TocToc is a Michelin-starred restaurant in Seoul also included in the list of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. This is my experience in July 2019, during the week of their grand opening in a new location in Gangnam.
The meaning of the name is explained on their website: “‘Toc Toc’ is a French expression of ‘knock knock’; demonstrating chef’s determination to open up your taste through fine cuisine”.
The visit
They took my booking by email after a bit of back and forth, but at the end they also asked me to pay a deposit of 50,000 Won with an online system. I hate when restaurants do that, but I obliged. It was not explained to me, but the deposit was to be returned and not deducted from the check.
I went for dinner on a Saturday night. The dining room is very elegant. Everything was brand new. When I arrived I discovered that they had made some changes to the set menu that I had seen on their website (now it is up to date), but fine. I went for their dinner course menu.
The amuse bouche was a slice of cooked ham with a stick of grissini. That’s Italian in my books. But fine.
The welcome dish consisted of three snacks: watermelon, seabass (fermented and deep fried), beef tartare with house sauce.
Then the bread was served with some fanfare. It turns out that TocToc’s executive chef and owner also started a bakery called Sikbugwan and that’s where the bread came from. Time for a cross-promotion. But the bread was very good and best eaten while warm.
The raw dish was brown croacker sashimi with ginger dressing. I am all for sashimi, but the dressing flavor was a bit overwhelming. Something funny happened here. Since the waiter was a bit chatty, I randomly mentioned that I like to eat sashimi with chopsticks. I did not phrase it as a request or a complaint, but the guy did not like my remark and put me to my place saying “We are in French restaurant in Seoul“. You cannot argue with that. Chopsticks or not, it was a forgettable dish.
In addition to the course menu, I ordered a beef tartare with crispy lotus flowers that was excellent. They did not messed up adding too many ingredients and let the beef speak for itself.
The warm dish was a piece of abalone on mash and eggplant.
Exceptionally, because it was their opening week in the new location, they grated some French truffle from Avignone on the abalone. Truffle or not, the abalone was tender and very good.
For main I could choose between lamb, fish, or Hanu beef. It was a simple choice, I went for the local beef – striploin – that did not disappoint. Korea has some incredible beef.
More truffle on the pasta, some pappardelle with pecorino cheese. It was good, but it was a minuscule portion.
Finally I was served the seasonal dessert (a sorbet on a mango puree).
And it was nice that a cup of tea was also included.
The check
The course menu was 110,000 Won that became 120,000 because I opted for the truffle pasta that commanded 10,000 Won extra (the only pasta with no surcharge was kelp pasta… not the most attractive; they also had lobster pasta for a 15,000 won surcharge). The tartare was excellent but also not cheap at 37,000 Won. So, all in all, I spent 157,000 won (or 130 USD).
The overall experience left me unsatisfied. It was not a disappointment because overall the course menu was good, but I was expecting something more. The chef mostly played safe with traditional French high cuisine classics and some Italian dishes. I wish he had brought more of his Seoul’s upbringings into the menu.
Where in Seoul:
3F 41 Hakdong-ro 97-gil, Gangnam-gu.
In Korean: 서울특별시 강남구 학동로97길 41 3층.
Website: www.restauranttoctoc.com.