The Mood - Possibly the first international luxury hotel to enter the South Korean capital, the Grand Hyatt Seoul resonates with an ageless grace from the verdant expanse of the city’s Namsan district. The location is quite a destination in itself, with large tracts of greenery that furtively cover the villas and bungalows of Seoul’s burgeoning wealthy class. Visualise the clinking of silverwares on fine china at teatime with live piano and violin performances and you'd be on spot. Right off the hill where the hotel stands are some of the city’s most popular pubs and drinking holes, but imbued with the FnB excellence of an olden Grand Hyatt, there are enough gastronomic attractions and entertainment spots within this hotel to keep guests happy.

 

The Gourmet Index - Teppanyaki is progressively the stuff of fine dining outside of Japan and Teppan is the definitive culinary address for elevated teppanyaki cuisine in Seoul. The amount of attention and thought that goes into the dinner presentation here is insane, with a good dose of finesse and theatrics imbued for an experiential high. In case you are wondering, there are no egg juggling nor obtrusive buffoonery involved, just very concentric attention to the preparation and assemblage of each dish featuring the best of Korean ingredients forged by sizzling hot plates. The creativity displayed as the courses take shape is quite wondrous, and the crafted flavours are utterly splendid. JJ Mahoney is an old school, high octane, pub brought to life by trendy dj, an electrifying live band and plenty of intoxicating libation. The crowds circulating in and out of this 36 year old establishment might have evolved over its decades in business, but the expectant mood here is always jubilant and fun, especially when the band starts to play 3 cocktails in. There are no views or secret addresses to coax a crowd through the door here; the effervescence is utterly organic as you’d expect these joints with great staying power to be.​​

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The Service - Service here is well attuned to the Namsan sensibilities (a hotbed of old wealth where the hotel is located), so one can expect staff to be refined and attentive, and the panache they exhibit matches the elegant and genteel milieu of the establishment exceedingly

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How Fab?   FAB Gold Restaurant - Teppan (2024)