I first came to Asia more than 18 years ago. Before Hong Kong, I spent more than three years in Seoul during the then-economic-crisis when Koreans were known more for giving away their gold to help shore up the nation’s foreign currency reserves, than for the quality of their fried chicken.
I ate Korean food every lunch and dinner for my first two months in Seoul until I had the overwhelming urge for a turkey mayo sandwich, which I dutifully satisfied at the Irish bar and restaurant, known as O’Kims, in the basement of the Westin Chosun Hotel.
A healthy intake of Korean food continued long thereafter, reinforced by 13 years I spent in relationships with Koreans – including one marriage. Now, though I have left the country and divorced my ex, my love of Korean food and the Land of the Morning Calm, a misnomer if there ever was one, continues.
Secret Garden
The first Korean restaurant I patronised in Hong Kong was Secret Garden, located in Central’s Bank of America Tower. That was in 1999 and I was here on business for negotiations representing a fund looking to acquire a failed Korean bank. My Korean colleagues took me to Secret Garden for authentic Korean food, just like back home in Seoul. Korea recovered from that economic crisis and Standard Chartered ultimately acquired that bank.
Throughout this and subsequent economic crises, Secret Garden (or, as it’s known in Korean, Biwon), named for the “hidden” garden nestled within one of the five major palaces in Seoul, has remained a stalwart in Central for an authentic Korean lunch, when it is usually packed, or dinner, when reservations usually aren’t needed.
Secret Garden has a comprehensive traditional menu with soups and stews like suntubu-chige (soft tofu stew), kimchi-chige (kimchi stew) and samgye-tang (ginseng chicken soup), traditional favourites like kalbi-jjim (steamed short ribs) and a full slate of barbecued meats, Korean pancakes and the like. An array of traditional side dishes (known as panchan) including cabbage kimchi, spinach and bean sprouts are presented without fanfare or additional charge.
The yukhwe bibimpap before mixing. Photo: Marc Rubinstein
The long-time standout at Secret Garden – and a cooling dish on a warm Hong Kong day – is the yukhwe bibimpap (mixed rice with raw beef). Unlike the better known hot bibimpap dishes served in the traditional hot clay pot, known in Korean as dolsot bibimpap, Secret Garden’s raw beef bibimpap comes in a big clear glass bowl with a mound of tender beef atop a generous portion of semi-glutinous Korean rice and crisp sliced vegetables.
The server will add a touch of sesame oil and leave you a small bowl of Korean chili paste (kochu-jang) to add to taste. Personally, I recommend asking for extra to ensure the dish packs the right punch. I tried it again just a few days ago for a spicy Valentine’s Day lunch and the quality remains excellent even if the glass bowls have started to lose their clarity, having taken on a slightly translucent bearing.
Secret Garden: Shop G5, G/F, Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Admiralty (Google Maps)
Seoul Bros
While Secret Garden has stood the test of time, a spate of contemporary, hip, fusion, and/or trendy Korean restaurants has swept Hong Kong the past few years on the back of a wave of Korean music and television dramas.
Seoul Bros’ exterior. Photo: Annette Chan
One of these to open in the past few months is Seoul Bros at 66 Hollywood Road, with its entrance on the lower part of Elgin Street. Seoul Bros offers an unabashedly young and contemporary vibe, with a limited menu of modern Korean fast food and counter-seating only. It’s a great place to have a quick and filling lunch or dinner for well under HKD100 per person.
The fried chicken, though slightly sweet for my taste, is very good and well supplemented with a few pieces of pan fried ddok (sticky rice cake) mixed in. The standouts however are first, the most excellently gooey kimchi fries laden with kimchi, melted cheese, and spices, and second, the creative fusion of Korean and Vietnamese cuisine where Vietnamese-style banh mi baguette sandwiches have been stuffed with Korean-flavored beef, chicken or shrimp. These baguettes, unlike some I have mentioned in a past column, won’t damage your gums either.
Seoul Bros’ kimchi fries. Photo: Marc Rubinstein
Disappointing, however, and in contrast to Secret Garden, is the Seoul Bros take on bibimpap. Here, it lacks sufficient flavor, traditional or otherwise, and is oddly covered with a big, soggy steamed egg. Nonetheless, one can’t help but enjoy the relaxed vibe of the photo-snapping young Hong Kongers and tourists while indulging in a decadent bowl of kimchi fries.
Seoul Bros: G/F, 66 Hollywood Road, Central (Google Maps)
We may not soon be able to bridge the divide among localists and loyalists here, Republicans and Democrats elsewhere or the two long cleaved Koreas. But, when it comes to the food of that divided peninsula, there’s no need to choose between tradition and modernity when both can be so happily consumed.
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