Weeknight Italian dinner in Gangnam: squid ink risotto at Casamil

Where is Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil?

Today I want to introduce Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil, a restaurant near Sinsa Station that's often recommended for lunch and brunch haha. It's about a 7-minute walk from Sinsa Station Exit 6, so it's really easy to get to from the station :)

Here's the exterior of Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil haha.

Visiting on a late weekday evening, Casamil had a stylish look right from the exterior, with an interior that gives off an upscale restaurant vibe!

There was a lunch course banner on the front door too, so it looks like a great price and setup for office workers around Sinsa Station to grab a nice lunch ^^

Indoor tables and the terrace at Casamil

Open kitchen and tables for four

Here's the inside of Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil haha. Walking in, there were plenty of wood-toned tables, mainly 4-tops!

There's also a terrace, so on cool evenings like these days, having dinner out there has such a nice atmosphere — if you're going for a date, I'd recommend booking the terrace seats ahead of time haha.

It has an open-kitchen (?) feel, so you can actually watch the chef cooking ^^

What's on the menu at Casamil?

Here's the menu at Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil haha. Casamil is run by the La Casa Hotel right next door, an Italian restaurant where you can enjoy hotel breakfast, brunch, and dinner!!

For starters there's a seasonal soup, melanzane (grilled eggplant), guacamole shrimp salad, beef mushroom salad and more ^^ And for mains there were all kinds of Western dishes like eggplant chorizo lasagna, paprika rosé potato gnocchi, Florentine cheese wheel pasta, and pescatore bianco haha.

There's also romaine Asian beef wood-fired pizza, arugula prosciutto wood-fired pizza, Margherita wood-fired pizza, and for dessert tiramisu, brownie & gelato, plus plenty of drinks and wines to pick from to suit your taste! This time I ordered the whole squid ink risotto and the Margherita pizza :)

Sweet-and-salty bread before the meal

Here's the bread that came out first haha.

The bread was crispy outside, moist inside, topped with onion paste and honey, giving it that sweet-and-salty combo that's perfect as a starter!!

What does the whole squid ink risotto taste like?

Next up, today's main — the whole squid ink risotto haha.

You could tell right away this is Casamil's signature dish from the visuals — a large whole squid sitting on top of the ink risotto ^^

The squid was cut into bite-sized pieces and, once I tried it, it wasn't chewy at all — soft in texture, and it went really well with the rich, deep flavor of the squid ink risotto and its cheese notes :)

Personally it can get a little rich midway through, but they also give you pickles, and eating those in between cuts through the richness completely haha.

Margherita wood-fired pizza at Casamil

Next came the Margherita pizza haha.

The Margherita pizza gets fired in the wood oven right when you order, so the dough was nice and chewy, piled with plenty of mozzarella cheese — genuinely delicious!!

In particular, the tanginess of the tomato sauce, the flavor of the mozzarella cheese, and the subtle herbal aroma of basil all came together in harmony — try this can't-go-wrong pizza once and you definitely won't regret it :)

Is Casamil worth it for dinner in Gangnam?

Here's my review of Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil, a restaurant near Sinsa Station often recommended for lunch and brunch haha. I'd highly recommend Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil to anyone looking for a restaurant with a great atmosphere for a date or blind date on Sinsa Garosu-gil :)

With a varied menu of pasta, risotto, wood-fired pizza and more, plus about 30 kinds of wine on hand, pairing your meal with a wine to your taste would be perfect!! I visited late on a weekday evening, and there were plenty of 4-top tables, plus terrace seating — with the cool evening weather these days, enjoying good food there would make for such a great atmosphere ^^

The staff were kind too, and valet parking is available, so it'd be comfortable to drive there yourselves (for reference, parking is reportedly ₩5,000 for 2 hours including the valet fee).

Most importantly, the food — I tried the whole squid ink risotto and the Margherita pizza this time, and from the sweet-salty starter bread to the distinctly bittersweet, rich squid ink risotto, it really suited my taste :) If you've been looking for a restaurant with a great atmosphere near Sinsa Garosu-gil, or a spot for a blind date in Sinsa, I confidently recommend Casamil Sinsa Garosu-gil!

• Taste: ★★★★★
• Would revisit: ★★★★★