Renaissance Seoul Hotel’s Japanese restaurant Irodori


By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

Buffet restaurants at local hotels are faithful to the ``all-you-can-eat'' philosophy, serving a large variety of dishes for a set price. But the quantity focus may disappoint diners as it often comes at the expense of quality. The Renaissance Seoul Hotel's Japanese restaurant Irodori has come forward with a solution to satisfy customers both in quantity and quality.

The restaurant features a buffet only on weekends by combining the merits of the ``all-you-can-eat'' buffet and the regular ``order-from-the-table'' dining.

The buffet launched on Jan. 19th is surely living up to its name. ``Irodori'' means``variety" in Japanese.

At a glance, the restaurant's buffet is typical ― guests take whatever food items they want as they walk passed a line of food containers filled with prepared food. Types and quantity of dishes seem much smaller than at other buffet restaurants.

But guests choose most of the items on display and skillful chefs prepare them upon request and serve them at the diners' tables. Although it is a buffet restaurant, guests can enjoy a more customized service.

``It's like a combination of a buffet and a regular restaurant,'' Kim Bo-seong, Irodori kitchen chef de Partie, said. ``You can enjoy as many a la carte courses as you wish at our buffet.''

The restaurant has dispatched skillful chefs to offer more customized services, as opposed to guests helping themselves to various pre-cooked dishes with minimum assistance by restaurant staff, Kim said.

The buffet restaurant offers about 70 different dishes, including seven kinds of sashimi and eight kinds of sushi, such as a flatfish, red snapper, tuna and scallop ― fresh seafood that is crucial to Japanese restaurants, Kim said.

``Unlike other buffet restaurants, we maintain the freshness of our seafood, which I think is a huge advantage for a Japanese buffet restaurant,'' the chef with over 20 years experience in Japanese cuisine said.

In addition to seafood, the restaurant also provides a personalized tepanyaki service.

When customers choose what they want from filet, sirloin, salmon and asparagus to various mushrooms along with five different kinds of sauces, a chef at the tepanyaki section prepares it in front of customers.

Prices are 55,000 won for lunch and 60,000 won for dinner. Children under 11 will be charged half price.

For more information, call (02) 2222-8659.

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