9 Timo Restaurant and Bar

Round the back of the Hamilton Hotel, parallel to the main Itaewon street there is a veritable menagerie of restaurants. Whether you fancy Spanish, Bulgarian, French, Greek, Thai, Belgian, Australian, Indian, Chinese or Italian there are many differents places to choose from. 9 Timo is a relative newcomer, just over six months old, it provides a variety of pizzas, pastas and risottos to please hungry patrons.

9 Timo offers a weekday lunch set menu, offering a choice of: Seafood tomato spaghetti with garlic bread and coffee (15,000 won); classic alfredo fettuccine with garlic bread and coffee (14,000 won); grilled chicken sandwich and coffee (9,000 won); grilled ham & cheese sandwich and coffee (9,000 won). 10% tax not included.

The restaurant is stylishly lit, with oil burners on every table. Smooth latin beats blare out of the speakers and the rough brick walls give the place a gritty cool. The only problem with the decor is if your eyes stray upwards and see the ugly, bulky air-conditioning units hanging down from the ceiling.

The view from the main windows is not the best in the world, the Hamilton Hotel car park not really being a sight for sore eyes. However, if you concentrate hard enough on the food, it's not too bad.

I went for the "classic alfredo fettuccine" and was not disappointed. The sauce may have been a little soupy, but it was well seasoned with a pleasant pepperiness. The fettuccine was cooked to perfection and the portion was generous.

There was perhaps a little too much onion, but the three different kinds of mushrooms and tender pieces of bacon mixed well together and pushed the dish well above most other medium priced Italian eateries.

The garlic bread was tasty, but nothing out of the ordinary and the coffee served after the meal was freshly made and strong. The host was affable and the service was very quick, but that may be because there were only two customers in the restaurant between 12.00 and 1.00. The waiter claimed that they were busy in the evenings, but that lunchtimes were usually quiet.

You can contact 9 Timo on 02 790 4285 or visit their website.