Akira Back Seoul, Modern Japanese Restaurant in Four Seasons Hotel

Akira Back Seoul was the restaurant we decided to go to for a break from days of dining on Korean food. In addition to the change of cuisine, the restaurant’s stunning dining hall was also a visual departure from the conservative styles we had experienced up to that stage of our recent trip.

Modern Japanese Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul

A modern Japanese restaurant, it is helmed by chef Akira Back. The restaurant in the Seoul Four Seasons Hotel is described as a creative dining destination that offers Japanese cuisine with a Korean twist “that will stimulate and excite your senses”.

We had visited Akira Back’s Singapore outlet at South Beach when it first opened in 2017. We were impressed by the restaurant decor and our expectations were high when we went to Akira Back Seoul. But still we were not expecting such a beautiful setting to have lunch. The main dining area takes up a double (or perhaps triple) volume space. Visitors pass a counter dining area and a sake counter before reaching the top of the stairs that descend to the dining tables. It is an impressive way to make an entrance.

Akira Back Seoul Menu

Here are pictures of the Akira Back Seoul menu for weekday lunch and dinner. There is of course an a la carte menu. Since we did not want to have a long lunch, we opted for the weekday lunch set priced at KRW129,000 per pax with a surcharge for optional items.

Japanese Lunch in Seoul

Our weekday lunch started off slowly with a small appetiser and a chawanmushi. Both were pleasant small items to start lunch. The latter was particularly memorable for its complex blend of egg and seafood flavours and its smooth texture.

Next was a small selection of four kinds of sashimi. This was quite ordinary.

Grilled Fish, Eggplant and Mochi Tempura

Very small but delicious was the grilled fish. The other dish is harder to describe. It was a mix of flavours of eggplant and other things which I could not identify in a starchy broth which had a nice taste and texture. Something like agedashi tofu.

Lunch at Akira Back Seoul : Main Courses

For main courses we opted for the codfish and vegetable soup (picture above) and the sushi platter (which required a KRW25,000 extra). The soup was light and clear with a fair number of slices of cod fish. This was a kind of fish soup and rice that we could eat anytime. The sushi platter contained a mixed selection of sushi pieces. We thought that it was as good although not as nice as sushi at specialist sushi restaurants.

Finally, our lunch concluded with a simple dessert and petit fours. Coffee was also served as part of the lunch. We thought that lunch at Akira Back Seoul was a pleasant way to take a break from Korean food. Service and the dining atmosphere at this restaurant was top-notch.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 5
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 5
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 

Akira Back Seoul
Four Seasons Hotel
97 Saemunan-ro, Dangju-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea

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