FatManSeoul

Samcheongdong has become a major neighborhood for dining delights, and Dal 1887 shows exactly whats right - and wrong - about the restaurant scene here.
Packed into a renovated hanok, Dal dishes up Italian fare with an emphasis on spaghetti dishes. Tomato, olive oil, and cream sauces share space on the menu, along with a short salad/antipasto listing, a few risotto, and a few steak dishes. There’s not a whole lot on their menu that will surprise the diner or push the boundaries of eating. A single squid ink pasta is the only nod to anything outside the holy trinity of sauces seen at Italian restaurants everywhere here, and except for a sole penne dish, spaghetti was the only pasta on offer. There were only two kinds of risotto. Let’s not forget the eternal favorite of garlic bread . . .

The good news is that what Dal does, it does well. The seafood pomodoro was bright and lively, the noodles were cooked perfectly, and the seafood was plentiful, various, and wonderfully fresh. Good ingredients made for a very good meal.

Likewise the cream sauce spaghetti with two kinds of roe was obviously made with high quality ingredients. The roe was an excellent addition, lending a bright, briny note that popped with flavor.

So main dishes were good. Good quality food, good service, lovely surroundings . . .
Fatman wants more. Dal’s kitchen is churning out some wonderful pastas, but nothing you can’t find at any pasta joint that aspires to be more than Pizza Mall. It is time for more creativity, more challenge, more authenticity - something, anything! A bit more oomph would push Dal and many of the places north of the river from a good night out to an amazing night out. There’s lots yet that could be done. Everybody and their brother is serving the same heavy cream sauce “carbonara”, so why doesn’t somebody break the mold and make a real carbonara? Koreans can deal with much more authentic, much less “Koreanized” foreign food than is being served. Or take the opportunity to integrate real Korean ingredients into fusion food, instead of just adding a little chopped up kimchi to the tomato sauce?
Dal’s got the atmosphere, they’ve got the quality, all they need is a little innovation to bring themselves to the next level. Instead, like so many restaurants in the area, they’ve settled for competence instead of brilliance. Samcheongdong is full of that - let’s start to see what chefs here can really do!
Fatman is calling you out, Dal 1887!

Dinner at Dal 1887 runs about 10-20,000 won per starter, and 12-20,000 won for pastas and risottos. Steaks and mains clock in 30-40,000 won, putting Dal on the reasonable end of the food chain for its neighborhood. Wine, beer, and soft drinks are all available.
To get to Dal 1887, take the road running north from the east side of Gyeongbuk Palace (towards the Blue House) and veer right at the Y-intersection (by the Book Cafe). Keep heading north for about ten minutes, and it will be on your right, housed in a converted hanok.