5.195

19 (Sat) July 2014

Haribut Fish & Chips

3.5

at Second Ground

-Itaewon, Yongsan, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with DJ, MtG

11/9/5

Over the course of 11 days, through a combination of personal and professional travels, I will be in 9 localities across 5 countries, eating and documenting at least 1 meal in each of them.

Today is Day 1 /  Locality 1 / Country 1.

(For additional posts, see 11/9/5.)

MtG’s fish & chips shop is now open for business, if only softly (see most recently 5.174 Chinese Spread).  The grand opening is still to come.  In the meantime, he’s trying out various menu options and fine-tuning recipes, though everything is mostly good to go.

The food is great and could be even greater.   The fish was a huge fillet of halibut, battered and deep-fried to perfection.  However, the finished crust didn’t adhere to the fillet, making everything kinda fall apart while eating.  Not a major problem as the taste/texture of both components were excellent in themselves.  On the other hand, the chips/fries were sadly limp. MtG explained that the supplier had provided the wrong variety of potatoes in the most recent delivery.  Not a major problem as I don’t like chips/fries too much, but the deficiency would generally be unforgivable at a fish & chips joint.  Fortunately, to compensate for the bad, the tartare sauce that MtG and crew have developed is perhaps the best tartare sauce that I have ever experienced in my life.  Otherwise fairly standard but with minced scallions to freshen the vibe and enhance the other flavors, so good, in fact, that I suggested that they charge for it.  I’ll be covering the restaurant again when it opens officially, at which point this may be the greatest fish & chips joint in the entire country.

(See also FOODS.)

(See also PLACES.)