SOON GRILL Marais — Restaurant in Paris

I’m a fan of Korean BBQ although I have never been to Korea yet. So being in Paris I wanted to visit one of the best rated Korean BBQ restaurants in Paris. „Gogi“ (Korean BBQ restaurant in Columbus, Ohio) will be the reference for comparison as it was the best Korean BBQ experience so far for me - and just to tell you from the start, it will remain the reference.

I had made an online reservation via „theFork“ by TripAdvisor. I can totally recommend this online reservation system: You will receive confirmation e-mail and text message (including a reminder text message 3 hours in advance of your reservation).

We were welcomed very friendly and got seated at a nice but small table in the center of the restaurant. The electrical grill is integrated in the table and covered with a protection glass, that will be removed when you order barbecue dishes. Staff was very friendly and offered to put our coats into a locker.

We have ordered Hite (Korean beer) and Soju (Korean liquor). Unfortunately they sell only small bottles of beer and non flavored Soju (I’m a fan of the flavored Soju like e.g. peach or apple).

As BBQ meat we ordered „dry aged Bavière sirloin“ (Bavière anshim), „farm raised brisket“ (Sengsamgyeopsal), and „Beef rib eye Aubrac“ (Sodeungshim). The quality was good but especially the rib eye wasn’t that tender as expected. You will get salad, Kimchi, radish, vegetables on side as well as some spicy dips (what is actually not too spicy). As already suspected, the table is almost too small for all the side dishes that a served traditionally in metal bowls (they use metal chopsticks as well). The salad can be used to wrap the pieces of meat.

Unlike the BBQ restaurant in the United States, where you grill the meat yourself, at Soon Grill the servers will do this for you.

As desert I recommend the „Korean tiramisu and Cinnamon punch“ that has actually nothing to do with an Italian tiramisu.

Until this point I would rate Soon grill 4 Stars, but unfortunately near the end of our visit, I felt being rushed: the waiter gave us our bill without asking if we wanted to drink something more or if we had finished. Intentionally I didn’t react to that but she came back and asked if we wanted to pay cash or by card. Of course there were waiting people outside, but to be honest they should not let...

We were looking forward to eating here because of the Michelin recommendation. The atmosphere in the main dining room was nice but we were seated in the other room off to the side where the tables are sunken into the floor so you have to sit on the floor to climb down into them. The fried shrimp dumplings, caramelized shrimp, kimchi pancakes and the selection of kimchi and pickles served with the meal were all really delicious, we especially liked the pickled lotus root, the cabbage kimchi and the radish kimchi. We also had the tofu stew which was nice and spicy but underseasoned as well as the Korean royal court-style rice cakes which were very difficult to chew and lacked sauce and flavor. Our main issue with our meal was the service. The woman who "greeted" us when we arrived was really unfriendly. And our server was also not particularly warm to us as well as being largely absent during the meal. She did take our order (after we sat there for a while) and answered our questions about the menu but her service was very slow and left us feeling as if she'd forgotten about us. My sister had to climb out of the table area and go into the main dining room to ask for the bill because we were left waiting so long after we were finished eating. When we finally did get the bill we paid cash and left the check presenter open so the cash was clearly visible. As we were gathering our belongings the server finally came over to our table and asked if we wanted to pay by card or cash even as she was looking down at the pile of cash that we were obviously paying with. It was very strange. She was not friendly to us at all. Although we enjoyed most of our food the attitude of the staff was such a turnoff that we would never return there. Not at all what we expect from a Michelin-recommended place. There are too many other incredible restaurants in Paris where the food and service are delightful so ultimately we agreed that this place...

Surprisingly good Korean food at a reasonable price in a tasteful, high end setting. As a Korean, I can vouch for the flavor and quality of all the dishes we had.

We started with the Kimchi Jeun, which honestly was just ok, but didn’t blow us away. At least the presentation was quite good. But that was followed by Yukhe, which was by far one of the best we’ve tried anywhere in the world. It was very good quality beef, knife chopped, over a bed of freshly sliced Asian pear, all flavored with a hint of sesame oil, soy sauce, and other ingredients that I couldn’t completely figure out. It was very light, clean, and flavorful at the same time. The Soft Tofu stew was also amazing, really familiar taste, but more refined and sophisticated, while still being very satisfying.

On to the BBQ, we we not expecting much, but it managed to surpass our expectations. Despite the weak infrared grill they used, instead of real charcoal, which I imagine may be difficult to ventilate in a fancy place like this, the quality of the meat really came though. It was one of the most delicious and tender Kalbi I’ve ever had. They also provided very ample amount, especially for the price. The same dish in NYC would cost about 2x the price. (Maybe due to the strong dollar at the moment)

Kudos to the chef for serving really authentic but elegant versions of the Korean dishes we all enjoy, and to the restaurant for providing high-end, sophisticated ambiance. My only suggestion would be to continue to train the servers on the proper grilling techniques and maybe to upgrade to a charcoal grill for a really authentic experience.

Overall, it exceeded by expectations by far and I would consider it one of the best Korean restaurants(in it’s price class) anywhere...