15.361 Gambas

Cycle 15 – Item 361

31 (Tue) December 2024

Gambas

3.5

at Côté Jardin

-Itaewon, Yongsan, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

Côté Jardin is a French restaurant.  The menu, heavy on pastas and seafood dishes, suggests Mediterranean leanings.  Currently ranked #6 on Trip Advisor’s list of best restaurants in Itaewon.

Located 242 m from Hamilton Hotel (visible in the distance to the left), along the southern road perpendicular to the main drag.
Nestled behind the street side buildings.

Although I’ve eaten at countless restaurants in Itaewon, this might have been the farthest south that I’ve ever gone, even if it’s only two blocks from the Hamilton.   Previously, the farthest had been a virtual tie between Corner Pizza Joint (see generally 15.243 Cheese Pizza) and Troy Kebab (see generally 14.218 Somun Chicken Kebab), both 105 m from the Hamilton, on opposite sides of the street.

Main dining hall – swankier, preferred by Korean customers.
Side room – cozier, preferred by expats, and us.

The name might mean “Next (Côté) to the Garden (Jardin),” though in that case I believe (based on my limited understanding of French) that it would be properly written as “Côté du Jardin.”

IZ had a thing in the afternoon with a friend who lives in Itaewon, so we took advantage of the geography to celebrate New Year’s Eve at a real restaurant (“real” = not Korean).  Côté Jardin showed up in various searches, so there we were.

Started off nicely with complimentary bread that was surprisingly good in its squishiness despite it looking like a cheap baguette knock-off.

The food was hit and miss, in progressively descending order.   Though not even French, the first dish was the best of the spread, perhaps the best restaurant version of gambas (al ajillo) that I’ve encountered in Korea, where it tends to be bland (see for comparison 15.273 Anchovy Gambas with Baguette), yet here it was explosive in flavor, plus the welcome addition of sun-dried tomatoes (note to self).  Everything then went downhill, but the final dessert course brought a small measure of redemption.  While the servers were all non-Korean and spoke French (to each other) – the main guy was French Portuguese – I suspect that a Korean dude who doesn’t really know French cuisine is behind the cooking.

Bouillabaisse (3.0): okay but not really bouillabaisse – barely contained fish (mostly shellfish), and broth had no discernible saffron flavor.
Duc de Bar Blanc de Blancs (2.5)
Coq au Vin (2.5): okay but not really coq au vin – broth seemed to be just tomato sauce, no trace of wine (perhaps white wine?) – suspiciously similar to the bouillabaisse.
Ratatouille (1.5): never experienced ratatouille topped with a baked egg and cheese, which seemed to be low-moisture mozzarella that was unpleasantly dense and ungooey; the vegetables underneath were slightly undercooked.
Kir Royale (3.0)
Assorted Cakes (3.0): 2 purchased, 2 comped!

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the meal.  The comps were much appreciated, including a bread basket + half-glass of white wine + a shot of crème de cassis (to make Kir Royale – see above) + 2 glasses of orange juice (I think the server was impressed that I called it “jus d’orange”) + 2 slices of cake.  Not in a rush to go back but wouldn’t mind if the occasion should arise.

Afterwards, we dropped by a “Life Four Cuts” shop to take family photos (see previously 14.360 New Year’s Eve Platter).

Happy New Year!

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