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Enjoying taste of Seoul in South Jakarta
Break time: A restaurant on Jl
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reak time: A restaurant on Jl. Senopati, South Jakarta, offers authentic Korean food and beverages. Korean cuisine has gained popularity in the city in the past few years.(JP/Dionnasius Aditya)
From hot tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes) and crunchy kimchi (fermented vegetables) to the savory sauce of jajangmyeon (Korean-style noodles), Korean food is becoming known around the world, especially with the growing fame of K-pop, K-drama and mukbang (live eating shows).
Fortunately, Jakartans do not need to go to South Korea to get authentic Korean food. They just need to drive to the south of the capital and find “Little Seoul” to satisfy their Korean cravings.
Jakarta’s first “Little Seoul” is on Jl. Senopati in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Located near Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), Jl. Senopati hosts many restaurants and cafés, including dozens that serve Korean cuisine.
One of the popular spots on Jl. Senopati is Young Dabang, a 104-seat Korean restaurant located on Jl. Senopati No. 57. Entering the restaurant, customers are greeted with rows of wooden tables under yellow light bulbs, a red neon sign and pictures that give the restaurant a retro vibe.
Manager Ella Dewa said that unlike other Korean restaurants in Jakarta, which offer fine dining experiences to their customers, Young Dabang chose to serve Korean street food in a cozy hang-out spot aimed at young people.
“We want our spot to be a hang-out for young people. In K-drama, when Koreans are stressed out or want some entertainment, they’ll go to street food vendors and enjoy a bottle of soju. We want to recreate that atmosphere here,” Ella said.
Young Dabang, which opened in 2016, serves about 30 types of street foods, including tteokbokki, jjampong (spicy seafood soup), ramyon (ramen), Korean fried chicken and soju with prices that range from Rp 75,000 (US$5.33) to Rp 200,000.
“All the foods we serve here are halal as they contain no pork and no lard,” she said.
The restaurant is serene during the day, but Ella explained that after 8 p.m. the atmosphere would turn festive as Young Dabang held live karaoke performances, where customers sing onstage while sing and dance along.
“From 8 p.m. until closing time, we’ll turn off the lights turn on disco lights. Customers can sing onstage while other people dance and sing along. The atmosphere is always so lively, some customers even do dance routines from their favorite boy bands and girl bands on the dance floor,” Ella said, adding that the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to midnight on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends.
Due to its unique concept, Ella said, Young Dabang became so popular among locals that people need to reserve two weeks in advance to get a seat on weekends. “We get about 200 customers on weekdays and 300 to 400 customers on weekends.”
Owner Alexandro Wibowo said most customers who come to the restaurant are locals.
“We make more than Rp 1 billion in revenue each month. Most of our customers are locals, because we have adjusted the food to local taste so Koreans don’t find the food as tasty as authentic Korean food,” he said.
Meanwhile, South Jakarta offers another “little Seoul” on Jl. Wolter Monginsidi in Kebayoran Baru. Along the busy road, residents can find dozens of Korean restaurants in close proximity. Residents can also easily find Korean supermarkets selling groceries and products from South Korea.
One of the many Korean restaurants in the area is Tobak, located on Jl. Wolter Monginsidi 30. Here, customers can taste authentic Korean foods and enjoy traditional Korean restaurant atmosphere. The walls are painted cream, with ceramic vases decorating the walls and black wooden furniture filling the room. Each table is separated by a partition to ensure privacy.
Manager Ratna Indah said the restaurant was established in 2003 by a South Korean.
“Tobak was among the first Korean restaurants on Jl. Monginsidi. We opened far before K-pop was popular in the country. The owner opened it because, in the early 2000s, Korean companies started to expand in Indonesia. The owner opened it to accommodate Koreans who worked in Jakarta,” she said on Nov. 6.
Based on data from the Korean Embassy, there are about 30,000 Koreans currently living or working in Indonesia and 45,000 Indonesians who work or live in Korea.
There are also 1,340 Indonesians studying in Korea and about 1,000 Korean students studying in Indonesia.
Ratna said the restaurant imported ingredients from Korea and hired Korean chefs to ensure their food’s authenticity.
“The name of the restaurant comes from the Korean word for ‘original’, so we’re working very hard to ensure the authenticity of the taste.”
She said the booming hallyu (Korean wave) in Indonesia did not really affect the restaurant’s sales. “We have a niche market, and our customers are 80 percent Korean office workers and families who live in Jakarta, so the K-pop trend doesn’t really affect us.”
Chae Hae-song, a Korean graduate student who has been studying in Indonesia for about a year, said in general, the food in Jakarta’s Korean restaurants is quite good and similar to authentic Korean food.
“It’s quite easy to find Korean restaurants in Jakarta, although not as many as Japanese restaurants. The taste is quite good and authentic in general. The vibes are similar and the prices are reasonable or a bit cheaper here. I think Korean culture is popular in Indonesia and this explains the increase of Korean shops and restaurants,” she told The Jakarta Post.
