Trench Town Caribbean Restaurant in Itaewon, Seoul, Korea
Opened on April 28, Caribbean BBQ arrived in Seoul at Trench Town restaurant in Itaewon. They claim to “serve the best pimento smoked jerk chicken, ribs, lamb chops and massive tiger shrimp”. Coming from Toronto (home of “The Real Jerk”), I had been missing these flavours. Yaman in Busan was fine the first time, but the rest of our visits the dishes were pretty savage. We went to Trench Town in Seoul on Sunday night dinner to see if their jerk could work (work, work, work, work).
The Trench Town Vibe
Trench Town is a little bit out of the way which is why it’s such a great date spot. We went around 7:30 PM on Sunday night and had the one primo patio table all to ourselves. Granted, the view isn’t much, but the ambiance of the green light and tiki bar was pretty cool. We weren’t bothered much throughout our meal, which I appreciated. If we needed anything it was easy to just wave through the window to our server and bartender directly behind the bar keeping a watchful eye on our table. Trench Town only had a few patrons at the bar and nobody in the dining room. I’ve only visited once (thus far) but wanted to make sure the word got around quickly as it’s a great place for date night or for larger parties to share platters.
The Trench Town Food
We shared the Trench Town Platter with Jerk Chicken, Curry Goat, Coconut Rice + Beans, Pickled Veggies, Coleslaw, Sweet Potato Fries (yes! In Korea!) and Fried Bread (Festival). ₩36,000 for 2 people. The jerk chicken was quality meat, but the jerk sauce could have been a little more robust. I expect something with a little more tang or zing. The coconut rice already had lots of flavour and was cooked to a nice texture with a few kidney beans throughout. I loved the gravy smothered on top even though the rice was tasty on its own. The pickled veggies (cucumber, onion, and red cabbage) gave great balance to the rich flavours of the meat (and all the starches in our carb-loaded platter). I wish there had been more of them! There were enough sweet potato fries for us to be happy. They were pretty standard and likely from Costco, but we were happy.
Trench Town Menu Favourites
The curry goat was a huge standout for us. The meat fell off the bone (watch out for those bones, by the way!). The curry was rich and loaded with seasonings and spices and the potato chunks were just big and soft enough to comfortably slice with a fork. I mopped up the curry with the tasty fried bread. The dense, cakey bread wasn’t quite as sweet as standard Korean bread. My dining companion compared it to a much less oily hushpuppy. We both agreed that the generous portion of coleslaw was a winner. It had wider slices of peeled carrot and a sauce that wasn’t all mayo. We asked for extra sauces and were presented with a platter of 4 rammekins (in addition to the 2 on the platter). They were fresh, had a hint of heat, but weren’t overly spicy. We will definitely be back to try the cocktail menu and the ribs!
Directions to Trench Town Caribbean Restaurant in Itaewon:
Take Exit 4 of Itaewon Station. Pull an immediate u-turn as you exit the station. Continue walking along the street opposite Taco Bell and on the same side at Gecko’s and Quizno’s. You’ll pass a couple of taco places, a sushi joint, and an impressively fragrant Thai noodle shop. Trench Town is located on your right on what appears to be the 2nd floor of a residential building. Go to 105, Bogwang-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Contact Trench Town Caribbean Restaurant in Seoul:
The post Seoul Food: Trench Town Caribbean Restaurant in Itaewon appeared first on The Toronto Seoulcialite.
Recent comments