Local Favorite Il Parco Presents Fresh Cuisine
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Taking someone to a good Italian restaurant is a high-risk endeavor in Korea.
Il Parco, an Italian restaurant in Hagye-dong, northern Seoul, is a good place for great Italian food.
Due to its ravishing outlook and fame taxi drivers nearby all know the place, the cost of the dishes could be too pricey for most dinners. Steaks range from 27,000 won to 34,000 won and other dishes like pasta, risotto and other side dishes also cost in the 12,000-28,000 won range.
The service is excellent and the dishes are well presented. The luxurious interior makes you feel like you are in the dining room of a European home.
But for all the great appearances, the food itself does not carry much of a great Italian flavor. Although the steak and lamb were fresh, the sauce and the meat did not match well enough.
The lamb (29,000 won) was of great quality and well baked, but once you taste the white sauce you'll wish you had the meat alone.
The steak (28,000 won) ― which should have been medium-well done ― was overcooked, and the seafood pasta was quite plain. Though the mushroom sauce had a deep flavor, one was not able to ignore the overcooked steak.
Seafood pasta with cream sauce (13,000 won) was palatable. The crab was fresh enough but the pasta became bloated after being served, making it difficult to swallow.
Overall, the taste did not match the quality of the ingredients.
The salad buffet (15,500 won) comes very much recommended, with fruit, pasta, pizza and yogurt ice cream. A wider variety of beverages would be have been nice ― some soda and two kinds of juice isn't enough to go with a buffet.
Being one of the most famous restaurants in northern Seoul, Il Parco showed much effort in customer service and serving fresh food.
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. -11.p.m near Hagye Station on line 7. Taking a taxi is recommended.
For more information, visit www.ilparco.co.kr or call 02-949-1855. Banquets are also available.