Zagat restaurant guide comes to Seoul
Zagat finally comes to Korea and the best in food, decor, service and popularity come up empty for Korean restaurants
Hanopolis | 1:39pm, Fri, Jan 29, 2010 | Comments (5)
It's curious that as an international restaurant guide covering over 100 countries, it has only now made its virgin debut into Korea, being only the third Asian country to be covered by the publication and Seoul, the 10th Asian city.
As large and diverse as Asia is, it seems Zagat has heretofore found it fitting to concentrate its gastronomical attentions elsewhere - about a hundred places elsewhere, to be more exact.
Anyhow, from this perch, the results of the survey does not seem to be particularly flattering to the the Korean food scene. As much as the Korean government has tried to promote Hansik abroad, it seems they need to begin at home first, because if the diners who took part in Zagat's reviews are any guide, the best places to dine out in Seoul may not be Korean. Or perhaps we're being unduly harsh and jumping to conclusions; it's possible many Korean restaurants fall just below the best (under the categories revealed below), which are foreign.
Guide to Seoul Restaurants
According to the Korea Herald, "Zagat and HyundaiCard joined forces to carry out the complex and arduous task of drawing up a list of restaurants to be surveyed before recruiting 4,398 diners (35 percent in their 20s, 55 percent in their 30s, 10 percent aged 40 and over) to rate the food, service and decor of the establishments on a 30-point scale."
"Zagat's field researchers and local editors drew up a list of 500 restaurants and a committee formed by HyundaiCard submitted a list of 2,000 restaurants," a HyundaiCard representative explained over the phone, the Herald said. "The list was combined and reduced to around 300 restaurants, which were then surveyed."
The project took about a year and a half.
"Our 2010 Seoul restaurant survey covers 287 of the city's top restaurants as voted on by almost 4,400 local diners who rated and reviewed each of these restaurants, voting on ZAGAT.com," said Tim Zagat, founder. "In addition to Korean cuisine, the dining scene in Seoul is vibrant with global influences. The diversity of Seoul restaurants is evident by looking at some of the top winners."
The Winners
Based on the ratings of local Seoul residents, the top winners for food, decor, service and popularity were the following:
• Best Food: (Italian) Ristorante Eo, in Cheongdam-dong
• Best Decor: (French fusion) Naos Nova
• Best Service: (French) Shilla Hotel's Continental
• Most Popular: (Indian) Ganga
There you have it; not a single Korean restaurant in sight, at least in these categories. Perhaps some Korean restaurants pop up somewhere under the "best food" category winner as runner-ups - who knows. But subjectively, we doubt it.
Of course, within the Korean food category, some Korean restaurants came up winners. For instance, Bamboo House, Myongwolgwan, Woolaeok and Yongsusan were so-called "top-rated restaurants" in the "Korean food category".
Still, though the details are sketchy, it's a bit of an embarrassment. Hansik, perhaps, needs to begin at home. If Koreans themselves do not appreciate their own cuisine, how can they expect anyone else to?
As large and diverse as Asia is, it seems Zagat has heretofore found it fitting to concentrate its gastronomical attentions elsewhere - about a hundred places elsewhere, to be more exact.
Anyhow, from this perch, the results of the survey does not seem to be particularly flattering to the the Korean food scene. As much as the Korean government has tried to promote Hansik abroad, it seems they need to begin at home first, because if the diners who took part in Zagat's reviews are any guide, the best places to dine out in Seoul may not be Korean. Or perhaps we're being unduly harsh and jumping to conclusions; it's possible many Korean restaurants fall just below the best (under the categories revealed below), which are foreign.
Guide to Seoul Restaurants
According to the Korea Herald, "Zagat and HyundaiCard joined forces to carry out the complex and arduous task of drawing up a list of restaurants to be surveyed before recruiting 4,398 diners (35 percent in their 20s, 55 percent in their 30s, 10 percent aged 40 and over) to rate the food, service and decor of the establishments on a 30-point scale."
"Zagat's field researchers and local editors drew up a list of 500 restaurants and a committee formed by HyundaiCard submitted a list of 2,000 restaurants," a HyundaiCard representative explained over the phone, the Herald said. "The list was combined and reduced to around 300 restaurants, which were then surveyed."
The project took about a year and a half.
"Our 2010 Seoul restaurant survey covers 287 of the city's top restaurants as voted on by almost 4,400 local diners who rated and reviewed each of these restaurants, voting on ZAGAT.com," said Tim Zagat, founder. "In addition to Korean cuisine, the dining scene in Seoul is vibrant with global influences. The diversity of Seoul restaurants is evident by looking at some of the top winners."
The Winners
Based on the ratings of local Seoul residents, the top winners for food, decor, service and popularity were the following:
• Best Food: (Italian) Ristorante Eo, in Cheongdam-dong
• Best Decor: (French fusion) Naos Nova
• Best Service: (French) Shilla Hotel's Continental
• Most Popular: (Indian) Ganga
There you have it; not a single Korean restaurant in sight, at least in these categories. Perhaps some Korean restaurants pop up somewhere under the "best food" category winner as runner-ups - who knows. But subjectively, we doubt it.
Of course, within the Korean food category, some Korean restaurants came up winners. For instance, Bamboo House, Myongwolgwan, Woolaeok and Yongsusan were so-called "top-rated restaurants" in the "Korean food category".
Still, though the details are sketchy, it's a bit of an embarrassment. Hansik, perhaps, needs to begin at home. If Koreans themselves do not appreciate their own cuisine, how can they expect anyone else to?
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