Restaurant Review: Bottle
About a month ago, I went to Bottle with some friends for dinner. Located downtown, it is an Italian style restaurant with a very inconspicuous entrance. I was the first of my group to arrive. As I entered, I was immediately shown to a table by a waitress.
Bottle has a wonderful ambiance which I realised when I sat down and took in the atmosphere of the restaurant. The lighting was dimmed and there were already plenty of people dining, giving the place a really nice vibe. It wasn’t long before my friends showed up and we had menus in our hands. We ordered a couple of bottles of wine between us and filled our glasses while we perused the menu. The waitress was very careful when she took our orders and wrote everything down, so there was no confusion.
We were also brought two small complimentary plates of cheeses, though no crackers. When we had decided what meals we were going to get we called a waiter over. This time, we were served by a young man who decided to try to memorize all of our orders without writing them down, the diligent waitress who took our wine orders had to come over again and retake our meal orders. A bit of confusion ensued and they seemed slightly flustered, but things were sorted out after a couple of minutes.
I ordered cream mushroom pasta, one of my friends ordered salmon steak pasta, another couple ordered other pasta dishes, and one other friend ordered a risotto. It wasn’t long before our food was brought out and we were eating. I was highly impressed by the fact that we all received our meals at the same time. Well, that was everybody but one, they’d forgotten the risotto and so we had to remind them. They dealt with it swiftly though the meal was promptly presented. Notwithstanding the mix-up, it was impressive, as sometimes everyone in one’s party will receive their meals at different times, when dining at Italian style restaurants in Gwangju. A couple of my friends also ordered a Margherita pizza, which was served with their pasta.
In general everyone was happy with their meal, and the portions were good too. I had a decent amount of pasta which meant my meal was not swimming in a sea of sauce, which I appreciated. My one criticism would be that my dish was a bit too salty. The service could have been better but overall it was a really enjoyable evening, and I’d recommend it as a restaurant to go to if you’re looking for something a little bit classier.
To get there, start at the intersection with the Ministop and Superdry clothes store downtown then walk towards the river. About 50 meters from Ministop, you will see a sign that says ‘Bottle’ next to a door opening up to some stairs. Bottle is on the second floor. It really is quite a discrete entrance, so keep your eyes peeled. Bottles of wine cost around 40,000 won and pasta dishes are 12-15,000 won.