Salemio – Pasta and Salad
Cute interior, filled one an over-abundance of plastic plants, I was a little worried when we first walked into Salemio. I judged it to be another heavily Koreanized version of an Italian restaurant complete with Kimchi and red-pepper infused pasta.
Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. The full-photo menu was both in English and Korean which made it easy to understand what was offered. The wait staff was young and didn’t seem to speak much English, but since I went with my Korean wife they directed their questions at her. Still, the menu would have obviated the need for speaking much Korean for those who can’t.
The only real disappointment was the salad – a minuscule bowl of greens smothered in strawberry dressing. This was shared between the two of us. However, if you’re really hungry for a salad, they have a decent selection of salads as main courses.
I was particularly salivating for the salmon in cream sauce pasta. That had already sold out by the time we have arrived. I settled on the pollo bianco, but that was sold out as well. Apparently, Salemio does a heavy lunch business on Saturday and a late dinner of 8:30pm had taxed their supplies. I settled for the carbonara and my wife went for the baked spaghetti in a meat tomato sauce with cheese.
Both were actually quite good. Nothing spectacular that I would write home about, but very satisfying. With the exception of the pickle side, neither dish pandered to Korean palates. Both were decent representations of Italian cuisine. What’s more, the prices were very reasonable. There was nothing on the menu over 10,000 won. Even the salmon I wanted was only 9000. We both had a damn nice meal for only 14k won, which is about half the price of a trip to TGI Friday’s for the same things. This is definitely a place I’d eat at again.
Salemio is located in Shinae on the walking street. It’s on the second floor above the Lotteria burger joint and Natuur ice cream shop. To get there, walk between Lotteria and Natuur to the stairs located in in the back hallway. It’s just across from the Yu-Ga Nae Dak Galbi restaurant. The Shinae map clearly shows both of the first floor restaurants, so finding this 2nd level shop is a breeze.