food porn @ pierre gagnaire a seoul

As soon as we bought our plane tickets to South Korea about a year ago, I immediately checked The Miele Guide's Asia's Top 20 and saw that Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul was number eight. (This year, they're in sixth place.) Miele hasn't steered me wrong yet, so that's where we had lunch on 19 July 2013.

The lovely Ms. Shana Kim, the restaurant's head manager, gave us a private room. Woohoo!

With the most amazing view of Seoul.

While perusing the menu, we were served some munchies.

Amuse-bouche platter. I liked the square pillow-like thing best because it was so cute.

My favorite part of any French meal is the fresh butter. And the fancy bread, of course.

Bread selection. All pretty nice, but nothing very remarkable.

Most of us chose the lunch set with two mains which cost 140,000 won (US$129) nett per person. It included three "pocket cocktails" to start.

Crab meat wrapped in a lemon jelly, cheese/olive oil ice cream. I couldn't quite catch the lemon, the crab was shredded too finely and the ice cream didn't do anything for me. Pretty, though.

White beans, squid, anchovies with chili peppers. Substitute for Steph who is allergic to crab. I preferred this after tasting it. The squid was the perfect texture and the chopped vegetables really packed a flavor punch.

Bavarian red pepper cream, red currant jelly. For me, this was like a palate cleanser of sorts. Maybe because of the tartness and the granita-like texture.

Raw beef tartar with a parmesan cream. I loved this. The cheese, salty and creamy, was a lovely foil for the beef which just melted in my mouth. I think I ate two servings.

Carol chose to have La Mer only-- a wise decision. I was actually too full to enjoy the second main course, La Terre. Still, I soldiered on.

Large prawn and scallops ravioli, zucchini flower with thyme, shellfish juice. A beautiful dish. I loved every component of it, but most especially the briny broth. I would eat this again.

Beef fillet glazed with an orange, carrot and French spring vegetable juice, fried potatoes. This was too heavy for me; I could only manage half. Not the dish's fault. The beef was lean but fork-tender, and the sauce was hearty but lively.

Meg had to have her foie gras.

Seared foie gras with raspberry and red beet reduction. Price 40,000 won (US$37). Cheaper than Joel Robuchon's but sadly, not as good. But then, nobody is as good as God.

I was assigned to choose the wine. I decided to get a Pinot Noir which was recommended by the sommelier. It cost more than two people's entire meals, but I figured we were all sharing just the one bottle, anyway.

Later, I read the wine website burghound.com's review: "Quite pretty with aromas of cassis, black berries, violet and a hint of underbrush that introduce rich, firm and beautifully precise medium-bodied flavors that enjoy fine mid-palate concentration as well as very solid length." True dat.

2010 Morey Saint Denis, Méo-Camuzet. Price 290,400 won (US$267). An excellent wine which I will keep an eye out for (suggested retail price US$55 only). Extremely overpriced, but I guess we were paying for the view.

Just look at Pierre Gagnaire's wine selection. It would have been a sin not to take advantage.

Finally, dessert. If there's one thing I've learned from eating at expensive French fine dining restaurants, it's to always leave room for dessert.

Like a millefeuille, vanilla cream, red fruit marmalade. It looked and tasted like a stack of mini pancakes with blueberry compote. Probably the best pancakes I've ever had, but I was a bit disappointed at the lack of finesse. 

Vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream with biscuits. Substitute for Meg who doesn't like pastries. I forgot to ask if she liked her dessert. Me, I'm a sucker for quenelle shapes. 

Petits Fours. You can never go wrong with chocolate.  And I appreciated the yuzu sorbet in the shot glass-- very refreshing.

Coffee and more chocolate. A solid ending to a solid meal.

By the time we finished lunch, it was 3:25PM. We had just enough time to walk back to our hotel, pack up our things and catch the shuttle to Incheon International Airport.

The Kimchi Clique after two hours of face-stuffing and fat-chewing.

Total bill 1,496,000 won (US$1,377). We consumed three bottles of Perrier and two bottles of Evian, all family-sized. Well, we were thirsty.

Verdict? I can't help but compare Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong* and Restaurant Guy Savoy in Singapore, so let's just take it from there.

1. The food (taste and presentation): Gagnaire good, Savoy better, Robuchon best.

2. The service: Robuchon good, Gagnaire better, Savoy best.

3. The ambiance: Savoy good, Robuchon better, Gagnaire best.

4. Value for money: Savoy good, Gagnaire better, Robuchon best.

Overall, I would give Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul two stars. It's an excellent restaurant that's worth a detour, but not quite in the category of "exceptional, worth a special journey".

*I'm not including Robuchon au Dome in the mix because it's in a class of its own. Even though it's been more than a year since I ate there, I'm still trying to get my head around the experience.

Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul website

Where I've Frenched:
Robuchon au Dome Macau
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong
Restaurant Guy Savoy Singapore
Trois Gourmands Ho Chi Minh City, part one
Trois Gourmands Ho Chi Minh City, part two
Aubergine Manila, 2011
Aubergine Manila, 2012