Family restaurants have made big splashes here in South Korea over the past few decades. Chains such as Outback Steakhouse, TGI Friday’s, Bennigans, and more have come (and in some cases gone) and provided another choice for families looking for a special experience.
It was only a matter of time before a Korean version of the family restaurant chain appeared and Raracost is one of the local entries into the family restaurant competition.
Raracost is based around Italian food and includes a wide range of pastas and pizzas on the menu, as well as steaks and salads. Many of the names of the dishes might sound familiar but they often have a bit of a local flair when it comes to the taste and style of preparation.
Raracost has six locations in Ulsan alone, so it has become much more prevalent compared to the foreign family restaurant chains, and in fact they have just opened a new location near my house. It was a special day, and so I decided to go out for dinner and see if they had anything interesting on the menu!
The location near me is located on the 3rd floor of a multi-unit building that for a long time didn’t have very many stores in it, so it was interesting that Raracost decided to put a store there. The location itself does look great, and the view of the ocean is actually quite good as there is nothing in the line of sight to really break up the view.
The menu of Raracost is quite significant, so here is a link to the menu on their website.
Raracost is actually pretty good value for money. As I walked in, they have a self-service area for both coffee and fountain drinks, which means you don’t need to pay a high price for a beverage unless you’re looking for an alcoholic drink. This is actually pretty important, as the menu drinks are close to 5,000 won or more each.
After taking a look at the menu, I decided to try something new, the Tomahawk Pork Cutlet Pasta. I guess that it is named this after the shape of the bone and the pork piece. I have heard about this name mostly for a cut of beef and as such I was interested to see what the pork version would be like. The Tomahawk Pork Cutlet Pasta comes with a very generous portion of spicy tomato pasta and a monstrous pork cutlet.
While waiting I sampled the free pickled radishes, which were nice and sour, and pink!
Finally, the monster sized meal arrived! That’s right, the Tomahawk Pork Cutlet Pasta is really, really big! It also weighs in at just under 1900 calories, which is a very hefty meal.
First, I tried the pasta. The sauce was pretty tasty and had a few vegetables in it. The spice level was not overpowering, but it did have a decent kick to it. The pasta itself was a tad undercooked, as I prefer my pasta to be al dente, and this was more on the molto al dente level.
The pork cutlet (or donggas in Korea) was very good though! It had a really nice crispy exterior, but the pork inside was tender and juicy. There was also two pieces of pork that had been sandwiched together, and a bit of melted cheese in between the two slices of pork.
Even better, the pork cutlet went really well with the tomato sauce from the pasta. While I do enjoy the pork cutlet sauce that is the most common accompaniment to pork cutlet here, it is often too sweet and becomes overpowering by the time the meal is over.
The new location of Raracost looks great inside, as its nice and clean and bright. It is a great place I think for children and has a good menu for children as well. As for the Tomahawk Pork Cutlet Pasta, it was tasty, but I would only recommend it for the people who are very hungry! Fortunately, Raracost has a number of other dishes on the menu that are both economical and look very tasty, so if you are looking for a great place to take the family in South Korea, make it Raracost!