I’m not really the type who likes going out on Valentine’s Day, but somehow I ended up out and about anyway. I had some business over by the Gangnam-gu Office, and by the time I’d finished wandering around it was nearly dinner time, so I walked toward Dosan Park to get to La Saison, the French restaurant I’d booked in advance.
I arrived earlier than my reservation, and while wondering what to do with the time I stopped at a nearby bakery, The Barn, and bought some bread for the next morning. I did think about going a bit further to Retro Oven, but right at that moment I got a tip-off on Twitter that they’d already sold out, so I gave up on that. The Barn also closes at 6:30, and since I got there right at the end there wasn’t much bread left; I managed to grab what was still there – a multigrain loaf, a croissant and an olive loaf. I’m working my way through them as I write this post, and all three are good.
The Barn’s bread is slightly Japanese in style, and maybe that’s why it suits Korean palates so well. But if you prefer European-style bread you might be disappointed, so it’s best to choose according to your own taste.
They do desserts properly here too, though I haven’t worked up to trying them yet. They were selling a chocolate with dried seaweed in it, maybe a Valentine’s Day special, but I just couldn’t find the courage to buy one..
With the breakfast shopping safely done, I headed back to La Saison.
Champagne
Apart from a glass of champagne added to the usual course, it didn’t seem all that different. The price, on the other hand, was very much a Valentine’s Day price. When I went to take photos I realized I hadn’t brought my SD card, so I shot everything with an iPhone 4S. What a spectacular blunder! Lately I keep thinking I should have a compact camera to use as a backup. And I should buy a spare Eye-Fi card too.
Bread and olive oil
Unusually for a French place, no baguette and butter arrive. A bit of a deliberate break with convention, maybe.
Antipasto
They were originally going to serve an oyster antipasto, but my companion can’t eat oysters so it was swapped for tomato. It’s the same as the lunch menu I had here before, though.
Cauliflower soup
There’s white whelk in it. This was another thing I’d eaten before, so it didn’t move me much. I suppose the one at fault is me, for thinking of going French on Valentine’s Day.
Bread
More like a snack.
Foie gras
It tasted good, but even paired with fresh strawberries the richness doesn’t get cut all that well. I still think foie gras terrine is at its best spread on a baguette as a snack with beer. It also goes well with a richly sweet Sauternes.
Salmon, I think..
The ratatouille had an interesting flavor. This really is a kitchen that knows what it’s doing.
Australian wagyu chuck flap steak
The steak was ordinary, but the mashed potato was outstanding.
Ice cream
An interesting texture.
Chocolate tart
Another one I’d had before..
Caffe latte
Maybe it’s because it’s Valentine’s that chocolate comes instead of petits fours..
Chamomile
Four of the dishes overlapped with what I’d eaten here before, so for me it was just so-so, but my companion said it was incredibly good. That’s not the restaurant’s fault, it’s just what Valentine’s Day does. On peak days like Valentine’s or Christmas (and the year-end holidays are the same), when restaurants are packed to bursting, service and ingredient sourcing are bound to suffer. I’d never had occasion to before, but after this I’ve firmly resolved never to go anywhere near a French or Italian restaurant on any “XX Day” ever again.
A bowl of Shiromaru at Ippudo
Maybe it’s because I’ve turned into a middle-aged guy, or maybe it’s something else, but no matter how good the French food is, I can never quite shake the feeling that something is missing. That day I also had my complaints about La Saison’s menu. So I stopped by the Ippudo right across the way and had a bowl of ramen. It’s a bit pricey (and they add 10% on top), but it’s still cheaper than in Japan, and the ramen isn’t far off the standard you’d get over there either. I wouldn’t make it the first stop of the evening, but as a second stop in that neighborhood, for lightly topping up on carbs (one bowl between two is about right), I think it’s excellent. They’re open late at night, too.
The ramen was good enough to heal every bit of the sulk the French dinner had put me in. Wounds inflicted by fine dining really do have to be cured by fine dining..