[REVIEW] Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour Day 1: Nature Kitchen 자연별곡

Annyeong! Finally, I have time to start my reviews. I’ve been very busy the past weeks after my autumn trip in Korea since I have to catch up on a lot of work. Now that it’s almost time for Christmas break, I can concentrate more on blogging. (Yay!)

As promised in my previous post about the Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour, I’ll be reviewing the places that we’ve been to during my recent 4 days, 3 nights trip in Korea, which is sponsored by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). How I miss being in Korea and exploring all those wonderful places!

I’ll be using a scale of 10 in my reviews, with 10 being the highest and 1 as the lowest.

Hope you will enjoy reading this series of reviews, and hope I’ll be able to provide valuable information to you^^

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Nature Kitchen 자연별곡

First on my list is Nature Kitchen 자연별곡( pronounced as ‘Jayeonbyolgok’ in Korean) , which is located at the 3rd Floor of Toros Tower in Hongdae, Seoul. This is where we had our first full meal and lunch in Korea. 

I think meal times are one of my favourite during this trip because KTO really knows how to spoil us with food…and I mean lots of food. Our guides, along with KTO staff would always tell us to eat well, and boy did we eat a lot. 

Nature Kitchen 자연별곡 is a Hansik (Korean Food) Buffet Restaurant managed by E-Land Group, that serves a variety of Korean menus, including traditional dishes served in the royal court of the Joseon Dynasty, and claims to “provide dishes from the eight provinces of the Korean peninsula that braces the stories of King and Queens”. 

A panoramic shot of the buffet area that I took at the restaurant

There were lots of dishes to choose from (They said it’s about a hundred), and I think you should make sure to have a lot of room in your tummy when you come here because the food are all scrumptious. 

I heard that Nature Kitchen started a new trend in the Korean Restaurant industry when it was launched just last 2014. Because of the rising popularity of Korean cuisine, and the desire for healthier food choices, the restaurant came up with a Korean Salad Bar, which not just consists of salad, which became really popular that it led to the opening of 18 more branches.

Here’s my detailed review about the place:

Food: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- Because of the huge variety of great tasting dishes that including a huge selection of meat dishes,  hot and cold noodle dishes, Korean Salad bar, Korean pancakes, a ‘Patjuk’ fondue (red bean fondue), assorted sweet rice cake balls, Gangwondo-style Tofu Bossam, Gwangyang-style Bulgogi, various kinds of fresh vegetables, Korean sauces, soups and side dishes (banchan 반찬) . You can also make your own bibimbap and bingsu, and order noodle dishes separately.
- My favorite dishes include the sweet and sour crispy pork (Tangsuyuk), bulgogi, bibimbap, and bingsu!

Meat...meat...and more meat! (oh my, I should take better food photos next time!)

Variety of sauces

Noodles!!!

Looks like chocolate fondue right? But apparently, it's Patjuk, which is made from red bean (dried azuki beans).

Full plate for a filling lunch

Our lunch table looks lovely with all these yummy delicacies

My own version of bingsu with all the traditional rice cakes my stomach can take in! ^^

I found their buffet plate (the one with separations) really cute. It's my first time to see it and I think it's good to use if you want to taste everything and yet don''t want food to touch or to avoid too much clutter in your plate.

Service: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- Since it’s a buffet, it’s mostly self-service, but you can also order some items in the menu separately like noodle dishes. They’re quite fast, and the staff are quite friendly too. 

Ambiance: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The place gives you that luxurious, traditional Korean feel with matching traditional ornaments, like large wooden spoons, jars, and wooden bowls. There is soft lighting, dark marble floors, water fountains, and dark wooden tables. The place is also quite spacious with a capacity of around 212 seats.
- Just like most Korean buffets, the buffet area is divided into sections such as roasted meat corner, hot food corner, cold food corner, vegetable and salad dishes corner, traditional dessert section, and drinks/coffee and tea section (가배와 차).

Drinks section where you can get coffee, tea, etc.

Some seasonal dishes are cooked by the chefs right in front of you at that counter so they are served hot.

Price/Value for money: 10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- This restaurant is famous for serving really good food for a very affordable price. Weekday lunch is just KRW 12,900 (around USD 12.99 or PHP518.66), while dinner on weekdays, weekends, and holidays is just KRW 19,900(around USD19.99 or PHP 800.10). If compared to buffet here in the Philippines, the price can be expensive, but in Korea, that's quite affordable for buffet price already. I once ate a single meal for 20,000 won, so I thought, why didn't I know this place before? (Haha!)
They accept cash/credit card payments (Including overseas cards).

Accessibility: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The place is quite easy to find as it is inside a tower, and near Hongik University Station Line 2.

Will I go back to this place?: Definitely!

- I super love Nature Kitchen 자연별곡 and I'm so glad that the Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour included this in the itinerary. It's a great place for family (or any group for that matter!) dinners and lunches, especially if you want a traditional Korean feel, because the food tastes great, with lots of variety, and are quite affordable. You definitely get your money's worth.

Our group photo during lunch. Thanks for this nice shot Tere! ^^

Other Important Details about Nature Kitchen:

Price Range:

• Adults: KRW 19,900
• Youth/Elementary Students : KRW 9900
• Pre-school : KRW 6500
• Less than 36 month old: FREE

Branches:

SEOUL: Hongdae, Gangnam, Mok-dong
BUSAN: Seomyeon, Kyungsung University * You can check out the rest of their branches in their website.

How to get there (Hongdae Branch)?

Location: Hongdae, Seoul (3rd Floor of Toros Tower)
Address: 159-8 Toros Tower 3rd Floor Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
(서울특별시 마포구 양화로 153 토로스타워 3층)

Directions:

If coming from the subway, take Line No. 2 Hongik Univ. Station Exit 1, then walk to Toros Tower. The restaurant is at the 3rd floor of the building.

If you have your car with you, there’s a Saemoolgyoul on-street public parking lot at Mapo-gu Dongyo-dong 165-1 with 17 spaces at KRW 600 per 10 minutes.

The restaurant is near Hongik University, Shinchon Hyundai Department store and the street of Ewha Women’s University.

Operating hours (may vary per branch):

The store is open all-year round (except otherwise announced)

Weekday Lunch (평일점심) AM11:00~PM4:00 

Weekday Evenings (평일저녁) PM4:00~PM10:00

Weekend Holidays (주말.공휴일) AM11:00~PM10:00

For more info on the restaurant, you can check the following sites:

Website: http://www.naturekitchen.co.kr/
FB Page: https://web.facebook.com/naturekitchen11/
Blog: http://blog.naver.com/naturediner

You can also call the branch via this number: 02-332-0540

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If you want to know the rest of our itinerary for this trip, you can check out my first blog post about the Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour.

Many thanks again to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for making this trip, possible. You can check out the KTO official website and follow their accounts on Facebook and Twitter for the details on tour sites and packages, as well as helpful tips on travelling to Korea.

For Filipinos, follow Korea Tourism Organization Manila at Facebook, Twitter, and KakaoTalk (@ktomanila) for the latest updates on Korea tourism, events, tour packages and promos. :)