We recently visited one of the few Spanish restaurants in South Korea. Specifically, we went to โTapas Barโ (ํํ์ค๋ฐ in Korean), a small restaurant located in Itaewon.
THE Tapas Bar in Korea
The restaurant is small, and is located right by the main restaurant/pub street, something that is very common in Korea. As soon as you approach the place you can tell itโs a pretty good place since itโs usually quite full. The interior itself is very similar to any restaurant in Spain, they have wooden chairs and tables with tons of small Spanish souvenirs like football team emblems and shirts, mapsโฆ
The waiters are Korean, typical young part-time guys. They do their job well and they even understood me when I asked for the dishes in Spanish. The owner is said to be Spanish but I am not too sure since the restaurant has been running for many years. The Spanish touch is provided by the cook. There are three Spanish cooks who take turns to cover the position. When we went there was Jordi, a nice Catalan who had just landed in Korea.
Food Review
For starters, I ordered some croquetas which were delicious but lacked a bit of Spanish flavor although they were very well made and you could taste the jamon right away. We also got some gambas which were good, there are Italian restaurants that also serve gambas occasionally but this one was definitely better than other ones I have tried.ย
As for the paella, it was tasty despite having some strange ingredients that gave it a different touch (perhaps to adapt it to Korean taste?). The rice was a bit dry but more abundant than in other Spanish restaurants that I have tried abroad.
We ordered mixed paella, which brought a bit of chicken and seafood (mussels, squid rings, pieces of baby octopus, and three prawns). There were also other options: seafood paella and black paella (made out of squid ink). The presentation in the typical small paella is something that always greatly enhances the dish. Curiously, it was eaten directly from the paella, without serving it on plates, so you have to hurry up lest the other person eat quickly ๐
Other Menu Options
For those who donโt want paella, there are also โfideuaโ (same variety as paellas), Bombas (giant dumplings), and fillets. As tapas and starters, you can order soup, croquettes, serrano ham, gambas, cold meats, cheeses, stuffed eggs, and the typical potato omelet or salad.
As for the drink, I was surprised that there was a small selection of Spanish wines, but their best-selling drink was Sangria. If you are not into red wines but still want to have an alcoholic beverage you can order claret, calimocho, Clara, or beer (and very few are Spanish brands from what I could observe).
The prices are a bit high considering what you usually pay to eat in Korea, but cheap if you take into account that Western restaurants are always quite expensive. This site is cheaper than other similar ones I know of.
We paid a little less than 45,000 won (about 30 euros), a price that seems very reasonable to me for having a paella in a place as far away from Spain as Seoul. We drank water, which in Korea is free, and there we saved ourselves from paying for the drinks, which, yes, had quite high prices. For example, the glass of clear or calimocho was at 8,000 won (about 5 euros), and the bottle of sangria shot up to 27,000 won (about 18 euros).
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