I went to Gangnam on saturday to look for an authentic Japanese food restaurant that I had read about in one of the food blogs that I follow. The directions seemed fairly straight forward, but the place was no where to be found once I go there. Perhaps the place had closed by now, or the directions were incorrect. I dunno. I spent about an hour looking and asked several people if they knew of it to no avail. I even had the address and phone number with me. But, for me to call, would have been a non sequitur; I neither speak enough Korean to know how to describe where I currently am in relation to any directions I might have been given in return. Duh! I'll have to go with a Korean friend next time.
As I had seen some other Japanese restaurants while searching, I decided to go to one of those instead. On the way back, I spotted a Vietnamese restaurant. A closer look at the menu posted outside showed photos of the food that looked to be very, very, authentic. The pricing, especially for Gangnam, seemed very reasonable, too. I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did. It was good and a lot lot closer for me than the other Vietnamese restaurant I went to in Ansan a few months ago.
That Vietnamese restaurant in Ansan made 99% authentic Vietnamese cuisine. You can see a previous blog posting of mine reviewing it at the bottom of this page, or one page back. I even tried to go back to it again, but got lost on the subway system that ended up costing me about 7 hours going around and around in circles until I ended up back at my starting point again. Friends I had arranged to meet there had left a long time ago. Don't ever confuse "Ansan" subway station with "Asan" subway station. The first time I went there I was driven there by a friend.
Anyways, back to the main point of this post. This new place, PhoMein, made excellent food. I ordered the "Pho", which is the standard Vietnamese beef noodle soup, and the signature piece of Vietnamese restaurants. This signature piece has to be good, otherwise the restaurant would not be considered any good by its Vietnamese patrons. Much like "Har Gow" is to Chinese Dim Sum restaurants, this signature piece has to be good. And, good it was. The broth was a deep color and very authentic in taste and consistency. The rice noodles were the thin noodles, which are my personal favorite type for this soup, and the protein bits (beef sirloin, beef flank, beef tendon) were all good. Although, missing bits included cilantro, lemon grass, and basil for the toppings and tripe and beef balls for the protein bits. They were also a bit skimpy on the lemon (should be lime, though, for real authenticity). I could have asked for more, but didn't bother. All in all, the missing ingredients did not really detract from the overall taste, or experience of the soup itself. The main taste was still present. And, the Hoisen Sauce was the real deal, too. A well known brand with the proper taste I have come to expect of it. That made up for the missing ingredients.
I would have to say this meal saved the day. I will go back again to try out some of their other dishes, but I would have to say that they are probably going to be just as good judging from their food photos and the soup I tried. The staff is very friendly and the atmosphere is of a contemporary diner with modern furnishings. Nice and clean. Bright and relaxing. Bilingual menu in both Korean and English. About 95% authentic in taste.
Highly Recommended
Location: Gangnam subway station, exit #7. This puts you on the main drag. Walk straight and make a right turn at the first, or second, driveway/alley way that leads to the back streets where all the restaurants are. If you walked passed the Canon camera store already by this time, better take that upcoming alley. Make a left at the restaurant street and the place will be on your left very shortly thereafter. Address and stuff on business card above.
Cost: Averages about W10,000 to W15,000 for most basic dishes.
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