Saturday night we dined at Bistecca, an Italian restaurant featuring beef and seafood in the Buk-gu section of Itaewon (up the road and to the right of Noksapyeong station). It was by far the fanciest place I’ve eaten at in many a year. Also the most expensive. We were there through the generosity of my old friend Dennis, and dinner for four came in at over $400. I guess that may have been over generous in retrospect.
The food was nothing short of outstanding, if not quite worth the price. I went with a dinner set (appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert) featuring a rib-eye steak for $88. The steak, although smallish by American standards, was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I ordered mine medium on the hunch that it would come out the way I like it, which is medium rare. I was proven correct and was glad I didn’t order medium rare otherwise it would have still been mooing on my plate. The dessert was a healthy portion of tiramisu which was quite tasty indeed.
Jee Yeun went with a seafood pasta (about the cheapest item on the menu at $26, bless her heart) and professed it to be wonderful.
Dennis and Julie shared the seafood platter for two at $120. It was also outstanding.
I took a break from dining for some “fresh air” midway through the meal. The valet parking dude was standing nearby so I gave him a friendly head nod. He responded by putting his hand on his belly, pointed at mine, and shook his head disgustedly. I took that to me he didn’t like my shirt. Or maybe Buddha.
After dinner we did some norebang and then some street-side coffee and people watching. It was a good evening, although I did have to stand on the subway all the way from Samgakji to Gireum station. That’s Saturday night in the big city I suppose.
Yesterday we broke our summer hiatus from mountain climbing and ventured up Bukhansan. I sweated like an out-of-shape race horse and was soaked by the time we reached the summit. I was soaked by a steady rain all the way down, which was pleasantly cooling although it made the rocks perilously slippery. Arrived home safe and sound though and Jee Yeun was pleased that I had gotten off my lazy ass and did something for a change.
Tonight I’ll add another B by drinking some beer at the BnB bar with my buddy Tom. And that brings you up to speed on my so-called life.
There’s always that moment when you’re looking at your plate, at the amount of food on it, and mentally matching up the quantity of food with the price, then wondering whether the whole affair is worth your while. The food looks good, if nothing else. Worth $100 a person? Not so sure about that. Maybe you all were paying for the ambiance.
Well, to be fair we did have four glasses of wine as well. But when you have a row of forks and cutlery at each setting (and a white tablecloth!), you could call that ambiance I suppose. Seriously, the food was well prepared and the service was excellent. Our table was in a room with two other tables (only one of which was occupied) and we had a nice view of Namsan tower.
Would I go back? Not if I were paying. Which I guess is a review in itself.