63 Buffet Pavilion (63뷔페 파빌리온)

The 63 Building (63빌딩) is an iconic landmark in Seoul and it is situated in Yeouido. A few months ago, when I first arrived to Seoul, I was lucky enough to have my partner treat me out to their buffet! The restaurant is located in the ground floor of the building and is simply called the Buffet Pavilion.

The restaurant definitely feels like luxury and we were seated right upon opening in a raised veranda. The view above us was gorgeous!

We could see directly up the 63 Building. This window made for some wonderful gazing while I inevitably went through multiple food comas.

As with any buffet, I tend to discard all notions of “classiness” – whatever that may mean – and just dig in! After all, the goal of buffets is to recoup the price of what you paid and try to make a “profit” – aka eating more than what you paid for. Regardless of whether this is Home Town Buffet or an upscale buffet like this, my goal is the same: to eat until I cannot possible eat anymore and then eat some more past that point.

My partner does not subscribe to this buffet-eating ideology and as a result, I ended up devouring double the amount of plates that he did.

Upon seating, we were given a glass of juice that tasted a little bit medicinal in its syrupy-ness. I have to be honest in that I completely forgot what this drink was, but that I did not like it that much. I believe that it may have been similar to the 5-type tea (omijacha/오미자차), but flavored to be syrupy sweet.

In retrospect, I realized I should have attempted to take more pictures of the buffet rather than my plates of food, but at the time I was just ready to eat eat eat and didn’t think about taking pictures of the wonderful spread. Plate #1 consisted of the appetizer/cold foods section. Sushi, seafood salad, etc. It was impressive, although I had to remind myself to not fill up completely.

I have to admit, looking back at this picture, it does not look too impressive. However, since it was uni, I had to grab the plate! (Yes, this buffet had platefuls of uni.)

The buffet also had a special section set up, which during the summer, was all about healing foods! I am not sure if these foods truly were for healing purposes, but they definitely made my stomach happy. Clockwise from top right: Lobster cream soup, puff pastry, salmon in broth, and abalone and mushroom soup.

Also from the healing foods section. From top right: Bulgogi terrine with chives, chicken meatball, foie gras (with the consistency of flan…not sure how I felt about that), steak with onion, chicken salad, and the poached chicken, perhaps the best thing I ate that day!

Aside from the regular buffet, diners can put in an order for either salmon or filet mignon, cooked individually per order. We received a little card with our table number, and all you need to do is hand in the number to the chef and the waiters will bring the food to you when it is ready. We got one of each. The salmon was a little dry for my taste and while the beef was cooked to medium (we weren’t given an option to specify our meat temperature), it was pretty tasty!

The buffet also featured a cafe/bar, and I ordered a latte.

The remaining sections of the buffet included three sections: Korean, Chinese, and Western. As is self-evident, each counter featured foods from those cuisines.

At this point, I was getting full and skipped many of the fried/sweetly-battered foods, which were especially prevalent in the Chinese food section. I did grab various types of meat, including a strange-looking duck on the bottom right and a cup of curry, which was in the Western food section. I did appreciate the roasted veggies in the top left – tomato and eggplants. The Chinese section also featured kumquats (right below the tomato) that were really addicting to eat.

For my final three rounds, I hit up the salad bar, the cheese bar, and of course, the dessert bar. My partner had stopped eating long before at this point and while I was beginning to feel stuffed, I had to sample every part of the buffet at least once!

I have an obsessive craving for Caesar salads…this time was no exception. Plus, there were anchovies available; I am always slightly unhappy when restaurants offer Caesar salads but don’t include actual anchovies on the salad.

At this point, I think I was beginning to hit my limit – you can see how my portions slowly start shrinking. I tried the cheese section, which wasn’t that big – I took all three cheeses that were available. I cannot remember what type of cheeses these were now, but the second from the left was particularly delicious because this cheese was blended with apricots and kumquats, making for a very nice and citrusy combination.

A cup of “mojito.” Sadly it was nonalcoholic and tasted like syrup. I was not a fan, but it definitely put me in the mood for moving onto the dessert!

I went a little crazy at the dessert table, but aside from the fresh peaches, nothing really stood out. The chocolates (above the peaches) were nice but nothing special, the citrus jelly was refreshing, and the cheesecake bar was satisfying. The cookie (the swirly shaped time on the bottom right) and the heart-shaped chocolate were forgettable. The green tea macaroon and the strawberry roll cake were pretty terrible though. I am generally not a dessert person, however, although I have a soft spot for ice cream and sorbets. For those who really love desserts, especially with the sweetness dialed up, the dessert table would not disappoint. (I am also going to point out that I generally do not like cake, so I did not pick up any of the cake options.)

The Buffet Pavilion at the 63 Building is definitely worth at least a one-time experience. The Healing Foods special menu, especially, made for a really interesting experience and I would definitely be interested in going back to try more of their rotating menus. Since the restaurant is also quite expensive and is a great spot for dating, apparently the restaurant is popular for celebrities as well. I cannot remember the names of the people we saw, but my partner quite excitedly pointed out some famous entertainers that he saw dining out behind us! My attention was caught briefly, but I was already eyeing what I wanted to eat next.

I was seeing stars not just from overeating but literally on the beautiful skylight as well.

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