Garosu-gil: Food and Bread

SEOUL | SUMMER 2018

To Garosu-gil, we go

At church, we met a friend from Virginia with some mutual friends so we went to Garosu-gil to grab some lunch together. Our goal was not to eat lunch but to go to a healthy bread shop called Panhonesta (빵어니스타)", but before increasing our blood sugar we needed some protein. We walked around not having anything particular in mind because all of us were so indecisive.

But! While we passed this pink entrance with the stairs leading to the restaurant in the best, we decided to walk in after flipping through the menu. Because it's in Apgujeong/Garosu-gil, it's not going to be a Korean restaurant.

Awesome Rose

The place we walked in is called "Awesome Rose". The inside was a little dark but had some romantic touch with dried flowers. The wait-time wasn't too long, and they served us some iced water to help sustain us after walking for so in the heat outside.

We finally got seated, and even the plates and the silverwares were really cute. At one side of the restaurant, there was a movie being projected. I think that added even more romantic feeling to the place even though it was kind of dark.

The server knew what he was doing. He even stopped and waited for me to take a picture. Sadly, he is still in my picture, but that's ok.

Our food finally came out. It was an Italian restaurant but the food felt more of fusion food to me. We got the White Rose Pasta which was just a regular carbonara, Awesome Tomato Pasta which was similar to Thai Pad-see-ew and Awesome Steak Rice which was steak-topped Bibimbap. Despite being our super spontaneous choice, the food here was surprisingly good.

After we were done an about to leave the restaurant, each of us was given a plastic rose by one of the servers. It was cute but also a little awkward to receive a rose from a male stranger... haha

---

Awesome Rose (어썸로즈)

Instagram: @awesomerose_garosu

Address: 서울 강남구 압구정로10길 40 지하1층 (Naver Map)

Hours: Every day 11AM ~ 11PM

---

Panhonesta

After filling our stomachs with some wholesome food, it was time for some desserts. We walked to Panhonesta that was not too far away.

Panhonesta advertises their desserts as "No flour, no trans fat, no dairy, no eggs, no sugar". Wow.. a lot of no's, right? But how is it even possible to have no sugar in your desserts? They use coconut sugar and natural sweetener instead of the traditional granulated sugar.

They had quite a selection of drinks and sweet treats. I got Matcha Latte and Half/Half Brownie (반반브라우니) which is half matcha and half cocoa brownie.

The Matcha Latte was good and not too sweet. I couldn't really taste the soy milk but it definitely felt lighter despite its thick texture.

Since this branch is only for take-aways, we tasted the treats with our sweaty fingers. My friend Grace got some pound cakes to go but we decided to eat the Brownie right away because it wasn't baked and would have melt in the heat by the time we get home (as you can see from my finger prints on the matcha side in the picture).

Ok. Matcha Latte was good, but Half/Half Brownie was a completely different story. IT WAS SOOOOO GEWD. SOOO SOOO SOOO GOOD.

I would definitely go back here to get some desserts again. In fact, they have another branch in Yeon-nam where you can sit in. I went there to, in pajamas, because I took the wrong bus, so I just stopped by the place, and everyone gave me a look because of my ghetto-looking baggy t-shirt I wear to bed... Anyways, that place was nicer for dine-in.

---

Panhonesta (빵어니스타)

Instagram: @panhonesta

Address: 서울 강남구 압구정로10길 40 지하1층 (Naver Map)

Hours: Every day 12PM ~ 10PM

---