Mugunghwa Restaurant : Modern Korean Cuisine at Lotte Hotel Seoul

Mugunghwa Restaurant is a refined Korean restaurant on the 38th floor of Lotte Hotel Seoul. It is a luxurious venue to experience traditional Korean with a modern interpretation.

Seoul Michelin Guide Restaurant

It is not a Michelin star restaurant but is one of the Korean restaurants listed in the Seoul Michelin Guide for “good cooking”. Mugunghwa is described as a modern Korean restaurant whose cooking is based on the basic principle that dictated Eastern medicine — that food and medicine are essentially the same. 

Mugunghwa has a modern decor and a peaceful ambience. We had a window side table that has views towards north of Seoul. The view has a city view with Bukhansan or Bukhan Mountain in the background.

Mugunghwa Restaurant Menu

Like many fine dining restaurants these days, fixed course menus are offered at the restaurant, with the lunch menus being more affordable. The lunch menus ranged from KRW170,00 while dinner prices start from KRW210,000. We had lunch there and opted for the mid-range KRW180,000 Kum Kang menu. Here are pictures of some of the lunch menus.

Traditional Korean Liquor

In addition to luxurious food, the restaurant also a selection of wine and alcoholic drinks to go with the food. We were more interested in the traditional Korean liquors which we rarely get to see in Singapore. Here is a picture of a sample page from the menu.

Kum Kang Lunch Menu

Lunch commenced with welcome snacks, which were crunchy snacks to nibble on while waiting for the food to arrive.

Next to arrive were deep-fried burdock root and poached egg (picture above), followed by crab dumpling in broth (picture below). These starters were elegant both visually and in taste. The beauty of the plating can rival some of the best we have seen in top French restaurants.

Lunch at Mugunghwa Restaurant Lotte Hotel Seoul : Fish and Hanwoo

Next to be served were the meat dishes. The grilled fish was superbly fresh and enhanced by the lightly flavoured bean sauce.

Korean beef or “Hanwoo” is always a delicacy at Korean restaurants. On this visit to Seoul, we had a few meals where this was served and this was one of the best. Served in thick slices, the meat was tender and had a right amount of ‘beefiness’ for our taste.

Noodles, Rice and Dessert

To complete the meal there was a choice of noodles or rice. We chose one of each.

We enjoyed both of these, but the Korean wheat noodles in Korean beef broth (picture above) was more interesting. This was a very finely made bowl of soup and noodles using local ingredients. The taste was light yet complex. The seafood bibimbap was also good but slightly less memorable.

Some small desserts together with traditional Korean tea and sweets ended our lunch at Mugunghwa Restaurant on a sweet and gentle note.

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

Mugunghwa Restaurant
38F Lotte Hotel 롯데호텔 서울, 30 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu,
Seoul, 04533, South Korea

Lunch 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM (Last order 1:30 PM)
Dinner 5:30 PM – 9:30 PM (Last order 8:00 PM)

Website