$6 vs. $100 KOREAN BUFFET! LOBSTER All You Can Eat in Seoul

Hey guys, Mike Chen here in Seoul, South Korea. Of course, every city I go to around the world, I really seek out certain foods that I love. And when I can't make up my mind what to eat, I seek out a buffet. Because only at a buffet will there not be any food regret. And food regret, as you know, is probably one of the worst regrets in the world. That's what makes buffets so magical. You miss out on a food item, walk back up and grab it. And tonight, I'm hitting up one of the most expensive buffets here in Seoul. It's an all-you-can-eat lobster buffet. It's about $100 a person. It's pretty fancy schmancy. But what's so great about this city is that if you're looking for all-you-can-eat options, there are a ton, a ton of super inexpensive all-you-can-eat buff... What is this? Look at this. This thing hasn't opened yet and people are lining up. I will investigate. Breaking news. Look at this. It's like full of people. Why is everybody here? So Mike Chen, food journalist. What I was able to find out without any Korean friends near me. Finally found someone that spoke English and he told me it was a special soup. The flavor is really unique and different. That's why so many people line up. We're gonna go give that a try at some point because there's so many people. You saw that. That was crazy. But let me, let me get back to this very cheap all-you-can-eat buffet. Which is the whole point why I'm here. Anyway, here it is. All-you-can-eat Korean buffet. 7,000 won. $7 all-you-can-eat buffet. Let's check it out. Gotta admit, seven bucks. Not a bad spread. I gotta give a shout out to a couple of people that told me about this place. I ran into a couple of fans when I was walking on the street right outside of this buffet. They were like, you know, you should try out that buffet. It's only seven bucks. I'm like, oh, okay. But I didn't really think about it. And honestly, at the time, I was kind of full from barbecue. So I wasn't really interested in going. And I didn't catch their name. So I'm truly sorry, the two lovely ladies from Australia that told me about this place. Thank you so much. You are my food angels. That is delicious fermented bingsu. Nice tofu, good veggie. So on the, on the buffet, there's a lot of things. There's probably around four meat-related items. One of which is the jajangmyeon. I'm telling you guys, this is not bad jajangmyeon. And jajangmyeon is not expensive in this country. Usually, you can find a bowl for like three, four dollars. Jajangmyeon, if you don't know what that is, it's fermented bean sauce noodles. It's originally a Chinese dish. And it is one of my favorite things in the world. Usually, in Korea, it's cooked with potatoes. Which I believe is a much superior ingredient to the onion. And the potatoes go so much better with that delicious fermented sauce than the onions. Personal opinion, don't have to agree. But I think this is delicious partially because of these big chunks of potatoes. Good seaweed salad. I know I'm praising like things that may seem pretty ordinary. But it's spectacular. A little sprinkle of chilies. Love the crunch. Love the aromatic sesame seeds. It's a rare occasion. I compliment salad. So you know it's gotta be good. They got this massive tray of bulgogi. A little overly sweet for my taste. But juicy and tender. I think if you're a vegetarian, you would love this buffet. I mean all the salads I've had, I have to hook. I think this is a fried fish. Excellent. Tremendous crunch on that fish. Everything I've had so far, quality. Seven bucks. You know this one plate in New York, this would have easily been 15 to 20 dollars. Like the omelette. Also, I think the menu here actually changes. So this might not be the same thing you see when you come in here. Which is cool because when you come here multiple days in a row, you get to try new things. It's really fast. You come in, you pay, you show them at the door, grab your plate, start eating. I mean, if you want something quick and efficient, extremely affordable, and fulfilling, and quality food, this is a good place. 7,000 won, tax included, no tipping. That's the final price. Give it a try. Let me know what you think. The only non-Korean name on that list. I gotta try this. The line grew. Sundae gook. Korean sausage soup and rice. Oh, there's other stuff. Assorted boiled meat slices. Sundae. Pig's gut filled with pig's blood, noodles. The mystery has been solved. It's a sundae, sundae soup place. If you've never had sundae before, it's basically Korean blood sausage. It's rich, it's rustic, it's delicious. Nothing like a piping hot bowl of soup on a frigidly cold day. Whoa. So all different cuts of meat inside this bowl of soup. Tons of chili flakes, scallions on the bottom. Oh man. This soup looks like it's been stewed for a while. This is not a small size restaurant. It's a massive restaurant. All they serve is sundae, the blood sausage, and the soup. That's all they serve. I love restaurants like this. That means they're so specialized. Oh my god. This soup is incredible. Wow. I mean, you're in Korea, the land of soups and stews. But this is, it's completely unique to any soups I've had before. Any Korean soups I've had before. And I've had a lot throughout the years. It's so almost indescribably good. But I'll do my best. The soup tastes mildly thick, right? It tastes like there's about a billion different spices in here. And a lot of chilies and just a ton of meat flavor. It's a lot of pork. From the super fatty pieces to the belly. I see some meat from the head. But besides the cut of meat, the soup is on a whole different level. First of all, it's so rich. It can afford a house in any city it wants anywhere in the world. I mean, if this thing wants to live on top of the Empire State Building, it could afford it. When you're eating this, you definitely have to kind of mash it with some sort of acid. Because there's a lot of fatty pieces of pork in here. You get, oh man, some ears as well. And what you're supposed to do, add some rice into your broth. Because, oh my gosh, this thing is almost too flavorful. It needs some sort of absorber. And the rice will be perfect for that. That's why they give you a whole platter of chilies. When I sip a soup, you're begging for something. For something crisp and refreshing. You know a car that might be too fast? Or a girl that might be too pretty? If those things exist, this might be a soup with too much flavor. It feels like you drop a huge rock into this bowl. After about 20 minutes, that rock will be flavored all the way through. The cuts of meat are just incredibly, incredibly soft. And every bite you take, they kind of mix together. So you get just a difference in texture with every single spoonful. This is the intestine. This is the good stuff right here. That's definitely not for beginners, but I like it. You gotta take bites of kimchi or chilies in between the bites of soup. But I added some leeks in here, some peppers. Made this even better. This feels just so incredibly comforting and homey. I guarantee you, I don't care if it's like arctic blast outside. One bowl of this, you can go out dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. You'll still be sweating. This is the sundae. Wow, this sundae is so good. What I love about blood sausage, because there's rice and noodles inside, it's soaked up all that great broth. Got that nice snappy casing on the outside too. The casing traps all that great broth inside. You take a bite, it goes everywhere. Crazy good. I will definitely say, this is not your entry-level Korean food. But if you're open-minded, you love soups, you love stews, you're willing to try a little innards, a little head meat. And if you love blood sausages, oh my god, come and get this. Big bowl of soup, $8. And don't be intimidated coming here. Like when I walked outside, all Korean people, no one spoke English. So when you get in here, they're super nice people. They got an English menu for you, they'll take care of you. And you should definitely eat when there's a ton of locals waiting outside. I did, and I am heavily rewarded right now. By far one of the best soups I had in this country. Oh my god, it's so good. I have no idea what this restaurant is called, even at this point. I'll try to research it, ask some of my friends where it is. I'll link it down below, but come give this place a try. I mean, locals might not like it because the lines will be even longer. But guys, this is great. It's a Popsicle vending machine. I think I need something. Watermelon sorbet. Cookies and, oh my god, cookies and cream animal. What is, oh, I want this. It's so pretty. No, I want it all. I want it. I want that. Milk strawberry. No, animal chocolate. Let's do that. How does this work? What? Take my money. I never bet anything to take my money so badly in my life. Broken. This is how the world's gonna end. Starts with a cup of coffee. Something innocent. All right, the seafood $100 buffet I was telling you guys about. I'm here right now. I'm inside. This is the Lotte Tower at Vikings Wharf. Now, I've been to a lot of seafood buffets in my day. I don't think I've seen as much seafood as this place has here. It's kind of crazy. Let me show you around. So right behind me, this is the crown jewel. All you can eat lobster. So the mountain of lobster is here. On the other side, we have some salads, fresh fruit that they cut for you. This entire, entire section over here is gonna be cooked seafood dishes, meats grilled, some traditional Korean eats, desserts, cakes, sushi bar. Probably not gonna touch that as much. They have tanks of fresh seafood that they cook or sashimi eyes or sushi eyes for you on the spot. That is a lot of seafood. I mean, different varieties. You got abalone, giant clams, live octopus. This station is probably gonna be one of my favorites. Grilled seafood. You got stuffed lobster. There's shrimp. There's clams, short ribs. Let's start with this. Once you order, you get a little alarm. So make sure you know your table number. While we're waiting, we're just gonna grab some random dishes. This is the stuff. They give you the whole body. Oh my gosh. Yes. And all that tamale, all that goodness is in here. There you go. Oh, that's gonna be amazing. All right, this buffet is pretty crazy. Like I said, I've never seen so much seafood. I'm so giddy right now. Like, it's the same feeling as when I was little and my parents would like once in a blue moon take me into Toys R Us. That excitement, that just pure joy I experienced. That's how I'm feeling right now. God, what do you even start with? I got three plates right off the bat. Let's start with this. This is just tip of the seafood iceberg. I didn't know I got chicken. Not a big fan of chicken. Grilled salmon. I saw this thing sizzling on the pan. Oh man. Oh yeah. Tender, smoky, tastes like it just left the grill, which it did. Usually I love short ribs and I got some because you gotta. Because this is Korea. And this is just a must-get item. This thing is a mama's kiss tender. Beautifully charred, smoky, sweet flavor. Oh my god. This thing doesn't even taste like it's from the ocean. It tastes like it grew up in like a sweet river or something. It just, oh, it's like eating dessert early. I don't just want another one of these. I need another one of these. As soon as you bite it, it just kind of does this mini explosion with sweet juices all over your mouth. And then all you're left is the tenderness. So the lobster here is not just steamed lobster, boiled lobster. They actually do different types of lobster. And this is the baked one. Oh, this is yummy. Crispy little bits of bread on top. Sweet tender lobster meat. A little bit of mayo, little bits of lobster roll mixed in here. I hate boring lobsters. I don't like it when it's boiled and just dipped in butter. Like that's so typical. I mean, it's still good because it's lobster, but it gets so boring. This, this is anything but boring. This is the Brooklyn Night Night of lobster. After each bite, you just want another. Fresh juice. I think I love grilled seafood the best. Just ability to, besides the sweetness of it all, just to be able to taste that fire and smoke, just makes it all that much better. Love this lobster bisque. Huge, huge, huge lobster flavor. Do not sleep on the spicy squid. This thing makes me wish I got some rice with it. Oh, this is absolutely delicious. Kimchi is great. A lot of heat, a lot of flavor. Man, this place is not just all for show. And they got tons of substance too. My lobster bisque. Definitely hit that up. I feel like this little lobster cake though, it has died. The culprit, the buffet lamp of death. Roll too dry. Oh, look at this garlic shrimp. You can just eat the whole thing. That shell's fried so nicely at this point. It's just a shrimp chip. This, this is what I've been waiting for. Usually at Western buffets, they don't give you the body of the crab, all right? But I'm telling you, this is where the essence, the flavor, the best crab, the tastiest parts right in here. That's Mali. People want to know this is what they eat right here. And you can eat all this stuff. If you've never tried this before, in Chinese we call it xie huang. Or the crab yolk. Yeah, this part, this is why they call it a crab yolk. Almost kind of looks like an egg yolk, right? Nice orange color. It tastes crumbly, almost kind of like a dried egg yolk, but with so much more flavor. And they cook this perfectly. A little sweet, a bit of umami. Oh man, they really left everything here. Look how much stuff that's in here. Amazing. I also got a piece of the joint. This crab is insane. All right, this is called the brown crab, they told me. This crab is covered in super spicy, slightly sweet sauce. And even with the sauce, you can taste how amazingly sweet this meat is. Oh man. Honestly, I don't know if Ariel and Sebastian's friendship would have lasted that long if she knew how good crab can taste. This is the first time I'm having this crab. I'm loving it. It's so fulfilling. All right, this round we have three plates. Let's go for round two. All right, so here with the fresh seafood. A lot of this is just cut sashimi style, like they're doing over there. So you can just point to whatever you want, tell this gentleman here. And they'll prepare it for you in a beautiful looking tray. Also, all the beer and wine and I love that cider. I'm gonna get some. All right, let's go for a regular lobster, one please. Here you can get a latte, Americano, espresso, coffee, whatever you want. I want the cider. I love that cider. As much as I do find this way of eating lobster kind of boring, it's still lobster. I think I definitely like the big lobster better, but it's still pretty good. I've been addicted to tuna ever since I had sushi for the first time in Japan. I still don't eat a lot of raw stuff, but I'm sure you guys will be able to take advantage of that raw bar way more than me. That was fresh and good though. Steamed short rib with ginkgo nuts and some herbs and jujubes. Oh my god, this is tender. It has a part of the bone on here too. This is not just merely meat. It's gonna have some tendon, hopefully some marrow. Oh, this is great. A little sweet. The sweetness is definitely from the jujube. Look at this. This is so much better than even the grilled ribs. Steamed egg. Look at this. This is something I absolutely love. With ginkgo nuts inside and a little bit of seafood. Wow, the steamed egg just tastes like pudding. Oh, look what just arrived. My massive plate of seafood. Shell and all. When they bring you the seafood with a shell and all, it really gives you a shock and all impression when it first comes to your table. You're just like, oh my god, look at the size of this freaking scallop. Again, I just got the abalone and scallops and the sea snail. There's so much more you can get. You can get the octopus, you can get the sea squirt. That's what I'm saying. The amount of selection in this seafood buffet is unlike anything I've seen before. This is crazy. Charcoal tempura shrimp. Oh, that tempura octopus are so freaking good. Oh, that octopus is so tender. And the charcoal, that's good for you. Don't listen to Santa. You want some coal in your life. These came out when I put them on plate. These were extremely crispy. So you got to eat these right away if you want to take advantage of its maximum flavor. That shrimp, that is a great tempura. Wow, the shrimp is tender on the outside. Did you hear that crunch? Listen again. Light and airy batter. Nothing I don't love about this. Anything with short ribs in this place, you've got to go for it. I mean, I know it's more and more of a seafood buffet, but don't sleep on the short rib. I think I've been letting this little piece of pork sit too long. Still good though. The flavor is great. A little sweet and fruity. Nice spicy mustard. Come here, baby. Wow. If you love seafood, that's where you should be hanging out the entire time you're at this buffet. Fresh, sweet abalone. The texture of fresh seafood. Unlike anything else. It's got such a refreshing quality to it. And this, this you can eat as much as you want. I think the best abalone I've ever had in my life has been in Korea. All right, let's go another round of seafood. A little sauce on my scallops this time. Yeah, put some of that tomato, what they call tomato sauce. It's not ketchup, it's kind of some kind of Korean salsa. Put that on your scallops. It'll make it even better. If you want to eat more lobster, go for the steam. If you want to eat better lobster, go for the big. So good. All right, let's see what they got for dessert. For dessert, they cut a fresh mango for you. I got a black sugar ice cream and strawberry cheese ice cream in this earl grey cake. Fresh mango just makes everything better. It makes life better, you know? So apparently what they do here is they don't make their own dessert, but they buy it from really famous bakeries in Seoul. That is one of the most ridiculous cakes I've ever put in my mouth. I'm about to go buy an entire one and take it back to my hotel with me because I don't want the experience to end after I leave this restaurant. And the cake is just the softest, cushioniest, airiest, cloud-like cake. We taste that distinct earl grey flavor. Not overly sweet. And you're just sitting on the most pillowy, airiest. I feel like calling it a cake would be insulting it. This majestic, gentle little cloud. That was ridiculous beyond words. By the way, so is that black sugar ice cream. Dessert here ain't about the quantity. I'm gonna go try some of the other cakes. Oh, that was so good. You cannot walk out of here with just one piece of this cake. I never want this feeling to end. This is a piece of cheese apple cake. Already, this is way different than the light, fluffy, angelic earl grey cake. All right, that earl grey cake just ruined it for me. I mean, this is good. If you're into something that's a little more heavy, it's kind of like a cross between an apple pie and a cheesecake. Nothing wrong with that. Just not as angelically beautiful and light and can do no wrong earl grey cake. Last bite of the earl grey cake. I don't want that to end, but at the same time, that was the perfect ending for this incredible meal. Let's summarize. Like I said many times, this is probably one of the most intense seafood buffets I've ever been to. It's not cheap, all right? It's 100 US dollars, so 100 bucks. Luckily, that's tax included. There's no gratuity here, so that's all you're spending. And what you're really paying is incredibly fresh seafood. Now, this is not going to compare price-wise to some of the seafood buffets in the Philippines or Vietnam, which cost 50 bucks, 40 dollars, maybe even 30 bucks. But the price point is what you would expect here in South Korea. And it's similar to what you would pay for a seafood buffet in Hong Kong or Singapore. In terms of seafood, it has the widest selection of seafood of any buffet I've been to. I mean, I've never seen a seafood buffet with just a tank of seafood just sitting there. Now, granted, the lobster is not live lobster. And I didn't expect it to be because, first of all, it's lobster from Canada or the US. I mean, there's no way you can have live lobster from the US on a buffet in South Korea. There's no way. But if you ever go to a Vegas seafood buffet, all that seafood is frozen too. So to me, it didn't really make that much of a difference. Mainly because I feel like when people come here, the lobster is great. But I feel like the other live, fresh seafood kind of overshadows the lobster. Basically, you're probably going to be spending a lot more time at the sashimi bar or the sushi bar with those crazy seafood tanks with the massive clams than you would at the lobster. And granted, the lobster actually tastes really good. Especially the baked lobster, the lobster bisque, that's good stuff. Personally, I think this is a pretty good buffet. Especially if you love seafood, you love buffets. This is a good place because most of the stuff I had, even the regular stuff, the flavor was on point. So it's not like they're just focusing on the seafood and kind of neglecting everything else. Everything tasted good here. I mean, I've been to live lobster buffets in the US like the Nordic Lodge in Rhode Island. It's over $100. You get lobster. That's basically all that's there. And Häagen-Dazs ice cream because those are the only two good things on that buffet. The steak was tough. All the other sides were kind of gross. I'd much rather spend my $100 here because this buffet is far, far superior to the one in Rhode Island. So bottom line, being this is South Korea, this buffet is definitely worth it. I mean, all of the amount of seafood and care and attention and quality that's here, like amazing cakes from famous bakeries and so like, they do not skimp when it comes to food here. The service is great. Fresh juice. There's fresh fruit. Come try this place out. I definitely recommend this place. I mean, again, it's a little steep, $100. If you're willing to part with that for a great all-you-can-eat seafood experience, here in South Korea, this is the place to be. And that wraps it up for my fun little buffet food day here in Seoul. All the information for the places I went to listed down below. Thank you all so much for watching. Until we eat again, see you later.