Egg in hell with toasted bread at a Yeonnam-dong restaurant: Hôtel de

Today I was looking for good places to eat in Yeonnam-dong and ended up at Hôtel de Couture, a great date spot, for egg in hell!

Location and the wait at Hôtel de Couture

Hôtel de Couture is located at 101, 1.5F, 7 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, about 10 minutes on foot from Exit 3 of Hongik University Station.

No parking at Hôtel de Couture. I arrived around 1pm and there was already a line out front. Waiting there, I noticed quite a few foreign customers too. Curious how they'd found the place, I asked one and they said they'd seen it on Instagram. Seems like this is a spot in Yeonnam-dong that foreign visitors seek out too.

Menu, prices, and hours

You can order simply by scanning a QR code.

Hôtel de Couture signature menu — Carrot duck aglio olio ₩18,000 / Pea basil shrimp cream pasta ₩19,000 / Honeycomb seasonal fruit French toast ₩15,000

Hôtel de Couture menu — Mortadella lemon butter pasta ₩17,000 / Honey bacon rosé pasta ₩18,000 / Jambon truffle cream risotto ₩17,000 / House steak ₩35,000 / Honey jambon French toast ₩15,000 / Honeycomb seasonal fruit French toast ₩15,000

Hours are daily 11:00–20:00, with last order at 19:00.

What we ordered

I ordered egg in hell (₩18,000), burrata seasonal fruit salad (₩19,000), and added toasted bread (₩3,000).

Burrata seasonal fruit salad, ₩19,000

The burrata seasonal fruit salad came out first. I'd heard figs and burrata cheese go well together, so I tried it that way.

Cutting into the burrata, it spread out softly, and eating it with the figs, the cheese paired really well. It also worked nicely as a break between bites of the spicy egg in hell. They gave us a separate knife, which made cutting it easy. Figs are in season right now, haha.

Egg in hell, ₩18,000

The egg in hell had egg and cheese mingling over tomato sauce, topped with basil leaves. The toasted bread served alongside had a crispy exterior, so I piled on a generous amount of the sauce, haha.

There are round sausage slices and bacon in it. The egg in hell sauce is a rich tomato base with added spiciness.

The dish is hot, so be careful when eating. When you break the soft-boiled yolk, it mixes in and pairs well with the slightly seasoned tomato sauce. The sausage inside had good texture!

Is the ₩3,000 toasted bread add-on worth it?

I think adding the toasted bread was a good call. It's great for dipping into the egg in hell sauce. The added bread is crispy, haha, and even after dunking it into the sauce and pulling it back out, it keeps its crunch. Piling a big spoonful of the spicy tomato sauce, egg, and cheese on top of the bread is the best.

If you're ordering egg in hell, I'd also recommend adding the toasted bread.

When it starts to feel a bit too spicy, taking a bite of the burrata cheese salad on the side balances it right out with the sweetness of the cheese and fruit.

How was it as a Western-style date spot in Yeonnam-dong?

I visited Hôtel de Couture while looking for pasta or other Western-style dishes in Yeonnam-dong. The egg in hell, with its spicy tomato sauce mingling with soft-boiled egg and cheese, was great for dipping toasted bread into, and I was glad I added the bread. The burrata seasonal fruit salad we ordered alongside, with figs and burrata cheese, paired well with the egg in hell too. We met up as a pair and talked while eating, and before we knew it, the food was completely gone, haha. It was a good place to stop by in Yeonnam-dong on a date when you're craving Western-style food.