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Sheraton Incheon's 'master chefs' offer outstanding Japanese cuisine
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Jacky Jung, left, and Danny Han, two master chefs at the Sheraton Incheon Hotel’s Japanese restaurant Miyabi, pose for a photo at the restaurant, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Sheraton Incheon Hotel
By Kim Se-jeong
By Kim Se-jeong
Sheraton Incheon Hotel’s Japanese restaurant Miyabi has what other Japanese restaurants in Korea don’t: two certified master chefs in Japanese cuisine.
Jacky Jung, 41, and Danny Han, 37, won the master chef title in 2013 and 2014, respectively, in a competition organized by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. The title “master chef” is one of the highest recognitions for chefs in the country.
Each year, the organization awards the title to one or two chefs with specializations in the Japanese, Chinese and western cuisines. Fewer than 70 currently hold the master chef title in Japanese cuisine, said Han.
From the top are sea bass carpaccio and green salad with olive. / Korea Times photos by Kim Se-jeong
Jung’s and Han’s influences are reflected on Miyabi’s menu, which has four categories: lunch, dinner, courses and seasonal specials. From an Udon dish, the restaurant offers assorted sashimi or raw fish; assorted fried vegetable and shrimp or tempura; grilled special Japanese beef or Wagyu; grilled mero and abalone; grilled eel with steamed rice. Sweet potato, eggplant and pumpkin in tempura are fresh and crispy. Abalones are thick and very chewy. Lobster in soup and eel over the rice taste tender.
“I can guarantee you that you would taste the best Japanese cuisine in Korea here,” Chef Han said.
In addition to its savory offerings, Miyabi’s menu is also affordable.
Teppan grilled Wagyu beef on onion with Japanese style balsamic sauce.
Its dishes cost nearly half of what they would in Seoul hotel restaurant. The low prices are likely because of the hotel’s relatively distant location. The hotel is located in the Songdo Industrial Business District, near Incheon.
“If you really want quality Japanese food with good service on your day off, Miyabi is the perfect option,” Anne Ahn, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing said. “This is good news for those who enjoy food.” Songdo takes about an hour from Seoul, and it is surrounded by nature, including the West Sea.
An Udon dish costs 12,000 won. The most expensive course item on the menu is a 12-course course meal, which costs only 250,000 won.
vegetable and shrimp Tempura.
To spread the word and attract more guests, the restaurant is offering a monthly special. In February, the special will be oyster and Wagyu.
From February, the hotel will be offering a new package that includes accommodations and dining. The hotel said it is still working on details.
The hotel is lucky to have two master chefs ― it didn’t have plans to hire Jung and Han. The two chefs are friends and have been working together since 2011. Han said they realized they had wanted the master chef title and studied together to obtain it.
Chef Jung is also an adjunct professor at the Global Hotel College in Seoul. Chef Han finished his thesis on fermented buckwheat dough for the master’s degree in culinary and food service management last year and is waiting for the result of the patent application for the dough.
Miyabi is open from noon to 2:30 p.m. and from 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. For more information and for reservations, call (032)836-1714 or visit www.sheraton.com/incheon .