I had a lunch date with a friend, so I headed out to Shirokane-Takanawa. After mulling over where to eat, we went to Salvatore Cuomo, an easy, no-fuss choice. I hear they’re opening a branch in Seoul too. A place I go to all the time is coming to Korea, which makes me happy, since it feels like Korea’s restaurant scene keeps getting better ^_^ I’m even advertising them for free here, so maybe a little promo fee… ahem… -_-
A glass of wine from lunchtime
For me, wine is less a drink and more a part of the meal ^_^
Salad
This one… pretty ordinary.
Baguette
I ordered it in place of rice, and it’s just average too. Not bad. It’s just that my standards for bread are high.
Margherita pizza
The pizza here tastes like the real thing, which is unusual for a chain. The crisply baked crust is tasty, and the basil, tomato and cheese are all fresh. I’d love it if they used slightly pricier ingredients and more of them, but expecting more than this at this price point would be asking too much.
That said, while it tasted about the same as when I had it in Shinjuku, a lot of oil came out and got all over my hands, which made it hard to eat. This is exactly why a chain can never become a first-class restaurant, no matter how hard it tries. Satisfying every customer perfectly every time takes careful attention and constant effort, but chains like this just follow the recipe, so the results vary. For a casual get-together with someone you know, a place like this is great value, but for a gathering that can’t go wrong, you’d better head to a somewhat pricier restaurant.
Squid ink risotto
Pretty good for a chain, but it doesn’t reach the level of a proper Italian restaurant. Still, I doubt they have a dedicated chef, so I’m happy with this.
It’s not too expensive and the food is decent. It’s not something I absolutely adore, but everyone, young or old, likes pizza, so it’s handy and I end up going often. It’s a place worth remembering that you can use again and again. I hope prices don’t go up any higher when it opens in Korea, but with the exchange rate the way it is, who knows.
We moved on for a mango juice
We talked about all sorts of things: work, the future… My situation is about to change a lot, so there was plenty to explain. Where things will go from here, what I should do… With the Korean economy in such bad shape, it’s all the harder to decide, but I’ll do my best. I should go back to Korea more often next year. Also, blog updates will be slow for a while.