Korean Restaurants in Hotels, on the Back Burner

Korean style restaurants are vanishing from five-star hotels in Seoul.

Hotel restaurants are losing to their competitors, with more consumers seeking general restaurants and a consequent reduction in guests seeking Korean cuisine.

The Korean restaurant Sorabol, located in Hotel Shilla, is closing late this month. Sorabol has remained a first-class Korean restaurant since the opening of Hotel Shilla in 1979, but even it must finally close its doors due to a gradual decline in patronage. For the time being, Hotel Shilla will offer simple Korean cuisine at their ground-level café and buffet Parkview, and is set to open a grand restaurant serving Korean, Japanese and Western cuisine in March, 2005.

The Westin Chosun Hotel decided to close their Korean restaurant, Sheobul, still considering when to close.

Among the sixteen five-star hotels in Seoul, only six house Korean cuisine specialty restaurants. Those that offer Korean cuisine include the Sheraton Walkerhill and Grand Intercontinental Hotel, with the exception of Westin Chosun.

Foreign franchise hotels such as Grand Hyatt and JW Marriot have never housed Korean restaurants and hotels that originally offered Korean restaurants gradually began to close them in the late 1990s.

Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel and Sejong Hotel closed their Korean restaurants in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Seoul Plaza Hotel moved its restaurant, Asadal, to an outside location Samcheonggak, in 2001.

Newly built hotels are following this trend and not opening Korean restaurants.

Ramada Seoul Hotel and Seoul Walkerhill Hotel do not have Korean restaurants and Hotel Amiga, although currently expanding its facilities, has not included a Korean restaurant in the three that are being constructed.

“Korean people as well as foreigners don’t go to Korean restaurants, so sales in these restaurants are only half of other establishments,” said Jang Woo-jong, public relations manager for Hotel Shilla.

Hotel Shilla is launching the “Task Force Team for Globalization of Korean Food” in order to develop Korean cuisine that will appeal to foreigners’ tastes.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com