Special Note: If you haven’t yet tuned in to Sixth Sense, you need to do it as soon as possible. And, I meant it, because if you don’t, you’ll be really missing out! Personally, I
Special Note: If you haven’t yet tuned in to Sixth Sense, you need to do it as soon as possible. And, I meant it, because if you don’t, you’ll be really missing out!
Personally, I think that this new variety show hosted by Yoo Jae Suk is the dawn of worldwide variety entertainment. No matter how advanced the whole filmmaking industry is, you don’t usually have a show where the TV production crew goes through great lengths to set up a “fake” yet perfect-looking restaurant. And, what makes the show a real gem is the way Jaesuk leads the rowdy, talkative bunch – and we can’t forget Jessi, the funny scene-stealer, of course.
So, if you’ve enjoyed the show to the point that you want to visit all the restaurants that were mentioned – the real ones – here’s a list of some of these places.
Stable Easy Korean Restaurant: A Supermarket That Lets You Cook Your Groceries In-Store
That sounds really unusual, isn’t it?
I mean you can’t imagine walking into Walmart, buying bread, meat and a few vegetables and cooking them right there. But, that’s perfectly possible in South Korea, more specifically at 285 Byeolnae 3-ro, Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, Hyundai I’Park Shopping Street 101.
This restaurant is found in the self-sufficient green city that’s centered on the rich Korean culture and economy and the eccentric concept of the restaurant has taken creativity to new heights. The restaurant consists of two grand spaces; with the first one being a supermarket where people could buy any grocery at a small usage fee and the second place is a cooking space with cooking utensils, condiments, and side dishes like lettuce, eggs, and kimchi.
At first glance, it looks just like a regular supermarket but when you go to the back, you’ll find a cozy cooking space.
And, we can’t forget that this is the place where Lee Sang Yeob officially became known as Mr. Pork Belly.
- Opening Hours: Daily 9:00~23:00 Open all year round
- Address: 285 Byeolnae 3-ro, Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, Hyundai I’Park Shopping Street 101
- Phone: 031-529-6614
- Map: Naver
Gopizza: A Pizza Brand That Was Started by a Kaist Student Has Now 80 Stores Around the World
This episode wasn’t really about food but it featured the CEO of a successful pizza brand.
It all started with Jae Won Lim, the CEO and founder of GOPIZZA, who was also a student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), Daejeon. He was a huge fan of McDonald’s and he went there every week. But, one day, he craved pizza. Since he was in a hurry and he thought that a pizza was too big and expensive for one person, he didn’t buy any pizza but he was struck with a ground-breaking idea. He wanted to create a single serving pizza that would be easy to make, fast to eat and affordable to consumers. His purpose was to create a pizza brand that would be parallel to McDonald’s food culture: accessible, cheap and fast.
Back then, he was only 26 years old and he didn’t have enough funds to open a fancy restaurant, so he settled for a food truck along the Han River. But, within the first few weeks, he was already selling 600 pizzas per day. For one year, he worked in an advertising firm while operating his food truck. The success gave him the capital he needed to open his own pizza restaurant.
“The reason I sold pizzas from a food truck was to prove that I, a nerdy guy, can get tough too and have great business ability,” he said. “But again, I never thought I’d become a full-time businessman. It was GOPIZZA that I wanted to bet my youth on, not just any business.”
And, so by the end of 2018, GOPIZZA surpassed 500 million won in monthly sales and even received around $1.6million as investment funds.
Robert Chicken: A Restaurant Without Any Chefs and Where a Robot Will Fry Chicken for You
If you are a K-drama fan, you’d know by now that South Korea is addicted to fried chicken (especially with the combo of fried chicken and beer, aka Chimaek). However, in this era of Al, a restaurant has transformed the laborious process of frying chicken into a simple one, using a robot.
The restaurant has seven options, including fried chicken with honey, black pepper sauce, chili crab sauce or soy sauce. The staff will only place the raw chicken in a bucket and from then, the robot does the whole thing – from marinating to frying the chicken.
If you are curious about how a chicken prepared by a robot will taste, how about you drop by for a visit?