One characteristic of huge metropolitans like Seoul is
that land is so expensive, which forces building constructors to build upwards
instead of sideways. The many skyscrapers in Seoul is an attest to this, and
Ewha university’s surroundings is no different.
If you do not keep your head up and look above the first floor when looking for
restaurants, you might miss this gem of a restaurant above the Top Ten store
after turning right when exiting Ewha main gate.
This Italian chain restaurant
is located up on the 4th floor. Use the restaurant banners on the
ground floor to find the elevator which takes you straight up to the door of
Rimini. You will instantly realize which ingredient that Rimini appreciates the
most, namely the olive. Not only is the olive highlighted in their food and the
menu, but even the interior goes in tones of olive-green. Green pillows,
flowers, lights made of green glass bottles and herbs hanging from the walls
all create a cozy environment.
Although Italian food like
pasta and particularly pizza often is overpriced in Seoul, Rimini manages to
keep their prices down. We were first served a piece of olive bread with a dip
of olive and balsamic oil. You could actually taste the black olives inside the
bread, which complemented the dip perfectly.
Our choices fell on the
gorgonzola calzone pizza with seafood rose pasta on the side, Vongole pasta and
finally a cranberry yuza (citron) pizza. As soon as I took a bite into the
pizzas I realized how different they are from other places. You can really
taste that this is not that deep-frozen dough that so many other places use,
but the Rimini chefs actually knead the dough and create the pizzas in an open
kitchen before shoving it into the oven to create a perfect pizza crust. This
was blatantly apparent on the calzone with those unsymmetrical shapes that only
a human hand can create, and those blots of black that only a great oven can
make.
The only thing I would have ordered
differently is ask for a tomato, cheese, mushroom, ham calzone instead of the
gorgonzola one we had. However, it was still delicious, and the salty
gorgonzola made for a perfect complement to the sweet, sour and acid citron
pizza that functioned more like an appetizer than a main dish (because of its
absence of meat!)
Rimini is a perfect place that
wants some economical Italian food that does not fall into the traps that many
other pasta and pizza places do. The cooking is honest, ingredients are
delicious and fresh and everything seems to be done by hand.
