New restaurants in the Cheongdam area are constantly springing up and it is difficult to choose which ones to review. Fortunately, Villa Etwas was recommended to us so we decided to give their brunch buffet a thorough go.
The brunch buffet was essentially a salad buffet and it was primarily Mediterranean. I sampled small portions of each salad and side. There was olive garlic salad, couscous, caprese salad, asparagus with bacon, a mushroom medley, rice pilaf, and a few other sides. The garlic salad was of a high quality. The olives were the best that I have had in Korea. I also was very impressed by the couscous. Couscous is an extremely difficult dish to make both in terms of flavor and texture. The chef had both of these points well taken care of. Taking into account the dishes that were served and the quality of the couscous, I would imagine that the chef has had significant training in Mediterranean dishes.
I also tried 3 more main dishes and 2 desserts (coffee counts as a dessert). The 3 dishes were an omelet, tomato based pasta, and a cream based pasta. The omelet was a traditional Asian style “hotel omelet”. I felt as though the tomato based pasta was a bit watery and the spice (red pepper) overpowered most of the other flavors. Although disappointed with the tomato based pasta, I was pleasantly surprised by the authentic Italian flavor of the cream pasta. The cream sauce consisted of various Italian spices, bacon, and mushrooms. It actually tasted very similar to my own family’s recipe which brought back some good memories. The dessert I had was tiramisu. It was actually a tiramisu/cheesecake hybrid, but it was better than any cheesecake I have had in Korea. In fact, it had a rich, unique texture that I had not experienced before. This was the best part of my meal. The coffee was of a high quality and had just the right amount of bitterness. It was a great end to my sampling.
The food itself isn’t what makes Etwas noteworthy. What you’re really paying for is the experience. The interior is amazing, and it is one of the few places where you can watch performances while dining/drinking upstairs in a nicely set bar. Most impressive is the modern design of the venue.
Terrace seats were available as well. I’d imagine these seats to fill up first once the weather sobers up a little.
Also, what was interesting about Etwas was its second floor. While I was sampling their food, I couldn’t help but wonder what was upstairs. I went upstairs to see what was there and viola!
I had to take a look at their bar menu. As expected, prices of drinks were consistent with average Cheongdam-dong price.
Ironically, despite the large amounts of money spent on the venue design and the culinary team, the menu was hilariously littered with poor spelling and improper grammar. Although normally this isn’t a big deal, when you’re paying 18,000won for a cup of coffee, you would think they would take ten minutes to have a native English speaker revise their menu. But then again, maybe there’s a certain charm that comes with ordering “blunch.”
The service was excellent and the owner was extremely polite.
Selected Menu Items:
Special Course Meal (6 items): 80,000won
Brunch Buffet: 17,000won
Brunch Set: 21,000 – 29,000won (basic, I had extra items)
Champagne: 150,000 – 700,000won
Non-Alcoholic Beverages: 16,000 – 18,000won
The Good:
- The Chef has good Mediterranean cooking experience
- 1 dessert in particular (tiramisu-cheesecake hybrid) was superb
- High quality of products used
- Live music performances available during dinner time
The Bad:
- For the price, some of the items were less than impressive
- Advertised a 17,000won brunch buffet but it was only a salad and side bar
- Typical brunch items like bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns were not available
- Pricey non-alcoholic beverages
Contact: 02-514-2030
Address: 서울시 강남구 청담 125-24 1,2층
Map:
View Villa Etwas in a larger map
Reference: 1st, 6th, 7th and 8th photographs are taken from this blog.
