Craving something other than Korean food? Dim sum in Seoul is easier to find than you’d think, and one of the most reliable spots sits on the basement level of Lotte World Mall in Jamsil. Dim Dim Sum draws long queues for a reason: juicy, delicate dumplings, a huge selection, and — crucially for visitors — a photo menu you order from yourself.
Finding it (it’s not on the restaurant floor)
Worth knowing upfront: this branch is not on the 5th-floor restaurant level where most of the mall’s dining is. It’s on B1, in the “3355” zone — head deep into that zone and you’ll find it tucked into the far left corner.
The name is a nice bit of Korean: 3355 (samsam-oo) comes from an expression meaning “in groups of threes and fives” — the way friends drift together in little clusters. A fitting name for a dining zone.
The waiting system (good news for foreigners)
Dim Dim Sum is popular enough that I failed to get in several times before this visit. There’s no remote waiting app, so you register on-site — but the waiting kiosk has a foreigner option with English, Chinese, and Japanese, so signing up is genuinely easy.
For timing: at 5pm on a weekday the hall was nearly full but I walked in with no wait. By just after 6pm there were 13 groups queuing, with a 24-minute estimate. Come before 6pm and you’ll likely skip the line entirely.
Ordering: scan, tap, done
You order by scanning the QR code on your table and adding dishes yourself. The menu is extensive — dumplings, rice bowls, beef noodle soup, barbecue pork and duck, steamed vegetables — and every dim sum has a photo, which makes choosing simple even if you can’t read Korean.
If you’re new to dim sum, the set menus are the shortcut: they bundle the most popular dishes so you can taste widely without guessing.
What I ordered: Set A (49,000 KRW, for two)
Set A includes har gow, shrimp-and-pork siu mai, xiaolongbao, eggplant dim sum, shrimp spring rolls, mala cucumber, a char siu pork rice bowl, and jasmine tea.
Har gow — plump shrimp in a beautifully chewy translucent wrapper. Springy shrimp, nutty sweetness; my second favorite of the day.
Shrimp & pork siu mai — the best of both textures: bouncy shrimp and juicy pork in one bite.
Xiaolongbao — the soup dumpling, filled with pork and a savory chicken broth that bursts when you bite. Careful, it’s hot.
Eggplant dim sum — stuffed with shrimp filling, silky and tender. My favorite of the whole meal (though I’m biased toward both shrimp and eggplant).
Shrimp spring rolls — properly crisp shell, shrimp and vegetables inside, clean and fragrant rather than heavy.
Char siu pork rice bowl — smoky, well-seasoned pork with no gaminess, sweet-savory sauce, and crunchy bok choy. Substantial enough to anchor the meal.
Mala cucumber — a Chinese-style cucumber salad with mala sauce and vinegar. Tangy and mildly spicy, it resets your palate exactly when the dumplings start feeling rich. Don’t skip it.
Jasmine tea — served in a pot you press down onto the cup to pour. Like the cucumber, it cuts through the richness.
Order this too: shrimp cheung fun (9,500 KRW)
Not in the set, but one of the restaurant’s signatures — and I’d have regretted missing it. Cheung fun is a silky steamed rice-noodle roll; here it’s wrapped around shrimp and vegetables and finished with a sweet soy sauce that ties it all together.
Details & tips
- Location: B1, 3355 zone, Lotte World Mall, 300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu (Google Maps)
- Hours: 10:30am–10:00pm daily (last order 9:00pm)
- Ordering: QR code at the table, with photos for every dish. Cards accepted.
- Waiting: on-site kiosk only (no app), but it supports English, Chinese, and Japanese. Arrive before 6pm to avoid the queue.
- Other branches: Myeongdong, Gangnam, and Seocho — handy if you’re not in Jamsil.
- Want other options? Most of the mall’s dining is upstairs — see my full guide to Lotte World Mall restaurants.
Verdict
For dim sum in Seoul, this is an easy recommendation: a big menu with photos, self-service QR ordering, sets that take the guesswork out, and dumplings that genuinely deliver — the eggplant dim sum and shrimp cheung fun especially. Come before 6pm, order a set, add the cheung fun, and let the jasmine tea do its work.
