LEGUME

I’m currently on a small detour in Seoul during my Japan trip. Someone recommended this place to me while I was trying to find stuff to do, and boy, I’m so glad to have tried it.

This is the second vegan tasting menu I’ve had since Oyster Oyster in Washington DC (another excellent place btw), so I had certain expectations. Sorry to sound hoity-toity and all, but every single dish I’ve had here surprised me by how much depth of flavor and textures that the chef and his team were able to layer—it’s salty, sweet, a bit tangy, with a bit of crunch, while all still following that earthy, herby, comforting theme that’s going on. Kinda gobsmacked actually.

My favorite has to be the toss up between the daikon seaweed cashew chowder situation (pic 5), the pepper chickpea stew-like concoction featuring a couple of Korean herbs like chamnamul and naengi (pic 7), or the insanely juicy mushroom that’s charred to perfection with that dark rich veggie demi (pic 9). But all are great. The sauce on turnip dish in pic 8 is insane, it tasted almost like an uni butter and the way the strawberry married into the consommé is kinda genius (Pic 3). Ended the meal with a meadowsweet coconut milk sorbet (pic 11)—never heard of meadowsweet— and the truffle-chestnut sorbet that’s not pictured cuz i moved the camera too quickly.

100% get the wine pairing. Just like the dishes themselves every single one of them had a unique characteristic, like a Chardonnay that had a bit of “umami” to it in the finished notes, or that one German wine that starts with a funk but ends in an apricot note, or the Gewürztraminer whose sweetness was mellowed out by pairing it with the meadowsweet coconut dessert like magic. A lot of these caught me by surprise at not only their tastes but how well they paired with the food.

Highly recommended if you ever are in Seoul! I was the only patron at that time tonight so I was able to ask the chef all the dumb questions.

Tl;dr We need to have more vegan restaurants like this. And if you have any other vegan tasting menus to recommend please let me know!