East Village Bistro & Gastro Pub

Traditional hanjeongsik and all that are great, but I'm also curious about Seoul's modern interpretation of classic Korean food. We made up a long table for a night out at at the year-old East Village Bistro & Gastro Pub at the now-hip Itaewon. Itaewon used to be a really seedy area. But now, that's all been changed since the army base moved out.

The food was good. A casual eatery done up in the usual minimalist hip bistro style, owner-chef Kwon wants to offer a more diverse menu that's a bit of a fusion of traditional Korean food with a continental flavor. I was thrilled to see a menu that caters to different dietary preferences and palate. Beef mainly, but fish features just as heavily, and vegetarian options are available with advanced reservations. Happier still to see that the food wasn't slathered with kim chi and gochujang. Speak enough Korean, and you can customize the 3 different set menus to whatever way you wish. The kitchen clearly takes pride in serving up quality ingredients. Every item that arrived at our table the degustation menu or a la carte orders was carefully and thoughtfully cooked.

I cleaned out the restaurant's last bottle of rather delicious makgeolli that evening. 1 litre. Nobody wanted to share with me. They wanted every other alcohol but makgeolli. Grrrrrr. But it was easy drinking. Almost like yoghurt. Hahaha. We also had bottles of excellent Korean soju from the independent Hwayo distillery that churns out artisan rice liquor. That went down really well with the food.

East Village Bistro & Gastro Pub
Yongsan-Gu, Hannam-Dong 736-9, Itaewon, Seoul 
(Subway: Itaewon Station Line 6, Exit 3.)
Tel: +82 02-790-7782