[Gourmet Club] `Vari Vari` in Yeoksam, Seoul

Meat restaurants are `evolving` everyday. Some meat-restaurants have eliminated the essential items of their kind such as garlic, lettuce, and sesame leaf. Instead, they are prepared with mustard, chilly, onion, and lots of sauces in addition to Totilla, which is made of wheat flour to wrap up meat and other dressings.

Rare Pork BBQ House in the urban area, `Vari Vari`, is located in the back of Taigeukdang Wedding Hall nearby Kangnam Station, Seoul. (02-553-8292~3)

This restaurant serves well the lean meat. They roast the meat three times. Meat for 250 dishes, including pork neck, sliced side pork, and ribs, are roasted in the BBQ drum for five hours everyday in the morning. They roast the meats once again with charcoal in the kitchen for about an hour before serving and put the lean meats on the smoked barbecue grill of each table for the customer to enjoy the warm and fat free meats.

In general, the meats seasoned with the soybean paste and soy sauce taste like high quality smoked ham. A meal-order comes with the two kinds of vegetable sausages. With those side dishes, customers usually prefer iced beer to Soju. After the prepared meat sell out around 10:00 p.m., they serve the regular roasted meat on the grill.

It is also comfortable for the customers to dine out alone in the table, which is designed like a bar. To remove the odor and smokes, the ventilation hoses reached down 10 cm above the grills. Air conditioning from the ceiling prevents the spread of the odor in the restaurant.

Complete your solid meal with dissert, soybean paste noodle (DoenJang Kalguksu), then you will never forget the refreshing taste of the spicy clam soup. You are better off ordering the combo-plate rather than a la carte. With 35,000 won, 2-3 people could enjoy a set of special with iced cold beer and the soybean paste noodle. The restaurant closes at midnight. Due to the limited seats, it is safe to make reservation. Valet Parking is available.

Cho In-Jik cij1999@donga.com