Izawa • 이자와

Izawa (이자와) is another gyukatsu (규카츠) restaurant that is nearby Atto Gyukatsu that I've shared a couple of posts ago. This place, also in a basement, has a slightly bigger seating area compared to the other place. Gyukatsu (규카츠) is what I always order, and sometimes their Steak Don (스테이시동) if I come with a friend and we want to mix it up a bit and order to share. Their set menu comes with salad, side dishes, miso soup and rice and if you ordered their 2 persons set menu, it also comes with a choice of drink. I personally come here more often cos I like their gyukatsu slightly better. I think the beef is more tender and the stone plate grill that they use makes it easier to grill the meat (plus they change the grill plate for you quite a bit so your meat doesn't stick to the grill).

I've came here a couple of times and the place is pretty packed during lunch and dinner hours (you might have to wait in line for a bit, especially if you come in big groups more than 4 people). But Koreans usually eat pretty fast, so the wait time is not that long. Or you can always come before or after the lunch/dinner rush, like I do all the time ;)

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Izawa (이자와)

Address: 서울특별시 서대문구 연세로 29 지하 1층
Telephone: 02-322-5776
Hours: 11:00 - 22:00
Break Time: 15:30 - 16:30 (Weekdays)

Atto Gyukatsu • 아토 규카츠

Gyukatsu (규카츠) was one of the food that became 'a thing' in Seoul last year. Or at least according to my observations since I encountered quite a number of newly opened gyukatsu places around Seoul and started to see more pictures of it online afterwards. And when one of my favorite restaurant moved away from its original spot and replaced by a gyukatsu restaurant, I felt like it was a perfect time to try it out.

Atto Gyukatsu (아토 규카츠) in Sinchon (신촌) was the first place I got a taste of these delicious deep-fried breaded beef cutlets. I ordered the one person gyukatsu set meal which was served with rice, miso soup, and side dishes. The server gave me instructions on how to cook the meat according to your liking, put wasabi on top of it, dip it in the sauces and all that while putting down the tray in front of me. I followed his instructions and started eating. And man it was good. The meat was tender despite of the crunchy breading and the sauce goes well with the meat and rice. I personally feel the wasabi was unnecessary, but hey, I don't really like spicy food in general so for those who do, it might be better with the wasabi. If you are around Sinchon, this place might be worth a try. The restaurant is actually located in the basement so look out for their entrance (pictured below) and just follow down the stairs to the entrance.

p.s: There's actually another gyukatsu place that I visit quite frequently around here that I'll be sharing soon. Stay tuned! ;)

 

Atto Gyukatsu (아토 규카츠)

Address: 서울특별시 서대문구 명물길 38
Tel: 02-363-4588
Hours: 11:00 - 22:30
Break Time: 15:30 - 16:30
Subway: Sinchon Station. Exit 3.

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Suminine • 수민이네

For lunch, we headed to Suminine (수민이네), another recommendations from my friend, Sally. We stepped into their main dining area and took a seat on the green plastic chairs surrounding one of the empty tables. The place was not too busy. It was filled with a couple of locals who seemed to have picked the same place to get lunch as us. After hearing the recommended menu from our server, we ended up ordering 조개구이 for two persons. Our server came back not too long after with our order and start grilling the food for us and it was delicious. Everything was nicely seasoned and cooked (and probably the fact that we were pretty hungry just made it even better). After we finished our lunch, we just hung around for a bit and I took a walk around the restaurant. I wasn't expecting this, but the view outside the restaurant wasn't bad either. Must be pretty nice to have a meal with this kinda view. Maybe not on a hot summer day like when we were there though.

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Lunch at Hongdae

Last friday, I met up with Ken for an overdue catch up session in Hongdae (홍대). This was my first time back in this neighborhood again and it certainly felt good to back in a familiar place. If you visit Hongdae frequent enough, you'll eventually noticed that there are certain spots that are very popular for meeting point. Exit 8 and 9 are those spots for Hongdae subway station. Whether you come in the morning or in the afternoon, there will always be people standing or sitting around those exits, looking at their cell phones waiting for the people who they're gonna meet to come up from the steps.

So, following the popular choice, Ken and I decided to meet up at exit 8. It's just easier that way to find each other. We haven't seen each other for almost half a year and it was nice to feel that almost nothing has changed since our last meet when he showed up and greeted me like we just hung out yesterday. We made our way to the lunch place, Gaemi (개미), around Sangsu (상수) area and the food there was delicious and cheap. We had the Steak Rice Bowl (스테이크 덮밥), the Cube Steak Rice Bowl (큐브스테이크 덮밥), and the Salmon Rice Bowl (연어 덮밥) to share. And each menu was under ₩10,000. A pretty good place for a solid lunch I would say. We walked around the area for a bit to shoot some stuff before moving on to the next place. It was a successful lunch outing overall. 

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La Lune Violette

Perfectly. Cooked. Lamb. That's the thing I remembered the most about this place. La Lune Violette (라 룬 비올렛) is a French bistro located around Hongdae (홍대) station with great food menu and wine selections. Went there for dinner with a friend of mine to do some catching up. We ordered their Sous-vide Pork Belly with Bacon Wrapped Asparagus (수비드 꼬숑), Apple Chips Salad (사과칩 샐러드), and Sous-vide Lamb Shoulder Rack (수비드 램) to share. The Apple Chips Salad was a nice refreshing opener to the meal. The crispy apple chips were really delicious and gave a nice balance to the dish. On to the main courses, the pork belly was cooked perfectly, with crispy skin on top of each pieces. Although the overall dish tasted a little heavy, it was still good. My favorite dish was the lamb dish. Perfectly cooked, a little crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and seasoned just right. The only thing that was lacking is the portion :p (was still craving for more lamb at the end of our meal). Overall, I would recommend this place to anybody who want to try some good French food with a fairly affordable price. Although the menu portion is a little small, I guess that just means that you'll still have some room for desserts afterwards :)

Hope everybody have a good weekend ahead! :)

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