Shy Bana – Soul food/American diner

Shy Bana opened its newest location inside Seoul Finance Center, Gwanghamoon.  I had never seen or heard about it’s 3 other locations but seeing “southern style/soul food”, peaked my curiosity.  Of course I had my doubts, southern food in Asia?

Bread basket KRW 4,000.  The corn bread was good, almost as good as Boston Market.

Cajun potato chips KRW 6,000.  Fresh made potato chips are the bomb!

Soft-shell crab salad KRW 16,900.  Seems like this is the most popular item on the menu and it was not bad, for 16 bucks it is a generous portion of soft-shell crab.  Side note, Koreans love raw onions.

Jambalaya KRW 16,500.  I thought the portion was too small for the price but it tasted great.  It had a legit cajun flavor with lots of meat; shrimp, chicken, mussels, chorizo, and squid.

Giant meatball spaghetti KRW 16,500.  It really was a giant meatball and it had some cheese inside, love that!  The meatball had a great texture and good taste but I was most impressed with how well it was cooked.  People tend to over cook meatballs in general, it becomes tough and chewy.  And it gets harder to cook meatballs as the size increases, the outside gets over cooked because it takes longer to cook the middle.  The spaghetti was an after thought because the meatball was pretty darn good.

Meatloaf KRW 25,800.  Why so expensive?  We didn’t know either until they brought out the main dish along with the side of coleslaw and macaroni & cheese.  It’s more of a meal than just an entrée.

The cole slaw was good but not KFC good, it was a bit watery.  The mac&cheese was really good!  I don’t know what kind of artificial cheese they used but I really liked it.  It was thick, creamy, and had a sharp cheddar taste.  The meatloaf was probably the same ground meat blend they used for the meatballs, so it tasted good and it was well cooked.  The fried onions on top was a phenomenal idea!  The moat of marinara sauce, you can see all the grease that ran from the meatloaf, it was devilishly good!  The greasy sauce, the meatloaf and crunchy fried onions, just made for a perfect bite!

Everything on the menu sounds greasy, fried, and too heavy, but surprisingly they weren’t that bad.  Yes, everything is a little overpriced but it tastes good.  It’s not 100% authentic southern soul food but its some good cooking!

Rating:  8 out of 10.

Shy Bana:  locations in Gwanghamoon, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam station, and Seoraemaeul.

http://www.wingspoon.com/search/index.nhn?searchWord=샤이바나&x=37&y=8