Savaro Restaurant in Itaewon

Savaro

Restaurant . Shoppe

There's Wellness In Our Food

I was delighted when I heard that a Malaysian restaurant will be opened in Itaewon!! We, Malaysians and especially Muslims can't wait to finally eat Halal Malaysian and Korean food in Korea..^^ Right? Watching Koreans eating fried chicken glazed in shiny spicy sauce by the road side was simply too frustrating....I felt that way, sometime heheh. 

On the 28th of February 2014 (Friday), as I was walking down the Itaewon main road towards Noksapyeong Station, I passed by these flower bouquets and thought to myself...ahhh..another new restaurant? I was curious so I went closer and saw FELDA's flag outside the door. 

Noooooooooooo....this is the restaurant. This is it!! After that I was hitting myself so hard to...how could I have forgotten to contact Savaro ahead??? After I reached home, I then emailed the CEO from the name card passed by Feia and a date was fixed! Yeay!

The night before going to Savaro, I listed out all the questions to ask the CEO but unfortunately it has become a kinda informal session and the questions were just thrown in between meals and drinks. 

But then only it hit me...ahhh...God knows better why I couldn't join the event on Friday! Yesterday was indeed the best time to actually sit down and have a good conversation without disturbances. 

Anyway a very long story cut short ...what is Savaro?

Savaro is derived from two words. Savory and Aroma = Savaro.

I thought it was an Italian word...hehe. That means it sounds international right? I was expecting something closer to our mother tongue like for example Kitchen Nyonya or Mentari which are established much ahead of Savaro. 

The restaurant is owned 100% by Felda - Federal Land Development Authority and I was very honored to be able to meet the CEO- Mr Ismail Said personally and dine at Savaro.

Dining with Savaro's CEO - Mr Ismail Said and Feia.

Savaro already has a few franchises opened in Malaysia. Many more will be opened in other states in Malaysia and FELDA is planning for world-wide expansion as well.

Please refer to their website: http://www.savaro.com.my/

Savaro Korea has vast space and can cater to maximum 90 people in one occasion. We were amazed that the place is so cozy, spacious and not only that, they also have a musollah for Muslims to perform prayer at the restaurant.

Note: Savaro Korea is currenly under soft-launching state where the restaurant is not fully-fledged yet. 

Simply said Savaro still needs time to actually run the restaurant in order. There are trainees to be trained,   Malaysian menu for a-la-carte to be established and a few hiccups here and there.

They are eyeing for a Grand opening somewhere in April 2014 after everything is ready and polished to be introduced to the public.

Currently, there is only lunch buffet available in between 11.30am to 3.00pm. However, it is highly recommended for you to call the restaurant before coming.

Our Verdict:

The Malaysian food is up to our expectation and tasted as authentic as you can get in Malaysia except that some are pretty salty which we have voiced out to the chef.

The reason being, Korean food ranges from pretty bland to less salty. In order to promote Malaysian food to Korean, we believe that salt usage should be minimized. 

The price:

14,000 won Lunch buffet (includes dessert and selection of coffee or hot chocolate)

Our recommendation:

Please try the Korean a-la-carte menu

Our favorite - Savaro Special Red Chicken 닭강정.

Our wish:

That there is one or two Korean dish in the buffet lunch menu instead of just only as a-la-carte

Contact details:

Address: 

서울시 용산구 이태원동 172-2 덕흥빌딩 1층 Savaro

Seoul, Yongsan-gu, Itaewon-dong, 172-2, Deokheung Building First Floor, Savaro

Mr Petrus (Chef) at 010-3152-7573 (Speaks English and Malay)

Miss Won Hye Rin (Director) at 010-7566-0905 (Speaks Korean)

Opening time:

From 11.30am to 3.00pm (Only Lunch is available at the moment)

How to go to Savaro?

Go to Itaewon Station, Line 6 (brown), Exit 1 and go straight down the road until you see Coffee Smith or Agra restaurant. Savaro is right under Coffee Smith and next to Agra restaurant.

Many more pictures in https://www.facebook.com/budgettravel2korea