Crab 52 buffet in Seoul costs $200 and overlooks the Han River
Crab 52 restaurant on the 52nd floor of Trade Tower in Seoul’s Gangnam district offers unlimited crustacean and seafood dishes for $200 for adults and $100 for children. The Korea Herald calls it the most expensive buffet in South Korea. The venue’s windows overlook the Han River.
Lunch at Crab 52 runs from 12:00 to 15:00, and dinner from 18:00 to 21:00, with each seating lasting three hours. The bill is paid in won at a rate the venue recalculates daily according to the previous day’s exchange rate. Window tables are assigned according to the order of reservations rather than guests’ arrival times.
Seafood and sashimi
The venue is operated by Viking Group. The company holds a wholesaler-broker license at the Noryangjin fish wholesale market and purchases products directly at morning auctions. It also maintains seawater tanks in the free trade zone of the Incheon Airport logistics complex and imports snow crabs, lobsters and Dungeness crabs from ten countries.
The sashimi counter prepares dishes with yellowtail, blanched octopus, abalone, otoro, red sea bream, striped horse mackerel tuna, Antarctic red shrimp, uni, salmon roe, Belgian caviar and kamtae seaweed. The publication’s reviewer particularly highlighted the combination of kamtae with Antarctic red shrimp, uni, salmon roe and caviar.
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Cart dishes and desserts
About 30–40 minutes after service begins, hot dishes start being brought to tables. They include lobster with butter and scallop in garlic cream sauce, king crab bisque pasta, garlic lobster, chili crab and fried mantou buns. Among the hot dishes, The Korea Herald rated the chili crab highest.
Guests are also served individual portions of shabu-shabu with snow crab, scallop, hard clam and vegetables. The final savory dish is ganjang gejang — raw crab marinated in soy sauce, served with rice and sesame oil. All crustaceans are served already peeled, and dishes from the carts can be ordered again.
At 20:20, the lights are turned off in part of the dining room so guests can better see the night view. Desserts include fruit, gelato, vanilla and matcha mille-feuille, and chocolate fudge.
