Chef Kwon Woo-Joong’s two Michelin-starred Kwon Sook Soo is housed under an unassuming building in Cheongdam-dong, an area better known for its upscale boutiques and art galleries than fancy eateries.
Comparing to other fellow two Michelin starred restaurants in Seoul (example, Jungsik and Mingles), Chef Kwon's cuisine is much closer to traditional Korean but he manages to add refinement and modern touches to it to make things far more interesting.
Each meal at Kwon Sook Soo begins with the presentation of juan-sang, a small table (dok-sang, the individual table concept) with alcohol and appetizers.
I started off with a small welcome drink of Korean rice wine (15%).
The appetizer platter was beautifully presented with a number of Korean inspired small nibbles.
Korean beef marinated with Korean sake was made into a slice of delicious beef jerky and there was a zucchini flower deep fried with minced prawn filling.
I had the rice ball topped with a fresh seaweed web and pumpkin, and then the black sesame cracker with caramelized walnut next.
Followed by the soul-warming zucchini dumpling topped with pickled vegetables.
Saving the best for last, I had the small bowl of chilled white bean soup at the very end. This was done like a velouté in French cuisine. Very rich and creamy. And the temperature was just right on a hot summer day like this.
Immediately following the small nibbles was their Summer Dish, a Korean-style salad bowl with a tangerine and red berry juice pairing.
The salad comprised of bean curd, super sweet corn, poached peas and Omija punch, was bursting with lovely sweetness and acidity while the juice served as the perfect palate cleanser. I was asked to alternate between the salad and juice to get the best out of the dish.
My second starter was eggplant with snow crab meat and leeks, deep-fried in sesame oil.
There were two servings of this, one with mayo and fish eggs (left) and the other with the same mayo but instead of fish eggs, they had it with Korean chives on top (right).
This was almost like a tempura with an exceptionally thin and crispy crust and inside the small package were loads of fresh snow crab meat. I have never imagined eggplant and crab meat working so well together. A very impressive dish with an exciting build-up of flavors and textures, starting with the buttery crust, followed by the creamy mayo, sweetness of the snow crab and intensity of the umami-rich fish roes.
Next up was the chef's signature dish, capellini with smoked sea bream sashimi, finished off wonderfully with perilla oil and plum syrup. It was served with a small salad made up of edible flowers, chili, pine nuts and a fish oil dressing. A simple but well-balance dish with a nice mix of palate-soothing flavors. Not as exciting as the previous eggplant dish though.
The seafood dish was grilled abalone marinated in Korean sake and finished on the grill with the chef's homemade soy sauce.
Serving the abalone was soy-pickled seaweed and artichoke was an interesting idea that I wasn't sure if I totally agreed with.
The grilled abalone was accompanied by a small side dish - seaweed infused porridge topped with a bit of snow crab.
At this point, I was offered a palate cleanser in the form of Korean red berry sorbet and jelly before they served up my meat course.
I have been secretly looking forward to this dish all afternoon - their wet aged Korean beef striploin steak.
The well-marbled steak was nicely crusted with black sesame dubu ("tofu" in Korean) sauce adding it some lovely spicy kick.
Dessert, labeled "Late summer dessert" came with dark chocolate sponge, sweet pumpkin ice cream, glazed chestnut and praline crumbs.
This could be the weakest link from an otherwise excellent degustation menu. The dark chocolate sponge and pumpkin ice-cream really did not match well together at all.
Petite fours were surprisingly French. Caramel candy, sesame pudding with some flavored powder (forgot the flavor of it), white chocolate infused with red berry juice and finally, a small cream puff with Jeju matcha cream.
Kwon Woo-Joong is a very humble chef as we can tell from the name of his restaurant (Kwon Sook Soo loosely translates to “a professional cook by the last name of Kwon”) but there's nothing modest and unassuming about his cuisine. His interpretation of Korean cuisine utilizes precious ingredients from all around the country and housemade Jang (Korean paste) from traditional recipes. The approach generated exciting flavors, both traditional and modern, which are very appealing to the palate. Once a hidden gem in the city's dining scene, Kwon Sook Soo is now more than ready for the spotlight.
Food Rating: 7.8/10
Price: ₩₩₩₩
Address: 4/F, 37 Apgujeong-ro 80-gil, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Closest Metro Station: Apgujeong Rodeo
Tel: +82 02-542-6268
Website: www.kwonsooksoo.com
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat)
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