Brick Oven New York Pizzeria – Gangnam

We’d heard a lot of good things about Brick Oven New York Pizzeria. Truthfully, most of them are deserved. The little restaurant was packed when we arrived. A quick 10 minute wait got us a table for two, though for a bigger group the wait may have been longer.

The wings didn’t look like much, but they were crispy and spicy, and the closest thing to good old, American bar style as I’ve had over here. They went quickly, and I had to be convinced not to request another order. We expected the pizza to be pretty good, but this appetizer was the surprise of the night.

One bummer was the price of the beer. They don’t have anything on tap, so it’s strictly bottle prices. I tried the sangria instead, but I found it over-sugary and under-winey. The fruit detracted from the wine rather than complement it. The lemonade Eric ordered was very sweet, but fresh and tasty. Next time I’ll take the teetotaler option.

The pizza was fantastic. When you go, make sure you order a half and half to try several kinds. It’s not printed on the menu, but for a 3000 won fee, they’ll let you split the pizza, even if your choices have different sauces as ours did. I have a deep, longstanding love affair with pepperoni, and while I adore living in Korea, it’s not always easy to find good quality, spicy pepperoni that crisps up just right. This pepperoni delivers on all fronts. The pesto side was almost as delicious, filled with chicken, spinach and feta cheese. It was garlicky and satisfying.

The crust was crisp and thin, just as New York pizza should be. Despite the chintzy taxi cab plates and the glaring fact that they cook their pizza in a commercial pizza oven rather than a brick oven, they seem to have gotten the pizza recipe just right.

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Noran Moon – Unjung/West Pangyo

The thing that initially lured me in to Noran Moon was the architecture of their restaurant – the enormous door that swings open at the middle in taxi-cab yellow always caught my eye when we were out strolling around the neighborhood. When you walk inside, the first thing you smell is wood smoke and Italian spices – the promise of yummy pizza.

We began with a glass of house red, some fresh baked bread and green olives. At 6,000 Won, the glass of wine was more generous than I would have expected, and the olives were a good start.

The salmon was a surprise standout – the fish was fresh and pleasantly seasoned, served with olives, arugula, and onions. I appreciated that they didn’t over-garnish or over-season, as the natural flavor and quality of the fish was very good.

The pizza is by far the best thing at Noran Moon. They use a wood oven to fire their pizzas, and the crust comes out light and airy on the edge and nice and thin everywhere else. The sauce is very sweet and goes well with the mozzarella they used for the margherita. On a previous trip, we sampled the porchetta pizza, and the thin salty meat was especially good with the sweet sauce.

The carbonara sauce was rich and creamy, the ham slightly salty and tender. The quality of the noodles didn’t stand up to the rest of the dish, but everything was well prepared. A good side for us, but it was definitely out-shined by the pizza.

Even though the tiramisu was almost overwhelmed by cocoa, the custard was thick and creamy, and the bottom layer had a good texture to play against the otherwise soft dessert. After so much food, it was just enough sweet to finish out the meal.

Noran Moon is especially pleasant in the summer – the back patio has a great view of the oven and kitchen. A few other dishes from a summertime visit:

Caesar salad with salty cured meat

Pizza porchetta

Barely sweet bingsu – it felt like we were eating clouds. Delicious.

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California Pizza Kitchen – Pangyo

When we don’t know what we feel like eating, we’ll sometimes go to Avenue France and walk the collection of restaurants all squished into a convenient plaza of choices. For me, pizza is almost always a contender for dinner, and we ended up at California Pizza Kitchen, an American chain that started in Beverly Hills in the 80’s.

The barbecue chicken salad was southwest inspired. The tortilla and chicken were tasty, but like any salad that has iceburg as its primary ingredient, the actual green part was a bit disappointing. It was also quite small for the price, and I wouldn’t consider the serving size to be a meal on its own.

We decided to try the blueberry mojito, which also didn’t quite meet our expectations. Serving size was huge, and if you like very sweet drinks, you may enjoy it. I however, couldn’t taste any lime and although I saw mint garnish, that taste too was hidden underneath the syrupy blueberry.

The pizza was by far the best part of the meal, but it still fell slightly short of my hopes considering its wood-fired preparation. The cheese and tomatoes were great, and they get extra points for serving it with good ol’ Cholula hot sauce. The crust was so close to being super tasty, but like many pizza places here in Seoul, it just seemed a bit underdone.

Not bad for a neighborhood pizza place if you live in Pangyo – it’s certainly better than a lot of the pies you can find – but California Pizza Kitchen is not a restaurant at which I’d go out of my way to dine. Pizza toppings are good, cheese is delicious, but I’d skip the mojito.