Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ipoddan]

I don't believe that it is already December. I've already been getting Christmas requests from people.

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS EARLY! CHRISTMAS IS ONE OF KOREA'S TOP DATE HOLIDAYS.
If you don't make your reservation early, you'll be out of luck.

High-End
Most of the hotels will be holding Christmas Dinner's with Hotel Specials. I recommend the W-Hotel and the InterContinental Hotel. W-Hotel's Kitchen always has a great festive Christmas spread and the InterContinental's Marco Polo and Table 34 for great for couples.

I've also been to the Hyatt for their other holidays and I'm a big fan of their food and their view. Pierre Gagnaire will probably be rocking as well. Top Cloud is a major date destination at this time so be sure to book your reservation early.

I also recommend Gourmet Eo in Cheongdam, Ristorante Antonio, and Jung Shik Dang in Dosan Park

Chef Meili in Itaewon will definitely be having a Christmas Dinner. This is where I have had my last 2 Christmas/birthday dinners. They always have Turkey and other festive offerings such as Gluhweine. By the way, right now Chef Meili has Christmas cookies for sale. They are homemade, scrumptious, and make great Christmas gifts.

Mid-End

Suji's, OK2 Kitchen, and Toque in Itaewon also are very well known for having great Christmas Dinners.

The casinos like 7-luck are crazy busy, so just wanted to let you know.

In Gangnam, the popular hangout is Nolita's for Italian. In general, most of the Korean restaurants will not have much business. For some odd reason, Italian and Christmas are synonymous in Korea. I recommend Mad for Garlic and Via di Napoli.

Sortinos, Villa Sortinos, Passion 5, and Macaroni Market are also very good bets for Christmas.

Parties and Places you can go and not be alone

Wolfhound, Rocky Mountain Tavern, Beer O'Clock, and Yaletown are recommended bars to spend Christmas.

Gifts

Go to Tartines in Itaewon for Butter Tarts, Pies, and Meat Pies. Chef Meili has deli meats and salami. Also, I recommend you go up to the baklava house by the Mosque in Itaewon to get Turkish Delights and amazing homemade baklava.

And if you are looking for artisan Olive Oil or Boutique Wines, I would check out VineStock in Sorae Maeul. E-mail them here if you are looking to place an order. They can ship the olive oil.

You can find most of these restaurants and contact information by using the search button on the top of http://seouleats.com If you have any further questions or suggestions, respond to this post or send me at e-mail at [url][email protected][/url]

[pseudonym]

Just wanted to add to this, so nobody misses this one! Had dinner @ Brick & Wood, Ga-hoe-heon tonight & it was absolutely fantastic - we both had the 'basic' set menu and everything was just outstanding, including the bread & olives. Extremely good value (considering the quality of the food) @ 58.000 + 10% + drinks. We chose wine from the lower end of the menu, but it was still delicious; not a cheap-eat but in the grander scheme this Italian style eatery serves fantastic food in a lovely setting, & in a really nice part of town.

[Hyeon Een]

I want to know which place has turkey WITH roast potatoes. And gravy. And cranberry sauce. I don't care about the rest of the menu, I'll take whatever's going. I was most disappointed one year when I went to an expensive hotel buffet which had Turkey but NO potatoes. NONE. Not roast, not mashed, not boiled.. it ruined it.

I need roast potatoes. Good ones. So where are they on Christmas Day?

[pseudonym]

Thats a fair point, no christmas dinner is complete without roast potatoes (or parsnips, carrots, stuffing & yorkshire puddings for that matter). I can't vouch for what Wood & Brick will be doing xmas day, and I'll be back in Blighty by then so therefore will be having all of that Perhaps might be best to get your own to guarantee getting the real deal - christmas dinner is pretty easy to cook really imho.....

[wylies99]

Anything decent that�s UNDER 30,000? Not all of us teach privates and have money to burn.

[BoholDiver]

I'd pay up to 35,000 a head if it were good and genuine too. Yes, I also need potatoes. It's like giving a Korean kimchi but no rice.

[Hyeon Een]

[Kryten]

I'd like to echo what Hyeon Een is saying - a lot of places are advertising a turkey buffet, but that could mean anything (especially in the higher end restaurants) and I'm looking for something more along the lines of home cooked meal... roast potatoes, carrots, stuffing, gravy, ect. The works.

I've been trying to find Christmas day menus on some of the above mentioned places but it's scarce. Here's one for Suji's that looks alright:

New England clam chowder soup
Green salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette
Homemade brioche bread
House cured Honey ham steak
House cured Hot pastrami
Herb Turkey
Herb stuffing
Turkey gravy
Garlic mashed potato
Saut�ed green beans w/ mushroom gravy sauce
Pumpkin pie
Eggnog

Can anyone recommend a good place they've been to in previous years? No more than 60,000 would be ideal.

[BoholDiver]

Do you have a price on that?

To me, it's important to know the menu, see the prices, and be guaranteed a seat.

[Kryten]

It's 55,000 Won including VAT.

[BoholDiver]

Ouch. No thanks.

[Hyeon Een]

Sounds reasonable to me.

On the negative side, I'm not going there =(

The missus wants to go to a romantic place, which means an expensive hotel buffet (which I have a free ticket for, thank you Samsung). Unfortunately most of the good hotels are booked up so I'm going to the Renaissance which is somewhere south of the river. I have low expectations. Luckily I went to two Thanksgiving parties this year so I got my annual fill of turkey, and the hosts and hostesses DID provide potatoes, so I did not miss out this year. It'd be nice to have had it on Christmas Day though..

[craigmcc1982]

Suji's is fully booked anyway!

I would guess most of the major venues are the same.

[hugekebab]

[wylies99]