Seoul 2023 Travel Log: Day 5 — Dolce Baguette, Vongole Aglio e Olio, and Avocado Shrimp Pizza at Mano di Chef

We were at Starfield COEX Mall and looking for some lunch when I randomly suggested trying Korean-style Italian food. (I say "Korean-style Italian food" because it is distinctly different from authentic Italian food.) So after doing a bit of research, we decided to go across the street to a restaurant called Mano di Chef that totally fit the bill:

Dolce baguette
Vongole aglio e olio
Avocado and shrimp pizza
The Dolce baguette is quite literally garlic bread with honey drizzled on top, and it is so simple but so freaking delicious. It's the same reason why I'm so obsessed with the honey garlic pizza at Ssangkye Jjimdak — Koreans have got this honey garlic combo down pat. For our mains, we decided to share two dishes. The first was the vongole aglio e olio, which is essentially the classic garlic and olive oil spaghetti dish with clams. Light, clean, and tasty — there's a reason it's the most popular pasta dish among Koreans. Actually, out of the three items we ordered, I would consider this one to be the most authentically Italian. Then came the shrimp and avocado pizza, which I wouldn't consider pizza at all, but more like a really nice, fresh flatbread — crisp romaine salad with mozzarella, thinly-sliced tomatoes, fresh cranberries, plump shrimp, firm avocado chunks, and a drizzle of sweet vinaigrette on the thinnest of charcoal crusts. Again, really light, clean ingredients — basically a fully-loaded salad on top of flatbread — so it tasted healthy, but like, in the best way possible.

Italians would have found this an abomination, but if you think of Korean-style Italian food as its own cuisine, our meal was actually quite fantastic.

Mano di Chef

129 Teheran-ro, Yeoksam-dong

Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-553-5311