Alla Prima (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★★☆

Alla Prima was a late addition to my itinerary after realizing that I had no real chance of getting a table at Soigné this weekend. The 2-Michelin-starred Italian restaurant by owner-chef Kim Jin-hyuk has always been on my radar but after hearing some bad experience there from my buddy V, it was put on the back burners for the last little while. 

Chef Kim was trained in Japan before opening Alla Prima in 2015. All it took was a year and a half for the chef to garner his first Michelin star in 2017 and the second star came in 2019, four years after the restaurant was first opened. 

I was told that sitting at the restaurant’s L-shaped counter is a must for any first-timers at Alla Prima.

The uphill walk from the subway station was a little more challenging than I first anticipated so something to cool myself down a bit before treating myself to the exquisite Italian fare.

Spanish mackerel, dragon fruit, hazelnut, myoga – Underneath the two slices of Spanish mackerel from Japan was a refreshing salad made with dragon fruit, hazelnut, purple onion and spinach. The salad dressing came with some nice fruity notes (dragon fruit?) and there was some extra heat provided by myoga, a Korean root vegetable reminiscent of ginger in flavor.

Emmental cheese, vegetables, herbs – Next up, another salad.

This was made with over 40 different vegan ingredients ranging from roots and leaves to the flowers. The dish was finished off with a nice pour of Emmental cheese emulsion.

Just before I got started with my salad, I was handed a long list of ingredients used in the dish.

Glutinous rice, barley, egg, caviar – Following the two salads was one of Chef Kim's staples in his tasting menu featuring a quenelle of glutinous rice blended with barley and meat from chicken wings. It was accompanied by a quenelle of caviar sitting on a sauce made with slow-cooked egg yolk to infuse some robust flavors to the rice. Interesting dish.

Pike eel, burdock, chopi – A hearty Korean dish with local pike eel and crispy burdock noodles. The key was the broth made with the fish head, bones and dried vegetables. Very rich and deep flavors. 

Looked like Chef Kim was taking charge on the next dish. 

Rump steak, eggplant – Admittedly not my favorite cut but I thought the rump steak was beautifully executed, having initially slow-cooked, then charcoal grilled and finally finished up in the oven. The flesh was lean and wobbly but incredibly flavorful. There were two sauces on the side, the first a typical red wine reduction with dill and Korean rice wine. The second of the two sauces was an acidic one made with olives and capers. It was a pretty easy choice for me (the red wine sauce of course!). 

Pine mushroom, bottarga, sudachi, spaghetti – The pasta dish today was spaghetti tossed with pine mushrooms, which I had yesterday at Eatanic Garden as well.

The al dente pasta was finished with a nice sprinkle of bottarga and there was a bit of sudachi there for some nice zesty flavors. 

Mascarpone, espresso, marsala – A deconstructed tiramisu as my pre-dessert which was very light in textures and flavors.  

Indian long pepper, banana, pineapple – The 'real' dessert was pineapple mousse and cubes, banana ice-cream and Indian long pepper all under a few sheets of crispy tuile. It felt like having a deconstructed ice-cream cone all together.  

After dessert, there were tea and a couple of mignardises to close out the meal.

Service was impeccable from start to finish, thanks largely to the solo effort by my server Tyler who spoke really fluent English. It was an experience incomparable to last night's at Mingles, where several servers merely dropped off our dishes while rushing through the introductions. Despite not being able to visit Soigné, one of my favorite restaurants in Seoul, this was more than just a replacement. While there wasn't much in the "wow" department this afternoon, each dish was expertly prepared and cooked to perfection. Ultimately, that's what truly matters. An experience with impeccably executed food and service.

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: ₩₩₩

Address: 13 Hakdong-ro 17-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Hakong

Tel: +82 02 511-2555

Website: www.allaprima.co.kr

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Wed - Mon)