I am covering trend, food and fashion. Previously, I covered diplomacy, city, environment and unification.
Lotte Hotel serves tasty, affordable dishes at food stand
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Lotte Department Store’s food court where Lotte Hotel chefs make four dishes and sell them
By Kim Se-jeong
By Kim Se-jeong
Lotte Hotel Seoul chefs have temporarily moved their kitchens to Lotte Department Store’s food court, where they can make their bestselling dishes and serve them immediately to customers.
The four dishes served at the food stand are not only tasty but also affordable.
A lobster and vegetable cheese melt on baguette costs only 6,000 won; while a bacon and jalapeno three-cheese melt on rye bread costs only 5,500 won. A black bean and abalone pastry and a mango tart each costs only 3,000 won.
“This is to give people the impression that Lotte Hotel is a place for everyone,” said Danny Jo, chef de cuisine at the hotel’s R&D team. “Many seem to think a hotel is not a place for them. And we want people to change their perception by letting them try quality food at an affordable price.”
These four dishes are not served in hotel restaurant. They were carefully conceived for the food stand, inspired by culinary trends.
Four dishes sold at Lotte Department Store are, from left, mango tart; black bean and abalone pastry; bacon and jalapeno three-cheese melt on rye bread; and lobster and vegetable cheese melt on baguette. / Courtesy of Lotte Hotel Seoul
The lobster cheese melt is a specialty in the state of Main in the United States. Jo put his own twist to the dish, drawing from his 20 years of culinary experience at Lotte Hotel’s kitchen. The baguette underneath is very soft from soaking the juices of the lobster, vegetables and melted cheese.
The Panini melt was inspired by Jo’s visit to London, where he saw a thick grilled cheese sandwich at Borough Market. “I wanted to introduce this to Koreans.”
The black bean and abalone pastry was inspired by a creation of Mak Kwai Pui, a Michelin-starred chef from Hong Kong who came to Lotte Hotel for an annual cooking exchange. The abalone and black bean paste make an unexpected harmony inside layers of bread. Abalone is a delicacy of Wando, an island off the country’s southwestern coast. The black bean paste was purchased directly by chef Mak.
Finally, the mango tart was inspired by the Macau tart, which originated in Lord Stow’s Bakery in Macau. It is an egg tart with a chewy crust and topped with mango pieces.
Jo is confident that such high-quality, affordable food is not available anywhere else in Seoul, which is why Lotte Hotel’s food stand is a success even after only a year since it launched.
Jo said he and his team members put a lot of thought into each menu, “because we want to present customers with something new and of good quality.”
The last food stand in April served his own version of the famous lobster roll from New York and the Macau egg tart. The food stand will stay open until end of July.
Lotte Hotel is thankful that it could easily collaborate with fellow affiliate Lotte Department Store. Launching a food stand may be a little more difficult for other hotels that do not have an appropriate venue.
The food stand is open between 10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. until July 31 at the department store’s underground food court.