[Restaurant Review] Grill5Taco (Cheongdam-dong)

Stars: ★★★★

Grill5Taco is a chained Mexican restaurant in South Korea. It started as a food truck and expanded into restaurants. The specific location that is being reviewed is the one owned by the singer/actor Donghae (of Super Junior) in the affluent Cheongdam-dong neighborhood. While the food here is delicious, it is not considered authentic Mexican food. The dishes served have a very strong Korean touch to it, especially with the overload of ingredients such as kimchi and Korean bbq, and thus is more appropriately regarded as Korean-Mexican fusion.

Like many Mexican restaurants, Grill5Taco serves the usual burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and fries along with drinks ranging from sodas to beers. What makes it stand out as a Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant are items on their menu such as the kimchi quesadilla, Seoul fries (which has a huge mass of kimchi and short-rib meat mixed in with the fries), and short rib burrito and taco. Not only due to its location but also to its cuisine style, the price will leave your wallet crying. While the cost of a burrito or taco may seem familiar to many (about $8.00), the size of the food that you receive will be kind of disappointing. The burritos served here are about half the size of burritos served in the US. $8.00 of tacos may get you somewhere close to 10 tacos (or 4 at some places) but at Grill5Taco, $8.00 will only get you 2 tacos. Interestingly, the luxurious fries options that cost between $7 to $9 come in rather large portions.

Grill5Taco – short-rib tacos & Seoul fries

A popular side choice are the skinny fries; however I prefer the Seoul fries which are filled with short-rib meat. I always go for the short-rib taco since 1) I cannot swallow the spicy pork, 2) I am not a fan of coconut, and 3) I prefer tacos over burritos. One downside to the tacos and fries is that there are always so much raw onion on top of everything. The white blob on top of the Seoul fries in the picture above is indeed a blob of raw onion. I always sweep them to the side before I dive into my food. There is also a counter with tortilla (nacho) chips in the middle of the restaurant but it is best that you avoid it since the chips always seem to be stale. Once you are done with your food, you can help out the workers a bit by bringing your tray to the tray return shelves located in the back left corner of the restaurant.

Even though Grill5Taco does not serve authentic Mexican food, it still does a very good job of satisfying any cravings you may have!

Special note: owned by South Korean boy band Super Junior member Donghae

Address: Cheongdam-dong 88-10, Gangnam-gu, Seoul OR Seolleung-ro 152gil 15, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (same place, there are just different ways to write the address)

주소: 서울 강남구 청담동 88-10 OR 서울 강남구 선릉로152길 15

Phone number: 02-512-5549

Links:  Facebook || Twitter

Directions:

Subway: Exit Apgujeong Rodeo Station (압구정로데오역) on the Bundang Line. Take exit 4 and walk straight out. Walk for about 5 minutes until you reach Seolleung-ro 152gil (선릉로152길) and turn left. If you reach Hakdong-sageori (학동사거리) before turning left, then you have gone too far. Anyways, after turning left, walk straight for about 1 minute, passing Butterfinger Pancakes, and Grill5Taco will be on your left side.