BIWON

Biwon's interior is built on a contrast of textures and a restrained palette: sandy tones, softly shaped furniture and fanciful chandeliers set the tone for a space that feels more like a private club than an ordinary restaurant. The name references the historic garden at the Changdeokgung palace, where Korean monarchs once strolled and picnicked — and that idea of secluded luxury reads in every detail of the room.

Our guide's team finds it equally comfortable here for a quiet dinner for two and a lively evening with friends — the space works both ways.

Biwon's menu spans the culinary traditions of five Asian countries at once — Korea, Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore — though the Korean thread remains the core of it. Brand chef Mido Mustafa, trained at Milan's Langosteria and Hong Kong's Ronin, built the menu around wagyu beef: it appears in sushi, carpaccio, tataki and steaks — the only kind of beef used here.

The seafood lineup is just as strong. Expect a whelk sashimi, a scallop-and-yuzu roll, or a whole-fish crudo — sea bass, red porgy, dorado. Turbot and sole are cooked in the josper: open fire delivers a crust and smokiness that's hard to achieve any other way. Many ingredients on the menu are rare even at Moscow's fine-dining restaurants — the emphasis on scarce, premium ingredients here is a matter of principle.

The bar menu follows the same logic: more than ten kinds of sake, including sparkling ones, Japanese plum liqueurs (umeshu), Korean soju distillate, original cocktails, and a wine list of more than two hundred labels. Recognizable brands sit alongside small family houses, both cognac and wine.

Our undercover guests rated it 8 out of 10 for dinner, for precise work with premium ingredients and an atmosphere that keeps its distance from the noisy culinary mainstream.