Forgive my  lack of posts lately dear readers, I have been ever so busy preparing for my upcoming trip to LA and Las Vegas!!! While I have been resting on my laurels, new restaurants have been springing up all over my neighborhood. I swear a new one opens every other day to meet the demands of the of the restaurant going tourists who flock to Kyungnidan to eat and be seen at the latest restaurant shown on TV. At the weekend you can barely walk around without having to push your way through the hoards of trendy girls in towering high heel or couples decked out in their latest matching ensembles. I haven’t got time for that, I’m a busy girl who needs to eat!

Now Don Charly is no newbie. He’s had a queue outside his door for a long  time now. This is a second location selling Mexican Tapas. A more upscale venture from the tiny store selling tacos and burritos. It’s certainly a great addition to the neighborhood.

The new restaurant is of a decent size, especially compared to the closet sized original. Slightly gaudy Tijuana style decorations. We only had to wait for about 5 minutes before getting a seat.

There are plenty of drinks on the new menu. We ordered up two margaritas to share between us. We got the cucumber and the pineapple, both 8,000. Of the two I certainly favoured the pineapple one. It was fruity and tasty, my only complaint is that I drank it too quickly. The cucumber one didn’t sit so well with me, it just seemed like an odd flavour combination and didn’t taste quite right. They have an original flavour too which is a nice bright blue which looked great.

 

On to the tapas we ordered the Camorones A La Crema Chipotle (10,000 for 3 pieces). They came quickly and were nice enough but nothing special. In no way shape or form could they beat the ones at Vatos. The people at the next table said they had a delicious creamy sauce on them last time which seemed to be missing.

I ordered the Conchinita (8,000 for 2 pieces).  This was by far and away the best choice off the menu that we tried. The braised pork was so tender and flavoured exquisitely, on top of the salsa and crispy bottom. It was perfection. I could eat like eight of these by myself.

 

 

Lastly we ordered the Las Tamatilos (5,000 each).  I have grown to feel that I don’t really love tamales that much. But both my dining companions agreed that they were really good. They especially liked the mole sauce.

From what I have tried so far, I would love to come back and try a few more of the options on the menu and get some more of the amazing Conchinitas!  I have to confess I was pretty drunk when we came here, so my memory is a little fuzzy but I’m pretty sure I had a good time.

Don Charly’s is located at 651 Itaewon 2-dong, Myungsan Bldg. 1st Floor, Seoul 140-861. To get there take a train to Noksapyeong station (line 6). Come out of exit 2 and walk straight until you come to the underpass tunnel. Go through the tunnel and take the left set of stairs. Continue to walk straight and cross the road and walk pass Noxa. Don Charly’s is a few doors down in the alleyway where Craftworks is.