Sunday, August 25, 2019

Tasting Room 테이스팅룸 (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★☆☆

Tasting Room (테이스팅룸) in Itaewon and Cheongdam (near Dosan Park) have long been on my radar screen as restaurants to check out in Seoul but what I didn't expect was the fact that I would end up visiting their branch at Lotte World Mall in Jamsil first.



This is a concept (currently with 6 branches) launched by a husband-wife team who's in the design business (architect and lighting designer) so of course, I was expecting a very well-designed dining room. 



The high ceiling (along with ceiling-to-floor windows), wooden furniture and black sofa seats combined to create a very inviting atmosphere. But perhaps they could do something with the closing time? It's scheduled to close at 7:30pm tonight we were told (but website said midnight!) so we knew we would be rushed to get to the finish line (45 minutes enough time for our little nugget? That's the big question).



Cherry tomato pesto flat bread (24,600 won) - Their website said Mediterranean influenced soul food so why not some flat bread? This was pretty decent. The cherry tomato and pesto provided the dough with some clean and earthy flavors to work with.



Risotto with octopus and shrimps (25,400 won) - It was a lot spicier than I thought it would be. The risotto was less creamy than most risottos I've seen in my life but the diced octopus and garlic both provided some nice bite to the dish. (I didn't get any shrimps with my share).



Cheese pink sauce gnocchi with shrimp (23,900 won) - The pink sauce reminded me of Papermoon's signature homemade pappardelle but this was primarily tomato sauce. There were also cherry tomatoes, basil leaves and parmesan cheese in there to go with the sticky gnocchi.



None of the three dishes really stood out but they were all reasonably well-cooked so I'm still trying to decide whether to give them passing grade for this meal. But one thing was certain - I likely won't be back anytime soon because to me, food should be more than just well-cooked. They have to at least taste great to bring customers back. 



Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: ₩₩₩
Address: 5/F Lotte World Mall, 29 Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Closest Metro Station: Jamsil
Tel: +82 02-3213-4550
Website: www.tastingroom.co.kr


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