Ahmad Abu Jamous, top, is a halal chef at InterContinental Seoul Coex, and cooks a variety of dishes including felafel, from left, deep-fried ball made of ground chikpeas, fava beans; shrimp kebab; and hummus
made of chikpeas.
By Kim Se-jeong

Ahmad Abu Jamous has made history as the first hotel chef specializing in halal food in Korea. He is responsible for the Arabic section of Asian Live, one of the four restaurants in InterContinental Seoul Coex in southern Seoul.

He oversees the preparation of almost 20 Arabic dishes, from hummus and couscous to kebab, and trains his Korean colleagues. All the meats for the dishes are processed and prepared according to Islamic law, which is called halal, and it is is essential to Muslim customers.

As a Muslim, the chef prays before he starts his day in the restaurant kitchen.

Kim Sung-kyu from InterContinental’s public relations department said hiring chef Abu Jamous was a strategic move by the hotel.

“Three percent of our hotel clientele come from the Arabic world, and their spending accounts for almost 10 percent of the hotel’s revenue,” he said.

Kim said the hotel also provides a carpet for guests who wish to worship in their hotel room. Devout Muslims bow five times a day to the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Asian Live, one of the four restaurants in InterContinental Seoul Coex in southern Seoul serves halal dishes.
/ Courtesy of InterContinental Seoul Coex
Abu Jamous has been at the restaurant almost three months, and the hotel is satisfied with his performance.

The hotel’s Muslim guests, a majority of whom are businessmen who come to Korea for a conference or an expo at COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in the same compound as the hotel, also seem happy to find food that’s familiar to them.

Thanks to the chef, the hotel also gets many more guests, for example, from Arabic embassies in Korea.

Abu Jamous has all that the hotel is looking for.

“We were looking for a Muslim chef who also had knowledge about Korea and Korean culture,” Kim said. The hotel was looking for a chef outside Korea, but couldn’t find any until Abu Jamous applied for the job.

Despite his young age, 30, he has an extensive culinary experience. He studied cooking for five years in Jordan where he also worked at some of the country’s best restaurants, including Japre in the capital of Amman.

Before coming to Korea six years ago, he had worked at a couple of Jordan’s best. Between 2007 and 2008, he worked as a chef at Dubai Marriott Hotel.

He came to Korea in 2008 and worked at Arabic restaurant, Petra, in Itaewon, for six years.

He said he cherished his experience at Petra, but his new job at InterContinental is exceptional.

“As a hotel chef, you win people, but as a restaurant chef, you win the money of the people,” he said.

“Arabs in Seoul come here because they trust me and my food,” he said. He is particularly happy that he is also winning the local people.

Asian Live has menus for five cuisines _ Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Arabic _ each of which is managed by a chef from the cuisine’s country of origin.

“Arab food has mid range flavors _ not too spicy, not too mild. So it can win both people who like spices and those who don’t,” the chef said, encouraging more Koreans to try his food. “For Koreans who are unfamiliar with Arab cuisine, my food would be a nice experience.”

In order to better cater its Muslim clientele, the hotel chain is also thinking of introducing a halal food section at Brasserie, the buffet restaurant, in Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, next to the Coex.

No other hotel in Seoul has followed in the InterContinental’s footsteps.

The number of Arab visitors to Korea is on the rise, albeit not yet fast or significant enough to prompt hotels to consider changing their services to cater to them. However, hotels are watching the InterContinental’s strategic move closely.

InterContinental Seoul Coex opened in 1999, and its major renovations of its 656 rooms were completed in 2012. Asian Live is open between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. for dinner. For more information and reservations, call (02)3430-8620 or visit www.iccoex.com.

Sources