#6 Pizzeria D'Buzza

On a rare rainy Wednesday after work we decided to try the place known for pizza on the street known for its doggy jimjilbang in swanky Hannamdong (the posh side of Itaewon)...

JGirl had been before but this was JBoy's first time. We've spoken before about queuing for food in Seoul and unfortunately this place suffers a little from the queue, in, eat, drink, pay, out mentality. We had picked a non-busy night and were eating late, doubtless people were put off by the heavy rain, so we expected a slightly slower, more personal service because it was quiet.

Upon entering we shook down our umbrellas and commented on the rain in a very British ooh-rainy-out-there-isn't-it kind of way - no banter from the  waiter.

We perused he menu which had stars next to the mains. The key to this five star system was in Korean and so intrigued, we asked no-banter-waiter (NBW) what the stars meant and he curtly replied "it doesn't matter, it's all good" JGirl later commented that it was like asking for a recommendation from a robot. We don't want to get rants before we get to the food but for a restaurant on the fringes of the foreigner ghetto we have come to expect and enjoy a slightly more friendly, personal level of service.

SERVICE RANT OVER  - back to the food and drink. The overpriced drink. JBoy had house wine because it was only a dollar more than an imported European lager. Lager, dear readers not fancy schmancy craft beer that seems to be everywhere these days in Seoul. We are used to paying nine or ten dollars for imported craft beer but not for lager and we are sure that Seoulites would be surprised how non luxury the European brands they are sold as luxury are in Europe. 

DRINKS RANT OVER

The food:

You can't fault the food which makes it well worth a visit. We went Seoul date style and shared two different mains between two, awkwardly, across the tiny table. Everyone else seemed too be doing the same thing. 

Parmigiana Melanzane 

It was cheesy, baked, veggie goodness personified. "Really well done" said JGirl whilst JBoy gobbled up the last of it. 

Something Funghi With White Truffle Oil Pizza

As mushroom lovers this hit the spot and was faultless. The base was the right consistency - thin Italian, not American-style, kind of stringy doughy elasticity flat goodness. Wood oven is the secret (no photo, more on that later). Truffle oil - indiscernible to our untrained palates. 

THE PEPPER DEBACLE 

JGirl politely asked NBW for some black pepper. NBW went back to the open plan kitchen to discuss this conundrum with NBWs 2,3 and 4. Confusion abound. Suddenly a lightbulb moment occurred. NBW2 remembered the location of the the electronic pepper grinder, reached up and.... Didn't bring it over to us. No. He returned it to the group who discussed it further with an almost religious sense of reverence. After more discussion a plate was produced upon which pepper was ground by NBW2 whilst NBWs 3, 4 and 1 looked on. NBW1 returned with a plate of ground pepper. This is clearly how things are done at D'Buzza but we had broken all the rules by asking for a condiment that wasn't already provided.

THE PHOTO DEBACLE

As we like to include snaps of the place as well as the food we attempted to grab one of the whole place with the wood fired oven in the centre. Alas this wasn't OK according to the NBW training handbook. No photos allowed apparently. Big crossed arms moment 🙅 Feeling suitably British and sheepish we returned to where we belonged - outside in the rain...

THE VERDICT (all marks are out of ten)

FOOD

Originality: 7.5

Taste: 8

Quality Of Ingredients: 8

SERVICE: 6

Banter: 0

Atmosphere: a clinical 2

VALUE FOR MONEY: 6 (minus points for the overpriced drinks)

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: 7