Toh Lim Restaurant, Lotte Hotel

Seoul, Korea

Transforming Lotte Hotel Seoul's Toh Lim into a Cinematic Inspired Cantonese Dining Experience

As part of the larger redevelopment of the Lotte Hotel Seoul, Smallwood was engaged to design the interiors for Toh Lim, a 220-seat, fine-dining Cantonese restaurant in the South Korean capital. The space was split between various guest experiences with the lift lobby drawing you into the arrival gallery off which private dining rooms were located. The gallery walkway leads to the open space towards the rear where the tea station and dessert bar are central features. Yum Cha and Fine Dining make up the remainder of the space.

​The brand was developed as an old-meet-new expression of heritage chic, where culture and creativity mix with Cantonese spirit and Korean ingredients. We used the classic Hong Kong movie ‘In the Mood for Love’ as our design inspiration, which touched on the brand ethos, where we referenced design aspects from the costume design and cinematography.