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La Cantina |
La Cantina (라칸티나) is a Mexican restaurant and bar in Sampoong-dong, Gyeongsan, which is just east of Daegu. The establishment is run by a married couple, Yunjeong and Teddy. Teddy is a former teacher at nearby Yeungnam University and has since made the local area his home, and now a business. La Cantina is quite a welcome addition to the roster of expat bars and restaurants in Korea, as most appear to be hastily thrown together with whatever resources one can afford, find, or think of. La Cantina, despite its distance from the bright lights of Rodeo, looks to have been done economically, yet brilliantly.
Teddy and Yunjeong have paid proper attention to the power of first impressions and have invested in attractive branding (logo and sign) and frontage (cozy patio plus good door area). The interior has been done to appeal to the comforts of the expat, with TV going on in the background, computer with customer-selected MP3s playing, plus a music corner with instruments, which offer reference to the Open Stage they do on Friday nights, as well as Saturday afternoon jam sessions. The friendly couple also looks to have their business planning downpat, given that they've opened adjacent to their home, in an area with cheaper real estate than downtown Daegu. But located in a vital corridor on the outskirts of Daegu, home to many English instructors at distant universities such as Yeungnam, Daegu, Daegu Catholic and Kyungil Universities, among others. Expats who are known for voicing their frustration from being inconveniently away from more livelier expat boroughs, such as Siji, Kyungpook, and Samdeok districts. The decision to open in an unsaturated expat nightlife district and tap into that kind of regular patronage should be able to sustain their weekday business, until Daegu-ites converge on the weekend for Mexican, margaritas, and music.
 Teddy, the owner, busily tends the bar at La Cantina. However, the most important aspect of the establishment is, of course, the food. Keeping with the theme of good first impressions, they have craftily opted to take the risk of increased food costs and open with a broad Mexican menu, while keeping a respect for presentation amid the dinner rush. While no Casa Loca, they obviously did their homework and trial-and-error of what they want the kitchen to put out. Teddy, being quite busy during our meal to be able to speak more about his food in further detail, was considerate enough to later send an apologetic email and elaborate more (See quote box).
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Teddy Woelke, La Cantina
"We buy a lot of our ingredients such as cheese, avocados and beef from Costco. We use Australian beef and Korean chicken. We import our chili pepper powders (chipotle and cayenne) from the U.S. At the moment we buy frozen corn tortillas from a company in Seoul, but we are planning to make them from scratch soon. We make our guacamole, chili con carne, salsa, frijoles, Mexican rice, fajitas, brownies, and taco and quesadilla fillings from scratch" .
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There are a few knocks, however. Location. But the visit is worth every stop enroute to Sawol Station and every minute by bus or taxi after that. Another issue was that they ran out of some ingredients throughout the evening, which is totally forgivable, given that it's a new restaurant with no historical volumes to be able to forecast with (Teddy also mentions that they have just bought a larger freezer to support the demand.), and the other issue is the waiting time for some of the food. But knowing that it's a two-person operation that just opened up a few weeks ago (mid-late April/07), if those last two can be overcome, one can be certain that this will be a popular expat haunt for years to come.
- Taco (beef or chicken) - 4,000 won
- Burrito (beef or chicken) - 5,000 won
- Nachos - 9,000 won
- Quesadilla - 3,000 won
- Chicken Quesadilla 5,000 won
- French Fries - 5,000 won
- Chili Cheese Fries - 8,000 won
- Poutine (fries with gravy and cheese) - 7,000 won
- Clam Chowder - 4,000 won
[edit] Entrees
(served with Mexican rice, refried beans and guacamole)
- Taco set - 10,000 won
- Burrito set - 12,000 won
- Combo plate (1 burrito, 1 taco) - 12,000 won
- Quesadilla set - 10,000 won
- Chicken Quesadilla set - 12,000 won (2 flour tortillas stuffed with chicken and cheese)
- Chicken/Shrimp Fajitas - 14,000 won
- Chili Con Carne - 7,000 won
- Chili Nachos - 12,000 won
- Chicken Nachos - 12,000 won
[edit] Vegetarian
- Soyquitos - 4,000 won
- Soyquitos Set - 10,000 won
- Chili Sin Carne - 6,000 won
- Bean Burrito - 4,000 won
- Bean Taco - 3,000 won
[edit] Beverages
- Imported beer (Corona, Bud, Guinness, etc...)
- Margaritas
- Daquiris
- Cocktails
- Soft drinks
- Coffee and tea
- Tuesday-Sunday
- 11:30am-11:30pm
[edit] Contact
053-802-8537
[edit] Directions
The best way to get here is to first take subway line 2 to Sawol Station. From there, you have two options:
- Taxi. It'll be about a 6,000 won ride from here. Tell the taxi driver to go to "Kyungpook Techno Park", which is north of the restaurant. However, for good measure, emphasize that you specifically want to go to "Tae-wang Negori" (Taewang Apartments Intersection). After getting off at Taewang Negori, keep walking east on the left side of the road, until you reach the bus stand. Make a left at the stand and walk towards the small alley and keep walking straight for a few minutes. You'll eventually see the restaurant on your left.
- Bus. Take east-bound bus #99 from Sawol Station. Get off at Taewang Negori. Follow the instructions above for the rest of the way. (Note: You can catch #99 back to Sawol Station from the bus stand by the alley leading to the restaurant.)
The following maps are useful to get your bearings.
[edit] External Links
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