What BTS has done for the popularity of South Korea’s K-Pop scene globally, Son Heung-min for the nation’s football ambitions, Jung Ho-Yeon for modelling, and Bong Joon-ho for film, a legion of Korean restaurateurs have fuelled the popularity of Korean flavours within the world’s culinary zeitgeist.
The ambitions from the South Korean government to spread Korean food far and wide have become evident in recent years. A government policy introduced in February 2024 has vowed to increase the number of overseas restaurants from 9,923 in 2020 to 15,000 by 2027, Michelin-starred Korean restaurants from 31 in 2023 to 100, and the total revenue of Korean restaurants nationally and globally to USD230 billion.
In Hong Kong’s Little Korea town in Tsim Sha Tsui, Korean-led restaurants Galbi Town, Apgujeong, Hanook, and Red Chicken have made waves locally. Modern and fine-dining Korean restaurants Hansik Goo, obp, Mosu, Moyo, and Danji have shown a contemporary side to the cuisine. Expansions of Korean chains in Hong Kong from bbq. chicken, Samsam, and Joongang Haejang have exhibited a strong desire for true Korean flavours.
A three and a half hour flight separates Hong Kong from Korea’s capital, but Korean food can be had a 15 minute MTR journey from most corners of the city. Hong Kong has been uniquely keen to enjoy the saucy, spicy, and sour flavours in recent years, now that Hallyu culture has touched the mainstream in a myriad of formats.
Syyoon Kim, marketing head of Hong Kong’s leading Korean hospitality company Gold Moon Restaurant Group, knows this too well. Joined by dozens of South Korean chefs and servers, the company has spawned the ever successful Jeonpo Meat Shop, Busan Night, Chef’s Meal, and Seoul Noodle Shop into Hong Kong.
“For those who have travelled to Korea, [our restaurants] evoke nostalgia, while those who have not visited yet find it intriguing,” Syyoon tells Foodie. “With the rising interest in Korean culture due to K-dramas and K-pop, the demand for Korean food has increased. This environment provides favourable conditions for Korean cuisine to establish itself in Hong Kong.”
Each brand promises an experience beyond just food, the co-founder tells, specialising in a variety of food options from the country “as Korean food is gradually being categorised in Hong Kong,” much to the advantage of his group.
Their Korean barbecue (KBBQ) brand Jeonpo has grown seven stores large due to Hong Kong’s love for grilled meat, Seoul Noodle Shop has expanded rapidly as affordable noodle meals become a trend in the city, and late-night restaurant Busan Night has opened in Soho serving food until the early hours.
There was no gamble in penetrating Hong Kong’s food scene with authentic Korean flavours. Syyoon was adamant the investment Gold Moon had made would pay off. “We believe that authentic Korean food with unique flavours and quality can stimulate consumer curiosity [in Hong Kong]. Many people are eager for such experiences.”
“The traditional theme of Korean restaurants here in Hong Kong have existed for a long time. People need new concepts. Where people before only knew Korean food meant barbecue, now it means something different,” Jennifer Kim, owner of Wan Chai’s modern Korean eatery Danji and bibimbap takeaway store Seoul Recipe, shares too. To her, Korean food now deserves to be elaborated beyond the stereotypical KBBQ restaurant all too familiar in Hong Kong.
Founding Seoul Recipe, a food importer, manufacturer, and distributor, in 2017, Jennifer was intent to provide Hong Kong with different flavours beyond the grilled meat sub-cuisine familiar in the city. “A lot of new Korean restaurants [are opening] in Hong Kong, but no one is doing anything nice about bibimbap.”
Her newly opened takeaway store in Wan Chai stands to promote Korea’s flavours in a burgeoning sub-cuisine in Hong Kong. “Our focus is sophisticated fast food [at Seoul Recipe].”
In 2022, she founded Danji to supplement the food scene with “a modern Korean bistro, not compromising on the taste.” Where previously Korean food was seen binarily in either a fine-dining space or street food style, Jennifer saw her family-style sharing plates with boisterous Korean flavours as needed in Hong Kong.
And most recently, Jennifer partnered up with Laisun Group to open HANU, a Hanwoo beef-speciality restaurant serving cuts of premium Korean cow in a bento-box style.
Thanks to the increased specialisation of Korean food, and a feverish popularity of the country’s flavours in Hong Kong, Jennifer’s bibimbap takeaway shop, modern Korean bistro, and beef-speciality restaurant would not be as possible five years ago as today. “We just want to provide genuine heart in delivering good Korean food.”
South Korea has now become known as a soft cultural power, a play made in part to the government’s effort to penetrate markets abroad to invest in a Korean message. Hong Kong is South Korea’s sixth largest trade partner. Jongseok Lee, chairman of the Association of Korean Restaurants in Hong Kong, a figure within the nation’s political patchwork locally, is uniquely impassioned to advance Korean food culture in the city.
As the chairman of the Association, Jongseok runs the semi-governmental body that aligns the interests and investment of Hong Kong’s authentic Korean restaurants. He emigrated to the city in 2016 to launch several Korean food brands locally.
“Before COVID, there was no meaningful change to Korean food [in Hong Kong],” he tells Foodie. “When the lack of travel affected Hong Kong’s social environment during the protests and COVID, Squid Game became very popular. From then on, we could now start leveraging the Korean wave globally.”
In his eight years of living in Hong Kong, Jongseok has witnessed the same specialisation of Korean cuisine that Syyoon Kim is currently aiding. “Our Association was established by the [South] Korean government in 2010 to promote Korean food globally. Of 400 Korean restaurants now in Hong Kong, 150 to 160 are owned by Koreans and cooked by Koreans.”
Assisting Hong Kong’s Korean restaurants with sourcing, networking, and financial advice with South Korea’s food investment funds, Jongseok says “Hong Kong has [truly] delivered authentic Korean food.”
“Hong Kongers have a tendency to enjoy different kinds of food. In the city, you can enjoy both Korean snack styles and high-end premium meals,” he says, a testament to “Korea’s position as a strong cultural power.”
As cultural and culinary trade increases manifold between the two markets, South Korea’s top chefs are looking to Hong Kong as a breeding ground for Asian expansion of their restaurants. Mingoo Kang of two Michlein starred Mingles opened Hansik Goo in June 2020 and Sung Anh opened Mosu Hong Kong in April 2022, an expansion of his three Michelin star restaurant from Seoul.
This time around, Born & Bred’s chef Jung Sang-won has come to Hong Kong to open up Moo-Lah, a Hong Kong-style diner using premium Korean Hanwoo steak in their Cantonese dishes.