Namsan Winery: Portuguese Restaurant & Bar

Taste of europe

Namsan Winery

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Xico:

My name is Taehyun Kwon, and my Portuguese name is Francisco. Among my Portuguese group of friends, I am known as ‘Xico’. I opened Namsan Winery 5 years ago, but before jumping into the restaurant business I have worked for Shinsegae's finance team for 6 years.

Tell us about yourself.

Xico:

When I visited Portugal for the first time in 2015, I instantly fell in love with the country. Old buildings with washed-out walls and people dressed in old-fashioned clothes made me feel like I traveled back in time.

Even though there were no magnificent or fancy sceneries, I think these are what made Portugal so lovely. I felt so cozy in Portugal. Portuguese are very nice and genuine. Of course, food and wine were an important part of Portuguese culture. With my love for Portugal, I decided to quit my job in finance and open my very own Portuguese restaurant in Seoul.

What made you quit your finance job and why Portugal?

Namsan Winery's signature Polvo a lagareiro (left) & Gambas com alho (right)

Xico:

Until the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, I visited Portugal on a regular basis like 2 to 3 times a year. While I was there, I'd visit a lot of wineries and restaurants. In every restaurant I went to, I asked the local staff and chefs about food and culture in Portuguese restaurants and took notes.

Usually, I had around 5-6 meals and tasted dozens of wines per day in Portugal. On top of that, I visited many attractions that offered Portuguese culture. After traveling to Portugal, I always gained weight from all the foods and wines I consumed. But it was a great pleasure in my life!

How did you get to bring authentic Portuguese food and culture to Seoul?

Xico:

I think Portuguese foods and wines have something in common. They are all focused on the ingredients. Foods are simple and wines are really juicy, which means when you taste Portuguese wines, you can feel the grape itself very well. Sames goes with foods, that you can taste the individual ingredients very well.

I am not a trained chef or winemaker, but I've learned through my experience that the hardest part of cooking is fully expressing the ingredients as themselves. In order to do so, I would need to cook the fresh ingredients at the right temperature and at the right timing. Also, making honest food and wine need much more care and techniques. I think Portuguese foods and wines are simple but they are genuine.

How are Portuguese foods and wines?

Tell us more about Namsan winery.

Xico:

You can experience various Portuguese seafood plates at Namsan winery. There are famous traditional foods like ‘Pasteis de bacalhau’, ‘Polvo a lagareiro’ and ‘Ameijoas a Bulhao Pato’. They also present fusion foods based on Portuguese popular ingredients and recipes. You can enjoy authentic Portuguese wine and food at Namsan winery.

The customer base is diverse. You can see people in their 20’s to 60’s under the same roof. Namsan winery can cover diverse occasions. Namsan winery also has a wine importing and distributing company called vinho.n. Xico visits the best Portuguese wineries and selects great wines. Namsan winery’s wine selection is one of the best in Asia. And you can taste the great quality Portuguese wine at a very reasonable price at Namsan winery. Vinho.n also distributes wines to wine shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels. It introduces amazing Portuguese wine in Korea.

Xico visiting Portugese winery

Phone

+82 0507-1405-5849

Reservation

https://bit.ly/3tvbHkh

address

5 Hoenamu-ro 10-gil, Itaewon 2(i)-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Contact:

Namsan Winery