To wrap up my grandiose “food adventure” in Korea, I decided to visit a relatively fancy Italian restaurant, La Grillia, at the Samsung Coex. My guests of honor were those who made my stay in Korea this winter the most memorable (besides my family, obviously): the WingSharer participants! I really wanted to invite all 77 students, but due to financial and feasible concerns, I contacted four boys who live in Seoul (or at least close to Seoul) and with whom I connected the closest.
La Grilia was an especially opportune place for dinner because this was the very restaurant where my involvement with the WingShaeres began last summer. We had our first WingSharers board meeting at La Grillia with Ms. Shim, a Hanwha employee who served as our primary contact person with Hanwha. I suppose I can say that I began and ended the WingSharers 2012 at La Grillia. Aw nostalgia.
The appetizer bread came our quite a while after we ordered. The focaccia bread was slightly warm, but I wished it had been toasted more. The olive oil and the balsamic vinegar had a very strong, sour flavor, which balanced out the lightly seasoned focaccia bread. Top of the bread was brushed with oil.
The waiter brought out my entrée, grilled spaghetti with scallop. This is one of the signature dishes at the restaurant, and indeed it played up to my expectation. The flavor of the light olive oil sauce was enhanced with abundant pieces of roasted garlic and pepper. The broccoli was cooked perfectly, meaning it wasn’t too mushy or hard.
The texture of the pasta was chewy, as were the clams and the scallop. When I bit in to the scallop, all the juices from the sauce oozed into my mouth. Delectable!
Three boys in my company ordered one of each risotto: the creamy risotto, galbi risotto, and seafood risotto. Based on the fact that they all cleaned up the plates, I am guessing the food was delicious. Even though risotto is a simple dish in its presentation, something about the way the restaurant “decorated” the dish was visually attractive.
La Grillia is also famous for its “dessert bar.” With each entrée, you get a dessert chip that you can exchange for two desserts. I couldn’t take a picture of what I had, but I got a tiramisu and vanilla gelato.
The tiramisu had semi-sweet, bitter cocoa powder on top of soft cake dipped in coffee (?) with cream immediately underneath. It was one of the most moist desserts I have ever had! The tiramisu was sadly “bite-size” and I found myself scraping the bottom of the little bowl for more. The milk/white chocolate straw was really cute.
The vanilla gelato wasn’t too sweet or as rich as ice cream—just the way I like it! It was refreshing to have something cold in my mouth after eating warm food all night. The thin almond cookie on top was too buttery for me so I just took a bite and put it aside.
I am glad I got to share delicious food with good company. A great way to end my Winter 2011-12 food adventure in Korea!
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