La Seine

By Yoon Sung-won

A highly recommended restaurant is one that offers tasty food together with a well-designed interior that promotes a comfortable atmosphere. An accessible location would be icing on the cake for fine dining customers.

La Seine, located on the first floor of Lotte Hotel Seoul in Eulji-ro, downtown Seoul, is an upscale buffet restaurant that has all these characteristics. In addition to the great food and comfortable interiors, it is easily accessible from the business district near City Hall, as well as from the shopping district in Myeong-dong.

The buffet is divided into eight sections — Asian cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Western cuisine, noodles, cold meals, Korean grill, desserts and drinks. Each section has an open kitchen where chefs prepare dishes on the spot from over 250 recipes. The only exceptions are some desserts, like cakes and breads that require a long time to bake.

To strengthen its Asian cuisine line up, La Seine recently introduced Indian tandoori chicken, Chinese dim sum and Pecking duck, and Mongolian Wok, all of which have become some of the most popular dishes. The dishes that represent Asian countries are prepared by veteran chefs from China, India, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Fresh seafood ingredients are used to give the raw food dishes the best flavor. The tender sushi and sashimi are made by chefs on the spot with raw shrimps, flatfish, octopus, salmon and tuna. The only downside of the restaurant is the small range of Korean dishes relative to other cuisines. Nevertheless, the Korean-style raw beef, or “yukhoe,” is well-seasoned.

To provide a better dining experience, chefs take carts to guests and prepare foods like steamed abalone, tuna sashimi and roast beef at guests’ table. This service is only available during lunch time on weekdays.

The buffet also offers wines and spirits, which cost from some 100,000 won ($88) to 300,000 won per bottle. Three sommeliers recommend wine to those who are not familiar.

The interior of the restaurant was recently renovated by Silver Fox Studios, a global design firm that performed renovation work on overseas hotels like Park Hyatt in Dubai and MGM in Macau. The firm furnished the restaurant with LED light, trees, stones and marble to create a comfortable atmosphere.

Lunch costs from 93,200 won to 95,600 won while dinner costs 99,200 won. These prices are high compared to those of other buffet restaurants at nearby hotels.

La Seine has 11 private rooms. Small rooms can accommodate up to 10 guests while large ones can accommodate 20 persons. The buffet offers presentation equipment like beam projectors in the rooms upon guests’ request. To book a private room, guests are recommended to book at least one day ahead and pay 55,000 won and 170,000 won, respectively, for small and large rooms.