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.

After 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, a traditional Korean Buddhist dance.

Sunghak Han once again teamed up with French-Korean architect Woojin Lim to create an unusual decor that is contemporary, chic and intimate. After a year's work, we discover a window painted with washes, 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. Serve with an original cocktail, 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 and then grilled in its own sauce.

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

Above all, don't miss out on the desserts created by the Soon Grill Champs-Elysées pastry chef, which are truly fabulous. 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. This dessert features rice ice cream, cereal nuggets, pear mousse and soy crumble.

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

Ready to try the Soon Grill Champs-Elysées experience?

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.