Soon Grill Champs Elysées, the temple of Korean gastronomy

After Soon and Soon Grill du Marais, Soon Grill Champs Elysées, a new temple to Korean gastronomy, opened its doors to gourmets in early 2020.

Following on from the acclaimed Soon and Soon Grill du Marais, chef Sunghak Han continues to bring his high-flying Korean cuisine to Paris' s 8th arrondissement with Soon Grill Champs Elysées. Here, no copying and pasting, but a brand new ode to Korea, its gastronomy, craftsmanship and culture. A fine and tempting program.

For this new voyage to the land of the morning calm, the chef has imagined a universe both dreamlike and refined around the original theme of Seungmu, the traditional Korean Buddhist dance.

As for the decor, Sunghak Han once again teamed up with French-Korean architect Woojin Lim to create an extraordinary setting that is contemporary, chic and intimate. After a year's work, we discover a washed-out window display, a 3D wall and backlit terrazzo tables.

The menu at Soon Grill Champs Elysées includes modernized traditional fermentations and a luxurious version of the famous bulgogi, featuring exceptional meats such as wagyu beef and creative sauces. But also meats to be cooked on the barbecues present on every table.

It's impossible for us to start a Korean lunch without falling for the Pajeon (19€), the famous Korean seafood and spring onion galette, which we savor just before an astonishing Korean-style beef tartare (21€) on a bed of daikon. We accompany them with an original cocktail, the Méshil (12€) made with Hwayo soju and organic fermented Korean plum extract.

And since it's a bit gray outside, and the barbecue built into the table is a real eye-catcher, we take the plunge and treat ourselves to two different barbecues: on the one hand, the farmhouse pork belly (27€), and on the other, the traditional bulgogi (25€), beef marinated Korean-style then grilled in its own sauce.

Both are, of course, accompanied by a host of banchan, the famous Korean sides. Fans of kimchi, lotus roots and pickled cucumbers beware!

And don't forget the fabulous desserts created by the Soon Grill Champs-Elysées pastry chef. A must-try is the Daeboreum (€13), inspired by the meals eaten on the Korean national holiday, when Koreans eat rice with cereals, wishing each other peace and good health for the whole year. The dessert consists of rice ice cream, cereal nuggets, pear mousse and soy crumble.

Also worth discovering is the Guleum (13€), a cereal ice parfait with red bean confit and milk granita. Simply excellent.

Ready to try Soon Grill Champs-Elysées?