Korean cuisine goes all noveau at Miss Park’s busy restaurant
Yes, Miss Park offers all the things that are currently de riguer in a trendy Seoul restaurant, be it a pop sensation, an “it” drink, or oysters fresh from the south of the country. But it is all being done in an ingenious and original format created by the pretty and perky Miss Park, aka Park Ji-young, who has now become a fixture of the Cheongdam-dong fashion scene. Wearing pumps with five-inch heels and gold earrings purchased from a neighborhood boutique, she can be seen table-hopping and chatting with around 70 customers each night.
Las week, I was there in search of a good place for a late-night birthday dinner with my friends. Being vampires in a city of daylight requires some knowledge of places where one can dine long after sundown. For us creatures of the night Miss Park comes as a big relief because it remains open until 3 a.m. and serves “real” food until then, as opposed to the cheese platters served in bars and lounges.
So who are these people? They are almost mostly designers, restaurateurs, fashion executives, PR agents and the like who work and play in Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong.
When asked about the secret of her popularity, Ms. Park says she’s adhered to a simple strategy by serving “just great Korean food and affordable drinks in a casual, but not florescent light sort of atmosphere.”
“You don’t have to move around different places to eat and drink, whether it’s soju or whiskey or wine,” she said. “I think this convenience factor has worked in our favor.” She stressed she wanted diners to visit Miss Park for its delicious Korean food, “not for the attractive single women in the restaurant.”
Korean dishes on the menu are all a la carte and relatively simple, compared to typical Korean restaurants. Ms Park says they are the familiar foods she grew up eating at home. “They are the kind of dishes my mother, who grew up in Jeolla province, would make for special guests who visit our home,” she said.
Everyone should start their meal with the great modeumjeon, or assorted patties (30,000 won ―$33― plus 10 percent VAT), served with spicy soy-based dipping sauce. The patties are made with slices of pollack, mushroom, green chili peppers and zucchini pan-fried in egg batter. These are classic holiday treats in Korea.
Serious meat lovers can order a pricey Korean delicacy such as cheonyeop muchim, or sliced tripe seasoned with sesame oil (18,000 won).
The top dish at Miss Park is dakbaeksuk, a boiled chicken (50,000 won) served in a large bowl. My friends and I have certainly never eaten a whole boiled chicken outside of a Korean chicken restaurant. The chicken, which is pressure-cooked, takes more than 40 minutes to prepare, so be sure to order upon arrival. Because the restaurant serves about 10 birds a day, large groups are asked to reserve chickens in advance.
The white meat, enough to serve four diners, came off long and lean, the sure sign of a free-range chicken. With mild flavors of garlic and dates, both the meat and the fatty soup were wholesome and tasty. When the meat has been consumed the staff prepare rice porridge with the broth.
For both the delicate meat and porridge, kimchi added a nice kick of red spice, Korean-style.
The drinks list includes big brands from around the world, the kind that Koreans love to name-drop, including Chateau Talbot, Montes Alpha, Absolute Vodka, Kubota and Johnny Walker Blue. “I don't believe people saying they don’t look at the price of the wine they drink. My way of doing business is to offer excellent prices for a few drinks,” Ms. Park says. She prices her house wine, a Chilean red called Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon at just 35,000 won.
Suddenly we found ourselves chomping down kimchi between glasses of Veuve Clicquot. The background music went from Britney Spears to Gadjo crooning “So Many Times.”
We’re obviously experiencing a cultural clash here ― isn’t it unstylish, or even improper to mix Korean food with Chilean red? But seeing arbiters of style clinking their wine glasses over spicy stir-fried octopus and rice cake or steaming kimchi stew one can only say that Korean noveau cuisine may have arrived.
Miss Park
English: On the menu; Japanese spoken.
Tel: 02-3443-2221
Hours: 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily except for Sundays.
Location: Next to Dongduk Univ. Design Center in Cheongdamdong.
Parking: Valet.
Dress code: Fashionable.
by Ines Cho
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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