One and only ― signature foods at hotels

By Kim Rahn

It is true that hotels offer similar food promotions according to seasons and special days _ wild vegetables in spring, iced desserts in summer, pine mushrooms in fall, swellfish in winter or a champagne dinner on Valentine’s Day.

But each hotel has its own special dishes, which make customers return again and again.

At the Novotel Ambassador Gangnam, it is the tuna tartar, an appetizer created by executive chef Gerard Mosiniak.

The “White tuna half salted, Polynesian style revisited,” combines high-protein, low-calorie tuna, coconut milk, lemon juice and onion, in a swirl of yogurt with the chef’s own signature sauce.

Mosiniak created the dish for healthy dining after being inspired by the diet efforts of his wife who is a vegetarian. It is available at the hotel’s European restaurant, The Bistro, for 18,000 won. For more information, call 02-531-6604.

Bread offered as an appetizer is often treated as something to avoid because it fills customers up before their order arrives. But at the Renaissance Seoul Hotel, the bread is the star.

The hotel’s steakhouse Manhattan Grill offers four kinds of warm and soft bread: vegetable, grain, butter and cranberry. Because of its popularity, the bread is sold as a separate item at The Bakery. For more information, call 02-2222-8637.

The Renaissance Seoul’s buffet restaurant Cafe Elysee also has a unique service called “passing item.” Besides the usual buffet menus, four freshly-prepared hot and cold dishes are offered directly to customers’ table, giving them a chance to enjoy surprise items. For more information, call 02-2222-8635.

At the W Seoul-Walkerhill, a hamburger is not just a cheap lunch or junk food. The hotel’s W “X” Burger, available at its restaurant Kitchen, has changed the fixed ideas of burgers, using ingredients of real gourmands’ favorite dishes.

The e”X”treme burger is made of quality Australian wagyu tenderloin and seared foie gras on a homemade brioche bun. Along with that, black truffle, Canadian lobster tail

and asparagus is served along with a matsutake mushroom salad.

Customers can choose from three different sauces ― black truffle mayonnaise, black truffle red wine sauce and tomato salsa.

The burger is available for 150,000 won. For more information, call 02-2022-0111.

The Imperial Palace Hotel has turned the cherry tomato from a common vegetable to a special buffet item with wild raspberry sauce.

At buffet restaurant Familia, the carefully-peeled cherry tomatoes in lemon and raspberry juice are popular, and some regular customers take the sweet tomatoes in a large bowl to have as a side dish. For more information, call 02-3440-8000.

Two of the Westin Chosun Seoul’s signature dishes come from Japanese restaurant Sushi Cho and Chinese restaurant Hong Yuan.

At Sushi Cho, Monaka, a Japanese traditional sweet, is one of the most favored desserts. Sweet beans paste, green tea or espresso flavored ice cream is sandwiched by chrysanthemum-shaped thin crispy crusts. It is priced at 12,000 won per piece. For more information, call 02-317-0373.

Tofu pudding is popular in Hong Kong and Japan and in Korea customers can find it in Hong Yuan. The handmade tofu has a silky soft texture and delicate flavor. The dessert is called “hyang-in tofu,” meaning tofu flavored with almond. Its semi-sweetness comes from the milk and almond, making it an ideal substitute for sugary puddings. It is available at 10,000 won. For more information, call 02-317-0494.

French restaurant Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul at the Lotte Hotel Seoul is famous for its unique recipes, but Julien Boscus, chef de cuisine, selects Dover sole meuniere with Keinsheim butter and parmesan tuiles as the most special.

The restaurant cooks the fish “sous vide,” a low-temperature cooking technique, to make the fish soft and tender. “Since the sole is an extremely delicate fish, it gets flaky when you cook up the sole fillet. However, I can tell for sure that the results will be the same every time and easily replicable when I cook with sous vide,” Boscus said.

The Keinsheim butter also helps the sole hold its original shape and improve its richness, according to the chef. For more information, call 02-317-7181.

The Grand Hilton Seoul will present an award-winning pork dish during December.

It was created by head chef Chang Lihua at Chinese restaurant Yeohyang who won first prize from the “2011 World Pork Knuckle Festival” in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, last September.

Chang said he tried to make a Korean-style pork knuckle using Chinese cooking techniques and spices. Customers can enjoy the dish as part of a set menu or as an a la carte choice. For more information, call 02-2287-8787.

The Sheraton Grande Walkerhill is one of a handful of top hotels with a Korean restaurant. Its Ondal presents a course menu named “500 Years of Joseon Dynasty” until Dec. 31.

The menu was developed at the request of first lady Kim Yoon-ok during the G20 Business Summit in 2010. Kim wanted a perfect sample taste of traditional Korean cuisine, which uses healthy herbs and fresh ingredients handpicked from different regions from all over the country.

The dishes includes “gujeolpan,” (platter of nine delicacies), pine nut porridge, tri-colored Korean pancakes, “neobiani” (thinly grilled beef), royal hot pot and desserts. It is priced at 150,000 won. For more information, call 02-455-4518.