Not Just “Another Kitchen”
Written and photographed by Sarah Pittman
Recently, a friend invited my boyfriend and me to attend a menu tasting at Another Kitchen in Gwangju’s Sangmu area. When she offered, we jumped at the chance. I had been eyeing the restaurant for a while, but I had thought that it would be far outside our usual “date night” price range. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that most of the menu’s prices were quite reasonable, ranging from 13,000 to 17,000 won for an entree.
The owner of the restaurant chain was kind enough to offer the house wine to pair with the steak dishes. The wine was a 2016 cabernet sauvignon from Chile. It was slightly acidic with notes of currant, blackberry, black pepper, and licorice. Very powerful on the palette, it paired beautifully with all of the steaks on the menu.
The starter was two strips of thick, hand-cut bacon with microgreens drizzled with a bright green herb oil, and a romaine wedge served on the side. The romaine came with a light, slightly sweet yogurt dressing and real shredded Parmesan. I am not normally a fan of sweet salad dressings, but it served as the perfect counterpart to the salt and fat of the bacon.
After the starter came the first plate, which contained both T-bone and tenderloin steaks with clarified butter, and a side plate of baked potato, sweet ranch dressing, roasted tomatoes, and Korean chilies. The restaurant staff cooked the steaks medium rare, which is my favorite way to eat them personally. The clarified butter was perfect with the T-bone steak because it provided the fattiness that many T-bones need, being drier cuts of meat. The tenderloin, however, already a well-marbled and fatty cut, lost some flavor to the clarified butter. The last plate was their showstopper, the tomahawk steak. Although it is their most expensive steak on offer, it was undeniably delicious, delivering wonderful juicy flavor in every bite. If you have a mind to try these steaks yourself, the serving sizes for all the steaks are healthy enough that a plate might be shared between two friends.
All of the steaks are served with a selection of exotic salts, such as Himalayan pink salt and Guerande salt. I had tried Himalayan pink salt before, and I loved the light saltiness that it can add to a dish without being overpowering. Guerande salt, a salt from the marshes in Guerande in western France, was new to me. It is a coarse, rough salt with a strong flavor reminiscent of sea salts. Whatever your preference, they have options for everyone.
We thoroughly enjoyed our tasting of Another Kitchen’s new line of gourmet steaks, and would strongly recommend any steak lovers in Gwangju to give it a shot. Although there are many Another Kitchen locations in Gwangju, the one that started it all is found in the Sangmu area next to the Megabox near E-Mart.
ANOTHER KITCHEN 어나더키친
Address: 21-9 Sicheong-ro 60-beon-gil, Seo-gu, Gwangju 광주 서구 시청로60번길 21-9
Telephone: 062-385-9085
Opening Hours: Daily 11:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Website: http://another-kitchen.com/
The Author
Sarah lives in Gwangju with her boyfriend and her dog Cosmo. She enjoys long Netflix binges of cooking shows and used to work in a butcher shop and multiple restaurants in California. She hopes to one day find a job that lets her bring her dog to work with her.