The “Korean wave” has flooded the Taiwanese culinary landscape, as Korean restaurants have leaped to the top of the list of highly sought-after diners, according to a recent poll by food Web site OpenRice.
The top three Korean diners on the Web site’s rankings are Caffebene, Jjim Dak and Honey Creme, all of which attract food fans with their celebrity branding.
Caffebene has expanded rapidly and globally with famed actor Kim Soo-hyun as its endorser.
The cafe has also made it to the headlines of local media because of a franchise scam involving an unauthorized use of the brand name, the diner said.
Jjim Dak — named after a classical Korean chicken porridge — is popular among young female customers, who enjoy the “handsome” owner’s culinary skills, the restaurant said.
Ice cream shop Honey Creme opened in Taiwan just a year ago, and is well-known for its product ambassadors, including singers Kim Tae-yeon and Kim Hee-chul, encouraging fans to purchase “cone after cone” of the ice cream, which costs more than a regular meal, the store said.
The popularity of Korean dining has also swept top hotels, with the Grand Hyatt Taipei inviting South Korean master chef Jeon Jae-ho from Park Hyatt Seoul to host the hotel’s banquet kitchen for two weeks starting on March 19.
Jeon had served South Korean superstars like Kim Soo-hyun and Song Hye-kyo, Grand Hyatt Taipei’s management said.
To present an authentic Korean culinary experience to the Taiwanese public, Jeon insisted on using ingredients and condiments that he brought over from South Korea, including chili pepper, salt, sugar, spices, light soybean sauce and ginseng, the hotel said.
With the business of Korean dining looking good, top department store retailers are preparing to invest in Korean restaurant chains, with Tiger Bulgogi — a Korean barbecue chain — expected to open a restaurant in downtown Taipei.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it