I Have NEVER Experienced This Behavior at a Michelin Starred Restaurant – Kwonsooksoo, Seoul

Kwonsooksoo is a 2 Michelin Star restaurant in Seoul, South Korea. I dined there on Christmas Eve, looking for a more traditional, yet high end Korean restaurant. To begin with, our group of 7 was placed in a private room and it was mandatory for us to order bottles of Dom and Red Wine. No problem, but I think that all relationships should be about give and take. In this case, I feel like this restaurant has lost all sense of customer appreciation. More on that later. Here was the menu that evening; if the three add-ons, I decided to try the local caviar with 43 year aged soy sauce.

The meal started off well. I really liked the dining room and the vibe of the restaurant. It looked very minimalist in a good way. However, there were red flags even upon arrival. First, I always film or take pics of the arrival and especially if the kitchen is open. I have never had an issue with this. However, at Kwonsooksoo, the lady at the front immediately freaked out and said “no filming”. I later learned they charge for kitchen tours and this is probably why they don’t let people who didn’t pay for the tour film. I’ve never see a place charge for kitchen tours. Anyway, the meal started with some amuse and a welcome drink:

Then turnip which caviar on top:

Next, something really cool, a kimchi cart! It reminded me of the French cheese cart.

…and some explanation of the various types of kimchi:

Croaker:

Snow crab, and this was also where they served the optional Korean caviar with 43 year aged soy. I asked how they were able to age the soy for 43 years when the chef is only 40+ himself, and was informed that this was the mother’s soy. Pretty cool story.

Eel:

Cold bean soup with truffle:

For my main, I chose the beef because Korean hanwoo beef is the best in the world in my opinion:

This was also served with some clam rice.

…and it wouldn’t be a Korean meal without banchan:

Lastly, the dessert and petit four cart:

It was at this point that the same lady at the front who told me not to film informed us that the restaurant hard closes at 10PM and everyone had to leave by then. We had about 15 minutes to finish the wine they made us buy, and desserts. I found this quite rude and have never seen this type of behavior at a restaurant of this level. The format of the tasting menu, involves an hours long leisurely dinner which everyone knows. Why have this format if you rush people out at the end? That is also counter to the definition of hospitality: “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers”. On top of this, we asked if we could get the food still on the table, including the petit fours, wrapped up to go since we were being rushed out. The lady responded “that is not allowed”. I have to wonder if they would have tried to stop us from bringing home the food WE paid for if we wrapped up the petit fours in paper napkins.

Anyway, whatever brilliance and atmosphere was present in the food and physical restaurant was overshadowed by the flaws in the service. I think sometimes, in any industry, not just restaurants, when one is showered with awards and accolades, one can lose sight of who contributed to their success in the first place, and adopt a mentality that it is the customer who is lucky to be able to experience the product or service. I would not return or recommend.