La Plancha Restaurant in Itaewon

I used to write restaurant reviews for my college newspaper pretty frequently (mostly because I could eat for free,) but I also enjoy writing about restaurants, so it's surprising that I haven't written anything about restaurants in my blog yet. I guess this is because most of the places I eat at are small, might-as-well-be-nameless Korean restaurants. However, I wanted to take Jae Hyun out for a nice dinner to celebrate his birthday, and spent some time researching some higher-end Western-style restaurants in Itaewon, because we were really hungry for steak.

I ended up choosing La Plancha restaurant in Itaewon, which is apparently a popular destination for foreign diners as well as reasonably priced compared to other steak restaurants in Seoul. I read several blogs in which reviewers raved about the restaurant, and the interior seemed beautiful and upscale. However, I thought La Plancha was a waste of money, and did not have a very good experience there.

I tried calling the restaurant to make a reservation that morning. Since this is a restaurant in Itaewon, which is known for attracting foreign visitors, I assumed I could be connected to someone who spoke English. But, when I called, the person who answered the phone was a very rude Korean woman who would answer any of my requests (even in Korean!) to speak with someone who knew English, and just kept saying "Yobosaeyo?" over and over again. So I just hung up. I mean, I can't really fault someone in Korea for not speaking to me in English, but when I went to the restaurant later, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WORKING THERE was speaking English, including the two owners (I assume) who spoke perfect English.

As it turned out, a reservation wasn't necessary, as there was only one other group in the small restaurant besides us. I wasn't aware that they opened at 6:00, so we actually had to kill some time wandering around Itaewon (shudder) until the restaurant was open.

Initially, the menu looked great. It had a ton of drinks, different types of meat (steak, salmon, and lamb,) and- the best part- side dishes like mashed potatoes! Jae Hyun decided to order a T-bone, and I decided to order a tenderloin. However, when we tried to place our order with the waiter, he informed us that the restaurant wasn't serving T-bones or tenderloin steaks that day. So our only option was a rib-eye. So, this restaurant that specializes in steak didn't have 2/3 of their famed steak menu available. On a Friday night.

Our food came out quickly, which was one point in La Plancha's favor, but the meat was paper-thin and resembled a grey pork chop more than a steak. The best part was the avocado salsa topping. The mashed potatoes I got as a side dish were delicious (first time I've had mashed potatoes since Thanksgiving!) and the French fries Jae Hyun ordered were made from real potatoes, and also good. But, seriously, that was not a steak.

I also found the service lacking. There was only one other table besides us, and yet the staff were apparently too busy to notice that our water glasses were empty.

So, in conclusion, I found La Plancha to be a huge disappointment and a big waste of money, as most Western (especially Mexican!) restaurants in Seoul are. The dishes for which they are most famous were 'unavailable' that day, the steak was thin, and the service was bad. We should have just gotten Korean barbecue^^. Or Lotteria, which I kept telling Jae Hyun was where we were going to eat.