Teppan at Grand Hyatt Seoul
When I am deciding where to go for an anniversary or some other occasion that asks to be marked, the place I think of is Teppan at Grand Hyatt Seoul. It is also the first name that comes up when you go looking for teppan dining in Korea. The restaurant opened in 2016, and it was around then that fine teppan cooking became something you could no longer leave out of the conversation here. The space was once home to a Japanese restaurant called Akasaka, where teppan was one dish among many on the menu. A 2016 renovation gave it a second life, this time as a restaurant devoted entirely to the iron griddle.
There are two kinds of seats. One looks out onto the green of the Hyatt's trees, the other takes in the city of Seoul in a single sweep. You can request either when you book, depending on what you are after.
What makes the place worth returning to is not only the setting of a fine hotel or the view. It is that the menu is built around Korean seasonal produce and changes with the time of year. On my first visit, the warmth of the service and the quality of the food stayed with me for a long while, and that evening the chef mentioned both that the menu shifts with the seasons and that there is a separate arrangement for solo guests, a single diner reservation. Where most fine dining rooms are not especially glad to see a table for one, here a guest dining alone is welcomed all the same. My next visit, I booked as a single diner, and it let me give my full attention to the griddle in front of me and to each plate as it came.
The dinner course I had began with three appetizers and moved through mulhoe, a dish of abalone, grilled fish, lobster, and then the main of beef, before closing with a rice course, dessert, and tea. It was a summer menu, so tomato and basil turned up throughout, and the chef told me the restaurant grows both itself, showing them to me right there.
I liked being able to eat while hearing what each ingredient was and where it had been grown. With a few words of detail added to every plate, the flavors came through fuller, and I found myself savoring even the smallest component.
The menu turns over with the seasons, so what arrives depends on when you come. Still, the sea urchin noodles that closed out the meal that day are worth setting down here. I usually go for the fried rice when I'm at Teppan, but I love sea urchin enough that this time I chose the noodles. Had they sold it on its own, I'd have happily asked for a second bowl.
