By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
The irony is that, despite efforts to globalize Korean food and make it part of the world’s dining table, big Korean restaurants at home are disappearing. Their disappearance also means that foreigners are being deprived of chances to get acquainted with hansik in its most general form and taste.
Of the 18 highest-ranked hotels in Seoul, currently four of them are running a Korean restaurant, according to data from the Korea Hotel Association (KHA). Except for Mayfield, Lotte (Euljiro), Sheraton Grand Walkerhill and Renaissance Seoul, the rest of the luxury hotels have given up operations because of pressure from cost reductions.
In most renowned hotels in Korea, restaurants specializing in overseas cuisine have been replacing those of Korean food over the years. At the Shilla Hotel, its representative food amenity is its Chinese restaurant “Palseon.” Also, a French restaurant substitutes for a now-defunct Korean restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
“It’s the trend in luxury hotels in Korea, with losses growing,” a KHA official said.
“Even in some surviving Korean restaurants, some of them are operating more as customer service rather than a profitable arm.” For foreign guests, a preference for Korean food has been steadily declining, Korean hoteliers say.
“Most traveling guests here are from Japan and China, and not many of them here are in favor of Korean food for their breakfast,” an official at a local hotel franchise said on condition of anonymity.
Restaurants dealing with hanjeongsik, or Korean table d’hote, in town are no exception.
The famous places here say customers have nearly halved over the past few months.
It takes longer and more preparation and more cooking process than most other foreign dishes, thus leading to higher spending on employees and other related items. Inevitably, Korean restaurants are more easily subject to closure in an economic slump.
Even the few survivors agree that highend Korean restaurants can always see threats. It is becoming more difficult to run such places these days, because fewer budding chefs are inclined to go for Korean food, industry sources say, hinting that the establishment of Korean food cooking schools can be an early step to take in the globalization campaign.
“Both chefs and the government have a responsibility in the globalization of Korean cuisine,” said Lee Jae-ok, the head chef of Ondal, a Korean restaurant in the Sheraton Grand Walkerhill.
“Chefs need to study a better way of cooking and serving Korean food, while the government needs to set up a long-term plan to better promote it.”