These days, whenever a halfway decent restaurant opens in Seoul, the foodies descend on it en masse and post about it. So a good restaurant rarely slips through the net. Luckily I was able to go while it had only just opened.
The front entrance
It says Seogyo-dong, but it is practically in Mangwon-dong. Quite a walk, it turned out. Getting off at Mangwon Station is actually faster than Hongdae or Hapjeong.
Tea
When a Chinese restaurant brings out Chinese tea, it is reassuring in the same way as a Pyongyang naengmyeon place bringing out the noodle water.
The kitchen
Running at full tilt.
Cold platter
I ordered it as an appetizer, and it was good, with no off flavors.
Peanuts, zha cai and cilantro
These are the basic side dishes. Serving the cilantro separately was a nice touch, but what really impressed me was how good the zha cai was.
Whisky of the day
A whisky brought along by someone just back from Europe. One of the key malts in Ballantine’s. It was smooth and sweet. And only 40% ABV, too..
Crab fried rice
Not heavily seasoned, so it worked well as a starter.
Menbosha (shrimp toast)
I would say this is the signature dish the place is proud of. The frying that day was almost perfect. Bread inevitably soaks up a lot of oil, yet it still tasted remarkably light.
Kkanpunggi
Judging by the kkanpunggi alone, plenty of places do it better, but this one was up to standard too.
Quanjiafu
It is not on the menu; you order it separately when you book. The freshness of the ingredients was outstanding. This dish is so satisfying that you really should try it.
Red-braised fish
This dish was also very tasty. The sauce is excellent, but the fish is not just steamed, it is fried too, so the texture was great as well. Now I am curious how their steamed version would be.
Zha chun juan (fried spring rolls)
The best zha chun juan I have had so far.
Banana juice from Germany
Tastes just like banana, though a bit on the sweet side.
Boiled dumplings
I had no idea they would be this good at dumplings too. The menu is not that long, but every single dish is on a high level. Now I get why everyone keeps going on about Jinjin.
XO fried rice
Plenty of places do fried rice better, so I will pass..
Egg drop soup
We had been going pretty hard on the kaoliang and whisky, so the stomach needed some soothing.
Dessert
There was a VIP at our table, so I am not sure whether that got us better treatment. I am oblivious to that sort of thing.
The Royce’ Yamazaki Sherry Wood nama chocolate I brought along.
A faint whiff of whisky, and very delicious. I have a bit of a stock, so I will keep it in the freezer and enjoy it at my leisure.
Honolulu Cookie Company cookies flown in from Hawaii
As befits a foodie meetup, all sorts of contributions turn up.
Chocolate
This is the complimentary chocolate Jinjin hands out, and, surprisingly, it was actually good. The chocolate really did taste like banana milk.
Henri Charpentier
This was a gift from someone who had just been to Japan.
We moved on to Angel’s Share. At this point there is really no other choice.
Probably a Kahlua milk
I do not remember clearly.. but it seemed they had recently started getting serious about coffee liqueur cocktails.
Probably a gimlet
A clean-tasting cocktail I find myself having now and then. Of all the gimlets I have had in Korea, this place makes the best. But I hear Geonu is going independent, so I am not sure we will keep getting this taste at Angel’s Share.
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