

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