Korea House

Korea House is an interesting place in that it houses – pun completely intended – a cultural showcase as well as a high-end restaurant. It is listed in pretty much all “tourist maps” but there are a few different names for the same place so it can get a bit tricky to locate (even though it is literally a 5 minute walk from the closest train station which is a very important thing if you are visiting in winter time). The architecture of the place is very distinct and beautiful. This view is from the inner courtyard – from outside getting a view is a bit more difficult because there seems to be a construction.

The food part is pretty decent, served buffet style and there is a wide variety to choose from.  The price is a bit steep though and it seems during the week there is not a lot of takers for the buffet (to be fair I took this picture right before the cultural show thingie was starting so people were all gone.)  It is still recommended, and may be even required, to make a reservation though and the easiest way to do that is through the concierge. I am thinking this place being so, touristy (no one there was Korean when I was there), they should be able to handle phone reservations in English as well.

The food was nice and all but I think the highlight was easily the cultural part of the experience. Korea House hosts a stage where various cultural aspects of Korea is on display for guests to enjoy after dinner. This place requires its own reservation by the way and like a theater the seats are numbered, with each reservation tied to seat numbers. As performances are displayed, the TV on the right, displays information in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and English. The show I watched was pretty nice including things like a fan dance, moon dance by a couple, and various musical performances. Even though it is not allowed to take pictures during the show, after the show some performers come outside so you can take pictures with them as a souvenir.