The journey to the highest restaurant in South Korea starts in a whale display. Visitors enter a waiting hall, awash in blue light as whales swim across a giant screen on the ceiling. Several different rooms follow — some with opportunities for professional photos, others displaying the building materials that make up the tower — before visitors arrive at what is known as 123F Lounge, which sits on top of the Lotte World Tower and boasts floor-to-ceiling windows offering views across Seoul.
There are two long passages – – one enlightened dull blue as whales swim alongside you on wall-length screens, the other with LED roof boards pivoting through beautiful mosaic examples, in sharp differentiation with high contrast whale photographs on the wall. Dubiously whale-sounding calls add to the submerged mood. Another room has counterfeit mists suspended midair and whales painted on the wall, seeming mid-flight.
(I later realize this is all essential for a transitory show commending crafted by whale picture taker Jang Nam-won.)
Many whales later, you at last arrive at the lift, which requires a moment to venture out up to the Seoul Sky observatory, going at 10 meters each second.
Venturing out, guests are directed to sit in a dim room as a video, clearly a creative delivering of the historical backdrop of Seoul and the Lotte World Tower, plays – – before the screen parts into two goliath boards, gradually lifting like a drapery to uncover the stunning perspective on Seoul through floor-to-roof windows.
The observatory traverses various floors, with goliath windows that permit a broad 360-degree perspective on the city. One can detect the famous N Seoul Tower roosted on Namsan mountain, spans extending across the waterway, stops and sports arenas and, surprisingly, the rides at the close by Lotte World amusement park.
Each floor offers various attractions, like little bistros on the 119th and 122th floors. There’s the Sky Deck on the 118th floor, with a glass floor that allows you to see every one of the 478 meters (1,568 feet) between your shoes and the road far underneath. There’s the Sky Terrace on the 120th floor, an outside overhang with an ideal perspective on the winding Han River.
After the suitable measure of ooh-ing and aah-ing, you at last arrive at the parlor on the 123rd floor.
The café is both open and comfortable, with comfortable seats and lights on each table. Windows make up a whole wall, extending up to the high roof to flood the space with warm light during nightfall. A free viewfinder permits you to focus in on the scene.
The menu is on the expensive side by Korean principles – – $28 for a meat stew, $19 for tomato spaghetti and $18 for a Caesar salad – – however we took as much time as is needed, watching the sun plunge underneath the skyline, momentarily turning the sky red hot orange.
The eatery likewise offers pizza, sandwiches, steak and canapés including a cheddar choice.
The view was similarly as shocking in obscurity, the city a lattice of light fanned out before us.
However the 123F Lounge is an ideal spot for a heartfelt supper or unique date, there were likewise families with kids and youthful grown-up companion bunches when we visited. The parlor can likewise be leased for extraordinary occasions, for example, wedding after-parties and item dispatches.
The Lotte World Tower is situated in the Jamsil neighborhood of Seoul’s southeastern Songpa-gu region. It’s open the entire week, however hours rely upon the day, and is available by tram, transport or confidential vehicle.
