Pierre Gagnaire Seoul was the most glamourous restaurant we dined at during our recent visit in the spring of 2026. Located on the 35th floor of Lotte Hotel Executive Tower, this French restaurant is ornately decorated, complete with a golden ceiling and sparkling chandeliers. Befitting the luxurious atmosphere, the food was great and service was immaculate.
Seoul Michelin Guide Restaurant at the Lotte Hotel Seoul
The restaurant is listed in the Seoul Michelin Guide, but without any Michelin stars. Its sister restaurant, the Mugunghwa (on the 38th floor of the same hotel) which we tried on a previous visit is likewise listed as a “selected restaurant” but has no Michelin star to its name but we thought was very good as well.
Other than the perceived prestige of dining at a Michelin star restaurant, there is no particular benefit for us whether there is a star or not. In fact we like the ease of making a reservation at both Pierre Gagnaire Seoul and Mugunghwa as the online booking process was simple and not demanding. More restaurants these days require credit card deposits and some even advance payments. In the case of our lunch at Pierre Gagnaire Lotte Hotel Seoul we had the added benefit of having the restaurant all to ourselves.
Pierre Gagnaire Seoul Menu
There was only one menu for lunch at Pierre Gagnaire Seoul. This is a picture of the lunch menu which cost KRW180,000 (about S$160) per person. Like many other restaurants we tried in Seoul, the menu price was all inclusive i.e. with no extra service charge or taxes added.
One of the attributes mentioned in the Seoul Michelin Guide about the restaurant is its wine collection. The impressive wine cellar display is said to have more than 250 labels. We did not do a stocktake of the inventory but the wine list looked comprehensive enough. More useful to us was the existence of half bottle (385ml) options. We picked a bottle of Burgundy red from this selection.
Bread and Snacks
Three types of bread was served with butter. Cannot remember the types of bread but they had variety in texture and flavour. The butter was classic French butter.
Next to arrive was a collection of small items (some restaurants call them snacks):
Sardine rillettes on toast with olive oil.
Avignon-style beef roll.
Grilled asparagus, Cajun milk panna cotta, Black garlic oil
Blue crab mousse with soy sauce.
Pea miroir, orange gel, delicate tarragon cream.
They were all beautiful and delicious. Here are closeup views of two of them.
Lunch at Pierre Gagnaire Seoul: Fish and Quail
After the snacks the second and third courses were served. They were larger than the snacks but still quite small. The fish dish was skate wing meuniรจre served with chili tomato water, snow peas with basil. Skate wing was similar in texture to our local grilled stingray dish, but the condiments and sauce were more subtle and complex.
It has been a while since I ate quail. The closest I can recall is the pigeon at Odette in Singapore. The pigeon was obviously bigger but the taste was similar and the serving of a tiny drumstick was unforgettable. At Pierre Gagnaire, we were served quail ballotine with grapes and Macaire-style potato. The quail meat was de-boned apart from the drumstick. The quail flavour was intense and deep. The slightly sweet and tart sauce provided good accompaniment.
Sweet Things
Desserts and petit fours were served after the meat dishes. Each was exquisitely made. Each had a unique sweet flavour blended with something else. A very elegant sweet ending to our meal at Pierre Gagnaire Seoul.
Coffee was served as part of the lunch.
Ratings:
Food: 5
Service: 5
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Overall Rating: 5 TOPsย
Pierre Gagnaire Seoul
35F, Lotte Hotel Seoul, 30 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu
Seoul 04533, South Korea
Discover more from The Ordinary Patrons
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.