KOREAT aims for Korea's Michelin Guide

Dishes from restaurants listed in the top 5 of KOREAT’s top 50 rankings. Clockwise from the top are Jungsik, and Soigne ranked no. 1, 2, and 3 respectively and French restaurant L’Espoir du Hibou ranked fifth. On the left is a photo of owner chef Eo Yun-gwon of Italian restaurant Ristorante Eo which was ranked fourth. / Courtesy of KOREAT

• Published Sep 20, 2015 5:23 PM KST
• Updated Sep 20, 2015 5:23 PM KST

By Yun Suh-young

Korea didn't have its own restaurant ranking guide until KOREAT, a newly launched body created for this purpose, sprang to life Wednesday.

The new body was launched in the form of a committee and was named "KOREAT," a portmanteau of "Korea" and "eat."

"Korea didn't have an authoritative ranking of restaurants such as the Michelin Guide which is what we benchmarked," said Cho You-mi, head of KOREAT organizing committee and CEO of Welcomm Publicis, the advertising company which is the one of the main organizers and sponsors. American Express' "Taste" will be used as a marketing channel to broadcast KOREAT's selections.

"We wanted to provide accurate and reliable information on restaurants to foreigners visiting Korea in addition to surveying our dining culture," said Cho.

Celebrating the birth of the committee which will conduct surveys on restaurants annually and hold gourmet festivals, KOREAT announced the first list of top 50 restaurants in Korea compiled after an extensive survey during its launch ceremony.

"When we asked our panels to pick the 10 best restaurants among the ones they've visited over the past year, there were 481 candidates compiled for the list," said Cho.

"In the end, 53 restaurants were picked for the first top 50 list. Three of them were jointly ranked."

KOREAT's panel consists of 100 individuals from food-related fields ranging from chefs to journalists and restaurateurs. There are 30 chefs, 37 media personnel, and 33 restaurant owners and food industry officials participating as panelists to rank the restaurants. Foreign nationals were also included on the panel at a ratio of 9:1. The entire panel list is available to view online at www.kor-eat.com in an effort to ensure transparency.

The criteria for scores are based entirely on taste, according to KOREAT because it is the most important factor when judging the restaurants. There were no other particular standards although there were guiding criteria such as the "most delicious," "most memorable," "most representative of Korea," "recommendable to friends here and abroad," and "enhanced the level of Korea's food industry."

Based on this year's survey, a noticeable trend was detected on the list. "Modern Korean," "owner chef," "French cuisine," "Pyongyang naengmyeon," and "specialist" were key words that well summarized the trend spotted on the list.

Nine of the restaurants included on the list categorized themselves as "modern Korean" while 15 restaurants in the top 50 were French. Over half of the restaurants were owned by the head chefs themselves and seven "owner chef" restaurants were on the top 10 list.

The top 50 list will be made available in Korean, English and Chinese although currently only the Korean version is available for view.

In late October, the committee will hold a festival on Jeju Island featuring restaurants from the top 50 list to introduce their dishes in food trucks. Dishes will be available at 5,000 won a plate, allowing visitors to enjoy 50 of Korea's finest cuisine at an accessible price in a single location. Ten food trucks will be located on designated spots on the island. The festival will be held from Oct. 29 through Nov. 1.

The festival will also feature live cooking shows featuring chefs from the participating restaurants as well as a special gala dinner. Cookware and cookbooks will also be on sale.

To participate in the festival 1,800 Chinese tourists will visit Jeju Island through a tour program via Ctrip, a Chinese tour agency, which is one of the participating sponsors.