My family went to a “Stylish Buffet” La Seine at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul for the Christmas Eve dinner. Again, I hate buffet but our family friend already made the reservation.
We sat in a private room so we could enjoy some privacy at an otherwise hectic buffet with waiters and diners alike walking around moving plates and getting food, respectively.
The table setting included a nice, thick napkin, a bottle of Evian water, a cake, and a lit-up candle with flower petals underneath.
I took some photos before the buffet officially opened for the “Dinner Round 2” (8pm to 10pm). The buffet had several different cuisines—Japanese (sushi, sashimi), noodles (spaghetti, udon, etc. made to order), porridge (abalone soup, kabocha squash soup, etc.), grill (shrimp, lobster, abalone, steak, lamb), Chinese (dimsum, fried rice, etc.), salad, and dessert. There were so many mini bowls of raw beef. I like my steak rare, but I don’t like the idea of eating completely raw meat.
Raw fish, however, is another story. Come to think of it, I suppose there is no difference in eating raw fish and raw meat. The chefs are busily prepping the sushi before the opening at 8pm.
The Chinese corner of the buffet included fried rice, dimsum, chicken, and other dishes. This was the last picture I took before one of the chefs yelled at me for taking pictures. He said I can’t take any zoom-in photos. I should have asked why not?
This fois gras, with chopped pistachios, mint basil, and blueberry & lemon sauce, was so savory! I loved the nuttiness of the pistachios with the fois gras and the sweet blueberry/lemon sauce.
I was ecstatic to see the grilled kabocha squash. You would think, “of all the food you could have eaten, you chose the cheap, kabocha squash?” What can I say, I am a “Squash Girl.” The king crab tasted like it was steamed a long time ago because the meat wasn’t very sweet. The dimsums were surprisingly delicious and I loved that none of them had pork inside! Instead the one on the left had shrimp, while the one in the right had spinach. The glutinous rice in the bamboo container was very chewy. The little square stuffing was too hard, and the waiter took my plate away before I could have a second bite.
The lobster tail and the giant shrimp were served right off the grill. I personally don’t like butter, so I was glad that the lobster was grilled without any condiment so that I could enjoy the pure taste of the tail. The meat was tender and chewy.
My second plate is very similar to the first. The orange sea squirt on the left had a very bitter taste, but I ate about five of those. I picked out all the crab meat with a stick and put it on the side before getting in line for the grilled abalone, but the waiter took my plate away during that time ☹ Oh well.
Dessert time! I actually didn’t eat these but had to take pictures because they were so pretty! In the spirit of the holiday, most dessert had some kind of “Merry Christmas” trademarks engraved on to them. There were cakes (cheesecake, tiramisu, cream cake), jellos, puddings, fresh fruits, ice cream, yogurt, and glutinous rice cake.
Too bad this giant gingerbread house wasn’t edible. You would think that a bill of $125/person should be able to afford something more magical, right?
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