For a classy meeting over steak and wine

By Yun Suh-young

Famed New York restaurant Wolfgang's Steakhouse has finally reached Seoul, exciting the gastronomes and those who have longed for a steak that is worth the money.

The steakhouse's Seoul outlet, in the wealthy district of Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, is the first in Korea, second in Asia and the 11th in the world. Others are in places like Beverly Hills, Miami, Hawaii and Tokyo.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse was established in 2004 by Wolfgang Zwiener, who had worked for 40 years as head waiter at the Peter Luger Steakhouse, a time-honored steakhouse in the United States. Zwiener, after four decades of loyal service, opened his own steakhouse based on the experience and skills he acquired at Peter Luger's. What Wolfgang has that Peter Luger's doesn't is a seafood menu, according to Zwiener during a visit to Seoul.

The Seoul restaurant, which opened on March 23, operates under the same standards as the steakhouse in New York.

It uses top-quality USDA Prime Grade Black Angus, which falls in the top 3 percent of beef in the United States. The beef is dry-aged for 28 days at a specially constructed in-house aging facility.

Dry-aging is one of two aging methods for beef, the other is wet-aging (which is done using a vacuum-sealed bag to retain moisture). It is seldom available outside of upscale steak restaurants because the process involves delicacy, and considerable expense and time.

For dry-aging, beef is stored at a special temperature and humidity. This preserves the natural flavor and texture of the meat and allows it to become tender.

The steakhouse's signature dish is the porterhouse steak, which is grilled rapidly in a special broiler at 1,700 degrees. It is then served thick-sliced and sizzling on a tilted platter with hot butter and beef juices. The meat is crisp and slightly smoky on the outside and pink and tender on the inside, giving off a salty, chewy flavor in the beginning and a clean and rich finish.

Other than the signature porterhouse steak, which is available in portions for two, three and four, sirloin, rib-eye, filet mignon and lamb chop are also some of the other choices.

A variety of other entree and side offerings are available, such as a seafood platter, sizzling bacon, Wolfgang salad, lobster cocktail, tuna tartare, creamed spinach and German potatoes, to name a few.

Phone number:

02-556-8700

Address

: Yongin Bldg, 89-6 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Parking:

Valet parking available

Opening hours:

Every day from 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. (last order at 10 p.m.) starting from April 20

Until April 19, only dinner will be served between 5 - 10:30 p.m. (last order at 10 p.m.)

Seats:

207 table seats, 17 bar seats and 7 private rooms (for 6, 8, 10, 20 people)