Rose Hill boasts luxury service for galbi and matching wine

There is almost no doubt that galbi, the Korean grilled beef or pork short ribs, is one of the most popular Korean cuisines.

But a galbi outing can make you hesitate to go anywhere else afterward, because of the strong smoky odor that lingers on your clothes and hair.

Rose Hill, a beef galbi and wine restaurant in southern Seoul, said it tries to differentiate itself from other galbi places by having a “clean system” in its dining area.

All of the eight tables in the dining area and tables in the 12 separate rooms are equipped with a specially-designed vacuuming system, which sucks up the smoke from under the table, unlike other galbi restaurants that put the ventilation hoods above the tables.

“The smoke is invisible and galbi smells don’t get into your clothes,” a manager at Rose Hill said.

Located at the Gangnam Finance Center in Yeoksam-dong, the restaurant’s all galbi menus offer premium hanwoo beef from Hoengseong in Gangwon Province and Suncheon in South Jeolla Province.

Along with the premium beef, the restaurant helps match wines from a selection of 100 kinds of wines which totals about 2,000 bottles. A sommelier from the restaurant recommends the matching wines which are priced 10-20 percent lower than those in wine bars.

As the restaurant specializes in beef galbi, three quarters of the wines in stock are cabernet sauvignon.

Rose Hill staff said the most popular menu among non-Korean visitors is “Cognac Grilled Ribeye,” which is twice as thick as normal ribeye and seasoned with a little bit of cognac. The 280-gram galbi is priced at 80,000 won and is enough for two people. The recommended matching wines are Pauillac Baron Nathaniel from France and Black Stone Reserve from the U.S.

Other items on the menu include grilled ribeye, unseasoned ribeye and lean brisket. While grilled ribeye is good with Caballo Loco No. 8 of Chile, unseasoned beef rib goes well with La Sirene de Giscours of France, the restaurant said.

There are three different course menus, priced between 60,000 won and 120,000 won per person, and available for order by more than two people.

The “Grace Course” is the most popular, and includes a red wine, porridge of the day, Rose salad and bossam kimchi as appetizers.

Lunch specials, priced from 20,000 won to 30,000 won are hanwoo beef shabu-shabu set, soy sauce-marinated crab set and a hanwoo bulgogi set.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. For reservations or enquiries, call (02) 508-2090.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)