"Beat the Heat"... Summer Health Food Battle in the Hotel Industry

Hotel Shilla, Hotel Lotte, Walkerhill, etc.
Popular for the feeling of being treated well despite the high price

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] As summer fully sets in, the hotel industry has launched health food menus to target seasonal demand. Although hotel health foods are priced two to three times higher than regular restaurants, they remain popular among consumers due to their luxurious image.

Current Status of Hotel Summer Health Foods.

According to the industry on the 8th, Hotel Shilla offers summer health food as a course meal at its Korean restaurant, La Yeon. The menu includes croaker fish porridge and grilled eel with sauce. Additional ? la carte items include sea bass cold salad, sinseollo, and steamed croaker with sauce. Hotel Lotte sells summer course menus such as Imjasutang and steamed sea cucumber at its Korean restaurant. Additional ? la carte items include grilled abalone, grilled duck meatballs, and grilled eel. Walkerhill also prepared health food ? la carte dishes such as seafood soup with young chicken, abalone, and octopus, and conger eel soup. Customer responses have been favorable. A Walkerhill official said, "Reservation calls are flooding in ahead of Chobok, when demand for health food is high. The number of calls has increased significantly compared to last year," adding, "The Korean restaurant is fully booked even on weekdays, making reservations difficult."

Premium Korean Beef Short Rib Soup by Hotel Shilla.

Other hotel restaurants are also consecutively introducing health foods. Courtyard Marriott is hosting a health gourmet buffet featuring duck steak, herbal braised short ribs, herbal chicken soup, gazpacho, mustard chicken cold salad, and grilled webfoot octopus. The Mayfield Hotel Seoul has listed abalone Imjasutang and braised beef short ribs as summer menu items. Haevichi Hotel & Resort is running a ‘Bokdalim Promotion’ with croaker soup and freshwater eel grilled dishes as the main menu.

Lotte Hotel's premium native herbal Samgyetang.

Meanwhile, the hotel industry has also prepared non-face-to-face health food gift sets in response to the COVID-19 aftermath. Although priced between 150,000 and 200,000 KRW, these gift sets are gaining popularity amid the ongoing social distancing atmosphere. Hotel Shilla chose galbitang as the main menu this year following last year’s samgyetang. The premium Korean beef galbitang is priced at 200,000 KRW, and the herbal decoction Supokgangnyeong extract is 250,000 KRW. Orders during the reservation period have closed, and no additional orders are currently accepted. Hotel Lotte introduced a premium meal kit featuring native herbal samgyetang. It uses native chicken and includes black ginseng and fresh ginseng steamed and dried nine times, as well as abalone. The price is 163,000 KRW for two servings.

An industry official said regarding the popularity of hotel health foods, "By combining high-quality ingredients with the hotel’s unique recipes, customers feel properly treated," adding, "With the hotel’s premium services, it inevitably differentiates itself from regular restaurants."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.