So I just moved to Seoul ... - Page 3

More details on Goo Steak 528? I treat myself to Isabelle's (split with a friend) once a month...perhaps I should consider the switch. Is it more expensive (because I can barely justify the monthly steak as is)?

And Noryangjin fish market is a cool place. I recommend spending a decent amount of time wandering around the cafes and galleries in Samcheong-dong.
Edited by Claghorn - 11/30/12 at 1:35am

Goo is more expensive than Isabelle's. That said, I'd go there once every two months over Isabelle's once a month, but then again I don't need an insane dry-aged porterhouse all that often. (I admit that the fact that Isabelle's is owned by the Butcher's Cut/Smokey Saloon dude influences my thinking to some degree; that said, Goo is empirically better haha)

 

Here's a few links/maps/etc:

http://m.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&m=0004001002002&p=01&art_id=33566&lang=en

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100927000643

http://woongkyoandyujung.blogspot.kr/2011/07/goo-stk-528.html

Yeah, just the best one I know. Which means, of course, that I need to know some more. Edumacate me plz?

There's another Goo steakhouse up on top of the hill in Itaewon towards the Hyatt, it has a different number (Goo 718 maybe?). They're USDA prime dry-aged (I don't know what Isabelle's has but I found it not as good) and I have no idea what the steaks cost, but probably comparable and the bills get obliterated if you start drinking wine anyway. Besides the steaks being better at Goo, the sides are also quite a bit better IMO, and they cook with a better amount of skill than what I see at Isabelle's. We drink upstairs at Baby Guinness all the time and all I ever see is amateur looking punk kids in cook's whites out on the side stoop smoking all day. At Goo the cooks are pretty industrious, fully open counter kitchen, and they're standing there peeling potatoes for the puree with 8" chef's knives pretty rapidly, they're not complete amateurs. Anyway, try and see. I find the wine list to be not bad either, some good Cali wines on there (not cheap, but I remember having an 07 Walter Hansel PN there that was great and well, Korean priced, but like 150 maybe?) - it's about a block or two up the first righthand side street of Garosugil from the Apku side. The restaurant is split into twin shops down at the bottom of this sunken parking lot, it's the back of a big furniture store building.

Coffee Bar K. All I need to say. But I will say more - the kid with the glasses that works at Speakeasy worked at K for maybe a year and then went to Speakeasy. The rest of the kids at K have put in 3-4 years and are still working as bar backs, if that says anything. The cocktails are perfectly made and have this insanely tender balance, the bottle selection at K is about 3X as great as Speakeasy, and the head bartender is a world champion bartender from Japan. It's one of the very few food/drink establishments in Korea serving quality in their respective field. Bring bankrolls though. You can rack up a tab pretty quickly.

Seconded.

What cuts did you order? Isabelle's porterhouse is all Hanwoo. Anything outside of the porterhouse from Isabelle's has been disappointing for the price.

Also, I've found that if you bring several bottles of your own wine, you can usually get by paying a flat corking fee (particularly if you are a regular). If you drink a lot of wine, it probably will save you money.

 

Superb. Had heard about it but not been. I'll check it out. Sheeit, we should have a Seoul meetup at some point...

Another bespoke tailor that seems pretty interesting: http://blog.naver.com/buls13

But it's Naver blog again...seriously, I think one main reason I barely check any blogs/websites in my native language is because of goddamn Naver.

 

From what I remember, the import tax in S.Korea is pretty high so don't expect much on finding good deal if you're looking European/American products.

 

Actually, duty is coming way down with a KOR-US FTA rolling out bit by bit, but markups um haven't changed quite as fast.

 

Thinking about hitting up Bar K some night this week (a weeknight). Anyone want to meet up and find out firsthand what a boor and a philistine I am in person?

I was at craft over the weekend enjoying victory pils while a band was playing classic rock and a nice young news reporter was talking to me about world affairs (no flirting at all). like a hawk

I dropped in at Coffee Bar K and Sahm Bar last night. Both are nice. At K I had a negroni (hey, just finished work), a Hendrick's martini, and a Lagavulin double matured. Everything was fine, but I was a bit taken aback when the bartender asked me if I wanted olives in my martini, which just doesn't seem right. Cucumber, of course. Very impressive Scotch list, bourbon, less so.

 

At Sahm, I also ordered a negroni & a Hendrick's martini, to compare. They didn't even have cucumbers at all. Finished with an Ardbeg 10, then off to dinner.

Picked up a half-dozen shirts at Goshe. Really nice. Huge upgrade from Hahn's in Itaewon, where I used to get shirts made. Thanks to this board for pointing me there!

Pictures and prices?

The shirts were 70k won each and I took MOP buttons for an added 10k won/shirt. Paid about 480 for 6 shirts. I'll try to post pics later.

That's a good deal if they are well constructed. All the ones in that I have from Itaewon are the same quality.

I've been getting mine at the Washington shirts in Sinsa for around 60k. I've not had any issues, but I've gone through most of their selection, and while I haven't been distressed at their construction, I've not been impressed either. They were very willing to accommodate a few requests a bit out of the norm, which was surprising since I suspect all requests go to some big factory somewhere.

 

Going to probably jump to a different tailor with a better selection of fabrics. I will have to give Goshe a trial pretty soon.