Luxury at its finest. The moment you enter The Paris Grill at the Grand Hyatt in Itaewon, the idea of brunch becomes less about the cuisine and more about the experience.
How to get there: There really is no easy way to get to The Paris Grill via public transportation. In fact, it’s at the top of Itaewon Hill, which would make this journey quite strenuous if you choose to walk. My advice would be to take a cab from Itaewon Station (Line 6) and say “Hyatt Grand Hotel”. They will drive you up the hill for about 4,000KRW. Hey, you are about to drop almost 200,000KRW on brunch, what is an extra 4,000KRW right? When you arrive at the hotel, walk through the main doors and head right, The Paris Grill is located on floor B1 of the hotel.
Service and Atmosphere: The Paris Grill exudes class and style the whole way. The contemporary interior is flawless in its design. The tables are aligned perfectly with each other, as though their interior designer had a touch of OCD. Every utensil, cloth and glass on the table appears to be brand new and is laid out perfectly. Every detail that one could conceivably imagine is already taken care of. The buffet is perfectly placed in the middle of the room, making it easily obtainable to anyone who is dining. Although a couple of the stations are located slightly outside the main dining area, such as dessert, I didn’t feel that this took away from the experience, as the main courses were on display front and centre. Light, ambient music plays gently overhead, encouraging conversation until late afternoon. Service went beyond expectation. All he servers spoke perfect English and literally were there the second your glass was empty or a plate was finished. In one word: elite.
Food and Drink: To list all the food that is available would take up the rest of your afternoon, but there are well over 100 items for your dining pleasure including an oyster bar, shrimp, grilled lamb, bacon, sausage, pizza and a candy bar. Fresh baked bread and oil and vinegar is laid at your table the second you sit down. Drinks include soda, fresh juice and a glass of Laurant-Perrier champagne to start the day.
Our Favourites: For me it was the grilled lamb all the way followed by the garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. The lamb was cooked perfectly, with just a little bit of juice seeping out, just the way I like it. Jill’s favourite were the seared Atlantic salmon, risotto, cauliflower soup and the pecan pie for dessert.
Value: The whole bill came out to approximately 180,000KRW (My credit card is still crying). However, this will be standard the price when you stay in a luxurious hotel such as the Hyatt. Was it worth it? Yes, absolutely yes. The ambience, the service and the quality of food was five star. If I am going to pay this much money, I have high expectations, and they were all exceeded during our visit.
Who Should Visit The Paris Grill: An excellent place for brunch for those special occasions, or if you happen to be a member of the 1% club and your high expectations need to be satisfied.
Who Should Not Visit the Paris Grill: Start saving up your WON boys and girls, this is not the place for the budget traveller. Try Paris Baguette for a not so similar experience. Okay, sarcasm aside, there are a few brunch places in Itaewon that are pretty solid and won’t leave you mortgaging the house and they include The Libertine and Suji’s Deli.
Derek Versus Lonely Planet 
I’ve been wanting to do this brunch since I found out about it, but somehow I can never pull the trigger. It’s so expensive, and I can’t eat too much in 1 sitting, so I wondered if it was worth it. Glad to hear you thought so. Have you been to the brunch at the Conrad? It looks interesting… 🙂
Hey Shelley! No I haven’t been to the Conrad. Where is it? I really liked The Paris Grill. The quality of the food is what did it for me. The roasted lamb was amazing and the prime rib was great too! I think they were worth the visit alone 🙂
Holy moly. That looks amazing.
It was awesome! We are planning to go back soon!