Right before lunch, we decided to explore the neighborhood, which was fairly new to us. We took subway to the "Express Bus Terminal" station first and after spending some time at the beautifully decorated underground shopping mall, Famille Station and Famille Street (mostly consisting of restaurants and cafes), it's time to indulge ourselves in Soigné's modern Korean cuisine.
Soigné (스와니예) is the brainchild of owner-chef Jun Lee and pastry chef Inkyung Na. The name came from a French word meaning "dressed very elegantly or well groomed", which is also Chef Jun Lee's nickname back with his days at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
For those of us familiar with Liberty Private Works in Hong Kong, this open kitchen and bar table concept should be nothing new to us. In fact, this made us feel right at home.
Unfortunately, our visit was on a Sunday and Executive Chef Jun Lee was missing from action.
Getting the chef's tasting menu (₩ 65,000) was the perfect path to experience Chef Lee's modern take on traditional North and South Korean dishes. Once our order was placed, the entire kitchen staff including Executive sous chef Hoyoon Kim started getting busy behind the scene.
Our amuse bouche, according to our beautiful server, was a parade of nibbles inspired from the street food and traditional recipes of the Northern Korea region. We started things off with a piece of grilled leek with cheese and edible flower.
Clams, cucumber, fresh sea weed, jelly (couldn't tell the flavor of this jelly...), salmon roes in a shooter glass. Lovely presentation and pretty refreshing as well.
Tofu, mustard seeds and tangerine in olive oil and vinegar. Surprisingly good.
Pita bread with spicy artichoke cream and cream cheese. The most flavorful nibble from the amuse bouche. This was very nice. Perhaps the most enjoyable nibble of the bunch.
Two types of grapes, fresh and fermented served with a grape jelly. I could also taste some wine in this. Very refreshing indeed. Our taste buds are ready to go now!
Our first starter was a warm beef brisket served with radish, onion, daikon, mixed green, quail egg and crispy potato chip. Noticed that they have sprinkled a bit of sesame sauce on top to give the dish some extra seasoning. Very pleasant start (7/10).
We didn't have to wait long for the chef's signature dish - sautéed escargot with egg custard. The dish was finished with a special pesto, spinach and some shaved cheese. This is another masterful dish. I (or my tongue) had a little trouble deciding whether the custard was made with egg or cheese (or both) but it was very very good. Very smooth and flavorful. The escargot, on the other hand, has somehow taken more of a supporting role in this one (7/10).
Cold cappellini and fresh sea urchin are match made in heaven but buckwheat cappellini? Well, there's always a first time for everything. I thought this was just OK. Expected more bite out of the cappellini and a bit more flavors coming out of the sea urchin and sauce (5/10).
Zucchini and shrimp ravioli in a porcini mushroom broth. I like their idea of using a porcini broth. Very sweet flavors coming from the shrimp but not too overpowering (6/10).
Up to this point, I thought every dish carried a very good level of seasoning, which was just right for me and they were letting the natural flavors of the ingredients run its course. Brilliant idea.
Our main course was probably the only dish with a mix of rich flavors (from the duck and foie gras mostly) - roasted Korean duck with sautéed octopus, potato purée, water parsley and thick foie gras sauce. That was absolutely mouthwatering. The moment I had my first bite, I couldn't wait to re-confirm whether it's not Challans Ducks from France. And it's NOT despite sharing the same lean and tender flesh (8.5/10).
Sadly, we were now down to our last course and we had a choice between two different desserts. The first one drew inspiration from 3 of the most famous elements from the Jeju Island - flower, green tea and stone (replaced with chocolate). In reality, that's rosemary ice cream, chocolate with green tea powder and edible flowers. The presentation was a little rustic but I thought the taste was reasonably good (5.5/10).
The second dessert was a masterpiece from pastry chef Inkyung Na. Inside the poached tangerine was vanilla mousse and tangerine sorbet with a gluey passion fruit sauce providing the finishing touch. That was a marvelous dessert, perhaps the best I've had in Seoul ever (8/10).
I was curious in whether it's okay to eat these tangerine skin but according to our server, it's a YES.
A simple petite fours to wrap up this memorable and exciting meal.
If you're not traveling by taxi, finding Soigné could get a little tricky at times but don't worry, here's a few pointers for you.
First, travel to Express Bus Terminal station by subway. Go to the underground shopping mall which is connected by the underground passages. Go up to the top level until you reach the Starbucks (this is one of the most beautiful Starbucks you will ever see.) and immediately head outdoor.
After crossing the road ahead of you, follow the same path until you see a "Aston Martin" showroom on your right. Continue going up the hill until you find the National Library on the right.
Turn right when you see the National Library into a small road and go straight, then another left and you should see this grey-colored building on your right side. And Soigné Seoul is just located on the basement. Good luck finding the restaurant!
This was definitely the best meal I had in Seoul since I've been visiting the city more than a decade ago. That's a lot of meals in between and many of those, I was too lazy to write about and share here. I told young Chef Hoyoon Kim everything was beautiful and I would most definitely come back for another visit soon. And that could very well come in just a few months' time.
Food Rating: 7.8/10
Price: ₩₩₩
Address: 46 Banpo-daero 39-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South KoreaClosest Metro Station: Express Bus Terminal
Tel: +82 2-3477-9386
Website: www.soigneseoul.com
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