La Palette Paris Buffet Review: Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong

On an August evening, I visited La Palette Paris buffet at Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong in search of a proper French-style dinner and a glass of champagne in the middle of the city. (In Korean: 라팔레트 파리 뷔페, 르메르디앙 서울 명동)

It is also a restaurant that Marriott Bonvoy members will appreciate a little more than most, since membership brings point accumulation or a 10% discount on the bill.

La Palette Paris is the all-day dining restaurant on the 4th floor of Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong, running from breakfast through dinner service under one roof.

The welcome drink does not land on the table the moment you sit down. It is poured once you are ready for it, so the champagne is still fully alive with bubbles at the first sip.

That kind of pacing told me the evening was not meant to be rushed.

1. What Your La Palette Paris Buffet Price Actually Covers

A weekday lunch here runs KRW 79,000. Dinner, weekend lunch, and holiday seating all sit at KRW 139,000, tax included.

The La Palette Paris buffet price includes unlimited wine and champagne pairing. for Dinner and weekend lunch, making it one of the most competitive hotel dining options in Seoul.

Parking works in your favor too. The hotel gives three hours free in the basement lot as long as you are dining at La Palette Paris.

“All-day dining” is not just a label here either. The same space runs breakfast in the morning, switches to the lunch La Palette Paris buffet by 11:30, closes for a break, then resets for dinner service at 6:00 PM.

Tip: If you only care about the food, weekday lunch is the better value. If pairing matters to you, dinner or weekend lunch is where the extra cost earns itself back.

2. Finding a French-Style Corner Inside a Seoul Hotel

The dining room at the La Palette Paris buffet does not look like a typical hotel buffet. Blue-framed arched windows break the space into smaller sections, and marble-topped tables sit under warm, low light.

We were seated behind one of those glass partitions, on a tufted banquette with burgundy leather chairs.

Near the entrance, the wine station sits inside a small room lined with mirrored wood paneling, so the marble floor and ceiling lighting seem to repeat themselves down the hall.

City views come through floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the room. That is where I would ask to sit if you want natural light for photos.

Seats are spaced generously, so our table conversation never had to compete with the one next to us.

Tip: Ask for a table near the tall windows for daylight photos, or a banquette corner if you want a quieter dinner.

3. Unlimited Champagne Pairing in the Middle of Seoul

The welcome drink was Moët & Chandon, a champagne house that opened in France in 1743 and has spent close to 280 years built around one idea: sharing the magic of champagne with the world.

The pour we started with was the Brut Impérial, the house’s signature champagne since 1869. It is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay, aged a minimum of 24 months in the cellar.

In the glass, it showed a pale gold color with a faint green tint and a steady stream of fine bubbles. Swirling it released apple, peach, and citrus, with a soft white flower note underneath.

The blend does the work here. Pinot Noir gives it structure, Pinot Meunier adds a softer, fruit-forward side, and Chardonnay carries the acidity that ties the whole glass together.

The restaurant paired it as an aperitif with a pastry-topped mushroom soup, and it worked just as well later with the sushi and white fish from the seafood station. Each sip after a bite of seafood reset the palate before the next course.

The brioche and almond notes from the aging held up against creamy cheese too.

Once we moved past the welcome pour, we switched to the Chandon Garden Spritz, a lighter aperitif made from Chandon sparkling wine with natural orange peel and herbs.

Poured over ice, it came across brighter and more casual than the Brut Impérial, closer to a spritz you would order on a patio than a formal toast. It suited the dessert course better than a straight champagne would have.

Start with the Brut Impérial alongside your first plates, then switch to the Garden Spritz once you reach dessert. Please drink responsibly.

4. What’s on the Live Grill, Seafood and Sushi Stations

The grill counter had galbi-style short rib, sliced steak with potato wedges, and roast lobster tail with lemon butter sauce, all kept warm under heat lamps.

A second, live grill station sat closer to the open kitchen, where a chef seared steak to order over stones and charcoal, with peppers and roasted vegetables cooking alongside on their own trays.

Square pendant lights hung low over the counter, warm enough to make the whole station feel like a spotlight on the cooking rather than just a food warmer.

Two chefs worked the sushi counter, with food allergy and vegan menu signs posted right at the station so you know what you are choosing before you ask.

One detail that matters if you do not read Korean: every dish across the buffet was labeled in both Korean and English. Grilled short rib, beef tonnato, smoked salmon, and the rest all had bilingual cards, so nothing required guesswork or a translation app.

What stood out across all three stations was restraint. The seasoning stayed light enough that the short rib, the steak, and the lobster tail still tasted like themselves, not like a sauce covering them up.

The layout moves you through sashimi, seafood, and grill without doubling back, which matters once the room fills up. Even on a weekday evening, most tables were already occupied by the time we sat down.

Tip: Book ahead if you are coming for dinner, and head to the sushi counter early if you want to skip the short wait that builds up later in the evening.

5. The Salad Bar and Cold Cuts Worth Trying First

The cold section is easy to walk past on the way to the grill, but it is worth a stop. We found beef tonnato and smoked salmon next to a simple tomato and mozzarella caprese and a cauliflower salad.

A charcuterie board sat nearby with prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, and thin-sliced ham, laid out on a marble slab and garnished with fresh thyme sprigs rather than the usual parsley.

Tip: Start with a small plate from this section before the grill arrives. It is easy to fill up before you reach the mains if you skip it.

6. There’s Always Room in a Separate Dessert Stomach

In Korea, there’s a common saying that meals and desserts live in separate stomachs. No matter how full the savory stations left you, there’s supposedly always room for what comes next. The counter at La Palette Paris buffet put that idea to the test.

The dessert counter is the first thing you notice walking in, thanks to a dark chocolate fountain and a tiered macaron stand shaped like the Eiffel Tower.

The macarons on the tiered stand came in soft pink, peach, and cream shades, arranged in neat rows rather than piled together, which made it easy to pick a few without disturbing the display.

A separate refrigerated case, several shelves tall, held whole celebration cakes above trays of fresh watermelon, banana, green grapes, and orange, with individual dessert cups tucked along the top shelf.

We also tried a slice of the restaurant’s chocolate cake, dusted with cocoa powder and finished with a small Le Méridien plaque on top.

Cheese rounded out the end of the meal, and honestly, the best pairing for it was simply slowing down and talking. Our conversation drifted from the cheese plate to the Champagne region itself before we noticed the time.

It is a small thing, but it is the kind of ending that makes a hotel buffet feel less like a hotel buffet and more like a proper dinner out.

Tip: Pace yourself through the savory stations. This dessert counter deserves more than a few bites at the end.

7. Getting to La Palette Paris: Location, Hours and Parking

La Palette Paris sits on the 4th floor of Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong, at 38 Myeongdong 8-na-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Lunch runs 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM, and dinner runs 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, with last orders 30 minutes before closing.

If you are driving, the hotel’s basement parking gives you three free hours with a meal here, which was enough for our entire dinner without watching the clock.

You also do not need to be staying at the hotel to eat here. La Palette Paris takes walk-ins and reservations from anyone visiting Myeongdong for the evening.

Myeongdong itself is one of Seoul’s busiest shopping districts, so if you build a full evening around dinner here, there is plenty to walk off on either side of your meal.

For reservations, call 02-2184-7300 or check the hotel’s official booking channels before your visit, since hours and pricing can shift seasonally.

Marriott Bonvoy Members: A Discount Worth Knowing About

If you are planning a visit to La Palette Paris, it is worth checking whether you already have a Marriott Bonvoy account before your meal.

The official benefit currently offered is a 10% discount on the Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong: La Palette Paris Buffet for Bonvoy members.

Bonvoy membership is free to join, so it is worth signing up before your visit if you are not already a member.

Planning to stay at Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong?
Check the latest room rates and Marriott Bonvoy offers before your trip.

Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work.

Before you go: the Marriott Bonvoy member discount cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. La Palette Paris also runs its own seasonal or day-specific dining promotions from time to time, so it is worth checking which offer applies on the date you plan to visit. In some cases, an ongoing promotion may work out better than the Bonvoy discount itself.

Discount benefits and valid periods are subject to change based on the hotel’s policies, so please check the official website or booking page for the latest details before your visit.

We left La Palette Paris full, and still talking about places in France neither of us has been to yet.

Between the welcome pour, the live grill, and the dessert counter, this was not a fast dinner, and I do not think it was meant to be one.

What stayed with me afterward was not any single dish. It was how much thought went into the pacing of the whole evening, from the champagne poured at just the right moment to the cheese and conversation at the very end.

If you are staying at Le Méridien Seoul Myeongdong or just want a proper hotel dinner in the middle of Myeongdong, La Palette Paris buffet is worth building an evening around.

We will be back the next time we want an excuse to dress up for a Tuesday.

⚠️ Excessive drinking can cause stroke, memory loss, or dementia. Drinking during pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects.