A few hundred years ago, the average diet was mostly determined by the crops that could be grown in local farms. Today, however, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can have a wider range of dishes in one day than your ancestors had in their whole lifetimes.
There is one downside though: sometimes when foods are transported overseas, they become diluted or altered, so finding properly authentic examples of regional cuisine outside of its country of origin can be a challenge. That’s where the Korean government has decided to step in.
The nation’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has teamed up with the Korean Food Promotion Institute to create an official stamp of approval for international Korean restaurants. So far, only seven spots across three cities have been given the ‘Excellent Korean Restaurant’ badge of honour.
In order to earn the accolade, eateries must meet a laundry list of criteria, including exceptional food, service, hygiene, good-quality ingredients and more. In total, there are 27 different elements that a business has to ace before it can receive the accolade.
The government hopes to upgrade 100 places to ‘Excellent’ status before 2030 in hopes of ‘contributing to expanding the exports of K-Food’. Once a restaurant gains its certificate, it’s eligible for discounts on ingredients and tableware from Korea.
This year, only one European restaurant made the cut – the Soon Grill Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the second branch of Soon Grill, which opened its first Korean BBQ in le Marais over a decade ago. Named after head chef Sung-Hak Han’s mother, the menu is a ‘new take on [Korean cuisine]’, combining French and Korean cooking in a ‘creative and authentic’ way.
Han takes inspiration from the ‘culinary traditions of Korean Buddhist temples’, serving a range of top-shelf meat cuts, as well as plenty of veggie and vegan options. But food this good doesn’t come cheap, with dinner menus starting at €89 per person (and that’s before the wine pairing).
Elsewhere, three of the newly awarded restaurants were in Los Angeles (Baroo, Daedo Sikdang, and Soowon Galbi); the rest were in Singapore (NAE:UM, Seoul Restaurant, and Um Yong Baek).
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