Seoul Eats | Brunch at The Beastro

Since moving to Korea we have only gone out for brunch a handful of times. Not because restaurants don’t offer brunch (many do) and not because brunch isn’t good here (it is), it’s just that brunch in Korea tastes like…brunch in Korea. It’s similar, but not quite right. Either the sausage is a bratwurst, the pancakes aren’t served with syrup, the biscuits and gravy aren’t seasoned, or the ketchup is sweet. In most every instance there’s a coleslaw salad and a couple stray cherry tomatoes sharing the plate with a stack of dry toast and slab of pork belly. Over time, we sort of gave up on going out for brunch and opted instead to spend our lazy Sunday afternoons cooking at home.

We decided to give brunch another try while in Seoul a couple weeks ago. I had heard The Beastro mentioned more than a few times by expats as a great spot for brunch, and despite having serious skepticism about its claim of servung American food, we booked a reservation online. While the menu seemed legitimately American, we have been fooled in the past before. If nothing else, we knew the drinks would probably be good.

We made a reservation for the earliest time slot — 11:30 am — and arrived even earlier. In the sitting room we watched as chefs in the open kitchen began prepping for the day’s service. After about a 15-20 minute wait, we were escorted to the top floor to a bright and sunny roof top patio. Our hostess lead us to two cozy seats in the corner of the room with a pretty sweet 360 view.

First order of business: brunch cocktails. After we read that the ginger beer was made in house, Sly ordered a Moscow Mule, and I ordered a ginger pineapple fresca, which was also made with the house-made ginger beer.

They were both fantastic.

Our hopes immediately soared. Was it possible? Had we found the unicorn of Korean brunch restaurants?

For our mains I chose the smoked salmon biscuit Benedict while Sly opted for the “Mrs. Crunchy” – Coppa di testa, gruyère cheese, dijonnaise, and béchamel, stuffed in between two slices of home made bread and topped with a sunny side up egg. Since we read the portions were kind of small, and as we were both starving, we also ordered a classic Caesar salad and a side of truffle fries.

Can you tell from the photos how good our meal tasted?

It was excellent. Without a doubt the best brunch we have eaten so far in Korea, and honestly, probably in Asia (though to be fair we don’t usually seek out brunch spots when we travel). It tasted like the type of food you would happily plunk down two times as much money for, and wait in line for at least an hour in any major American city. Maybe it’s been way too long since we’ve eaten a good brunch, but we were actually impressed. The Beastro was the real deal.

Most of what’s on the menu is made, cured, or baked in house. Naturally, we are huge fans of artisan restaurants, but the real test of a good brunch spot is, in my opinion, if the chef can execute a good Benedict. On the surface, eggs Benedict seems a simple enough dish, but really it all comes down to the eggs and the sauce. If a restaurant can’t execute either, then there’s little hope for the grander menu items like risotto or aged steak.

It took but one slice into my poached eggs to realize we had nothing to fear; the eggs were cooked to absolute perfection. Runny, but still gooey, and topped with one of the best Hollandaise sauces I have ever tasted. Even the fried potatoes, which I tend to neglect when served as a filler side dish, were deliciously crispy and, as they were fried in beef tallow, full of flavor.  Sly’s sandwich was also bursting with flavor, and all the better topped with yet another perfectly cooked egg. As for the rest of the meal – the Caesar salad was good, but not particularly memorable, and the biscuits that served as the base of my eggs Benny were a little smaller and denser than the flaky, Southern-style biscuits I’m used to eating. Despite the textural differences, I had no complaints flavor-wise.

But let’s take a moment to discuss the fries. Omg the truffle fries. As food snobs we usually write off dishes drenched in truffle oil as too gimmicky, but these were without a doubt some of the tastiest fries we have ever stuffed into our faces. Every delicate matchstick sliver of potato matched the one next to it, expertly fried to the optimal level of crispness, and topped with fresh shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. We still talk about those fries. As in I would go to The Beastro just to eat the fries, order a few drinks, and hang out on that awesome patio.

That we found American-style brunch in Korea (and by American brunch I mean no sweet baked beans and grilled tomatoes in sight) has totally altered our reality. What other foreign food has Korea been hiding from us? Does this mean that there’s real Tex-Mex food to be found as well? What’s next? A non-Koreanized bowl of Pho? I don’t even dare to speculate.

DETAILS

The Beastro | CUISINE: Contemporary American | COST: ₩10,000 – ₩25,000 per entree. | LOCATION: Hongdae | DESCRIPTION: Artisan American food served in a laid back atmosphere that is quietly trendy without being overly pretentious  The portions are a bit smaller than, say, what you would eat at an American diner, but this is no diner food. I felt the pricing was pretty dead-on giving the quality of food, and while it’s perhaps not a place for cheap eats, it’s certainly not exorbitantly expensive, especially for Seoul. It’s casual, yet sophisticated, a restaurant that could be both a favorite neighborhood spot or a go-to place for a date night. Because we’re Americans, we are especially hard on restaurants in Korea that offer American menu items. When we eat American food here, we ask ourselves, Is this good for Korea, American, or good for America, American? In other words, if we transplanted The Beastro to, say, NYC, would we still eat there? Answer: Yes, we would, without hesitation. (Except in NYC there would probably be a wait list, line, and the food would cost twice as much. So in that case, maybe not.) | TIP: Make an online reservation in advance and ask to sit up in the patio | VERDICT: The Beastro lived up to the hype. Highly recommended for brunch.