For the first time since coming back to Korea, I held a get-together at 2chef in Hongdae. Living on the opposite side of Seoul, it was never an easy place for me to get to, and for a while I did not have the bandwidth to organize a meetup either, but things have finally calmed down a bit. For the record, this was normally a day they do not serve lunch, but when I asked, they opened specially for us. I was really grateful.

Wine

We started with a wine I had brought along, nothing fancy. Day drinking really is the best kind of drinking.

Bread

The style of the bread has changed a bit from before, but it tastes fine.

Soup

The chef changed recently, so I was worried, but it tasted good. The place seems to be running steadily, too.

Sea snail

Baked with breadcrumbs on top.

The inside

Tasty, and a fun concept for a dish. With the new chef the sensibility of the cooking has changed a bit from the old days, but the food is still good.

Appetizer

They may have taken extra care because it had been a while since my last visit, but basically they are keeping the quality up. A lot of places lose their way once they start doing well, so I am really glad this one has not.

Wine

I tried the wine the restaurant recommended, and the value for money was excellent. Honestly, there are not many places you can trust like this. That must be why they have survived so long in Hongdae, where restaurants come and go.

Bolognese pasta

The sauce was rich and the noodles were cooked just right. Again, it is different from the old style, but this style is delicious in its own way. By the way, I recently had a chance to visit the restaurant of the chef who used to work here, and his cooking is as good as ever. If anything, it felt like he has improved. I will post about that visit in due course.

Steak

Cooked just right, and it tasted good.

Dessert

A perfect finish, right through to dessert.

Good food and good company, it could not have been more fun. The mood was so good that we went straight to Angel’s Share for round two. It was around the early-May holidays, so Angel’s Share was open in the daytime too, and we could keep the mood going without a break.

Probably a Botanist gin and tonic, or maybe not..

The Botanist is a gin made with 22 botanicals by the Bruichladdich distillery, which is famous for its whisky. It was my first time trying it, and the crisp freshness was superb. Only a few bottles come in at a time, so the sad part is that you cannot always order it.

Martini?

The next table ordered it, I just snapped a photo..

We also dug out the leftover whisky from a previous visit and polished it off completely, then headed to a club member’s home for round three.

And then the highlight of the day, crab ramyeon, comes out.

A whole blue crab is submerged in the ramyeon. On top is kamaboko (fish cake).

Crab

After eating like that from lunchtime on, we still polished off one of these meaty steamed crabs each. Well.. everyone who showed up that day was clearly a heavyweight who could handle that much. Nothing but respect.. 2chef was great, but the finale was so spectacular that it multiplied the whole experience. My deepest thanks to everyone who went the distance that day. I may have organized the meetup, but they were the real stars.

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