I dont see a lot of Korean restaurants being mentioned so I thought I'd post my experience from last year. Overall, pleasant dining and comfortable service, and dishes change frequently xepending on season and availability. I really like Chef Lidgerwood's ideaology of the restaurant.
1) Menu and pictures of ingredients being used. These ingredients were never repeated, and appropriate dishes were always focused around these ingredients.
2) Welcome drink, omija tea
3) Smoked mackerel, acorn tart, soybean and chwinamul cream – crunchy outer, melting inner. nutty overall, with delicate salty and umami coming from the smoked mackerel.
4) Ogolgye (black chicken) and uni – Chicken moussed stuff in wing pocket, steamed then fried. Egg sauce with uni. Overall softness with mild chicken and egg flavours, with salt coming from uni. Texture and flavours were at balance.
5) Hairy crab tart – pleasantly briny with undertone of seafood sweetness. Texture once again, crunchy and creamy.
6) Sunflower tart – nutty, earthy with tomato umami at the center of it all, balancing with acidity and fruit sweet.
7) Didnt have notes for this one, if I remember correctly cream with korean raspberry jam. Overall sweet and sour concept, a refresher and a palate reset for the next dish.
8) Korean Shiitake – Steamed smoked shiitake and fermented shiitake covered in Shiitake broth custard and grated dried shiitake.
9) Cuttlefish – Thinly shaved cuttlefish with broth, sesame puree, and pear granita, served with fermented spicy cuttlefish. Eaten like korean cold noodle, naengmyeon, specifically hwe-naengmyeon.
10) Tilefish – One of prized fish in Korea, Okdom, delicately cooked with fried scales, beurre blanc made with chicken fat (which I wished for a cup of to just indulge, served with korean greens and herbs.
11) Omija and odi sherbet – zingy palate cleanser. No ants, folks. Their focus was clearly out with serving ants, not a Korean thing nor were they using 100% Korean ants.
12) Abalone, truffle, sesame tart and egg – Served in a shape of Gat, Korean traditional hat worn by men in older times. Breaking the black sesame shell, inside is abalone, truffle and egg. Probably the best dish in terms of texture. Delicate dish, with focus on abalone. Flavours integrated.
13) Duck – Actually properly cooked duck breast, served with korean raspberry sauce and green sauce (Sorry, I forgot what it was), served with pickled melon and toasted barley. The two sauces definitely cut into the richness of duck, and the barley and pickle helped reset the palate for another, yet new bite.
14) Rice for the main.
15) Side dish served with the main, sorry I forgot what it was.
16) Korean style braised short rib – served in smoked plum sauce. Pinnacle of galbi, which cut like butter, so tender. Best part was the sauce mixed with rice, heavenly.
17) Peach sherbet with cherry jellies, I think. Soft peach sweetness with tangy jelly.
18) Korean melon – with jello made with korean melon.
19) Korean style marshmallow over the fire – Rice cake, ginseng, and spices, dipped in rice syrup. We get introduced to the kitchen and get to cook the marshmallow ourselves.
20) Candy and tea – korean sesame caramel candy wrapped in rice.
Overall, plesant dinner. I think they represented the ingredients in a very respectable way, prepared properly in a fitting Korean dishes, and managed to bring out the best of them by using techniques from all over the world.
by alexx3064
4 Comments
I’ve wanted to try Evett since seeing Chef Lidgerwood on Culinary Class Wars. I love a long tasting.
That looks great. 20 dishes is crazy but everything is so well presented.
I wonder if and how they settled the ants dish issue.
Looks like an amazing meal, thanks for the details on the dishes.
There was another dish at the end, a seaweed cake, which I left out because it s not normally part of the meal. They served a sweet pastry, size of a Chocopie and shaped like one. Sweet, savoury and a bit of saltiness for balance.
We brought a bottle of our own from Canterbury, NZ. 2012 Greystone Brothers PN.