[dafleur]

Manhattanites Served Korean Food as Japanese
Amid a cluster of offices on Third Avenue sits a Japanese restaurant whose signboard greets diners with the words "Gyu-Kaku, Japanese BBQ Dining." As you enter, waiters and waitresses of various ethnic backgrounds African-Americans, Indonesians, Thais and Tibetans shout "Iratshaimase!" ("welcome" in Japan). By 12:30 p.m. all 100 seats are filled. "It's not easy to find empty seats during lunchtime or evening peak time,� says a Tibetan employee.

Gyu-Kaku is a world-renowned Japanese roast-beef restaurant chain with some 900 branches throughout Japan. It has many overseas branches, including two in New York, eight in Los Angeles, two in Hawaii, two in Jakarta, two in Singapore, and four in Taiwan. Its interior is reminiscent of a traditional Japanese "Izakaya" or pub. Only the menu gives pause: 50 to 80 percent is Korean, be it galbi (roast beef ribs), bibimbap (boiled rice with assorted mixtures), kimchi, japchae (traditional Korean chop suey) namul (seasoned greens) or kupbap (rice served in soup) -- though the names are changed to "karubi," "bibimba", "kimuchi", "chapu che", "namuru" and "kuppa."
<br>
With Korean foods offered in Japanese-style transliteration, most customers mistake them for Japanese, and so do the waiters. David Kirk (32), a customer who arrived to have lunch with three friends of his, said, "I didn't know that kalbi and bibimbap are Korean foods. I thought they are Japanese because this is a Japanese restaurant."

At the same hour, a Korean restaurant run by Koreans on 32nd Avenue in Manhattan is full of only Korean customers -- Korean-Americans, representatives of Korean companies and tourists. Worldwide, the popularity of Korean food is growing due to people's perception that it is healthy and to the spread of the Korean Wave. But it is Japanese restaurants that reap the profits.

Experts say Gyu-Kaku has succeeded in marketing Korean foods worldwide thanks to packaging. Korea lags behind Japan in marketing, including how to serve food, create a customer-friendly atmosphere and serve seasonings and condiments palatable to local customers.

Japan is not the only country that is "stealing" Korean traditions. Singapore is a city state where all kinds of foods from around the world are fiercely competing with each other. A total of 212 restaurants were last year rated Singapore�s Top Restaurants. Only one Korean was on the list -- Crystal Jade Korean Ginseng Chicken & BBQ" Unfortunately, it is run not by a Korean but by a large Singaporean restaurant chain.

Here, it is the same story: Crystal Jade is crowded with Singaporeans at lunchtime on weekdays, but the other Korean restaurants run by Koreans are crowded mostly with Koreans.

Park Kun-ho (35), who moved to Singapore three months ago, said, "Crystal Jade serves Korean foods whose taste is no different from those served by other Korean restaurants operated by real Koreans. But it has a much better atmosphere. It doesn't smell bad. And you don't eat food just because of the taste, do you? If I were to introduce my foreign friends to Korean cuisine, I wouldn�t take them to restaurants operated by Koreans."

The number of restaurants selling "Korean" food is growing. But it is foreigners who make the money.


http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0802040013.html

[charzzy]

ooh i like crystal jade ginseng chicken. their food is good.

and lol i just explored the gyu kaku singapore website and their food looks yummy :x

[pammie]

well i guess this article is a wake up call for korean restaurant owners to step up and better their service if they want to reap in the profits like all the others do

[lovejyk]

Eh. I don't know why it matters whether or not Korean restaurants are owned by Korean, Japanese, or Singaporean people...
A lot of Mexican, Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese restaurants aren't even owned by Mexican, Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese people.

[kkam jjak]

Manhattanites Served Korean Food as Japanese

Gyu-Kaku is a world-renowned Japanese roast-beef restaurant chain with some 900 branches throughout Japan. It has many overseas branches, including two in New York, eight in Los Angeles, two in Hawaii, two in Jakarta, two in Singapore, and four in Taiwan. Its interior is reminiscent of a traditional Japanese "Izakaya" or pub. Only the menu gives pause: 50 to 80 percent is Korean, be it galbi (roast beef ribs), bibimbap (boiled rice with assorted mixtures), kimchi, japchae (traditional Korean chop suey) namul (seasoned greens) or kupbap (rice served in soup) -- though the names are changed to "karubi," "bibimba", "kimuchi", "chapu che", "namuru" and "kuppa."<br>
With Korean foods offered in Japanese-style transliteration, most customers mistake them for Japanese, and so do the waiters. David Kirk (32), a customer who arrived to have lunch with three friends of his, said, "I didn't know that kalbi and bibimbap are Korean foods. I thought they are Japanese because this is a Japanese restaurant."


http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0802040013.html

^THAT PISSES ME OFF.

If they're gonna run a restaurant with korean cuisine ... the least they could do is STICK TO THE ORIGINAL FOOD NAMES instead of trying to make it seem like it's JAPANESE food.


But I agree with pammie ..... most korean restaurant owners need to step up their game.

--------------edit

http://www.gyu-kaku.com/

^omfg...... they have the nerve to call it JAPANESE BBQ RESTAURANT


i find this hilarious and annoying and upsetting all at the same time

[SUPERSTAR]

it's okay to sell korean food

but don't claim it as your own

of course a japanese would do that

if your going to serve korean food let it be known that it's korean, leave the korean name, don't change to make it sound like japanese and claim it's japanese.

honestly, the japanese are never okay with us koreans growing. when they see koreans prosper in any way or form they try to take it away. the popularity of korean food is growing but they're trying to steal it away and claim that it's their own. i seriously wouldn't be suprised if they came out and said all the food that koreans eat are actually from japan. didn't they claim that kimchi was japanese? like seriously wtf..and i bet soon they're going to say that KOREAN BBQ is really japanese. what a bunch of crap.

[diskhmaiangel]

have to admit though...
of all the korean restaurants i've been too...none are really all that great compared with other types of Asian restaurants .

[joolee.]

*Sigh* I always hear about Japanese people doing that. -____-"

[j00n]

The Japanese have a long history of simply taking whatever they wanted without regards to ethics...why should food be any different?

[dafleur]

Eh. I don't know why it matters whether or not Korean restaurants are owned by Korean, Japanese, or Singaporean people...
A lot of Mexican, Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese restaurants aren't even owned by Mexican, Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese people.

errrr...ok? not really the point of the article, but whatever.

[lovejyk]

Well the point of this article is about "stealing" food right?

I was just merely stating that its not just Korean food that is being "stolen" but it doesn't matter because there are plenty of restaurants where the owner would be of another ethnic group that owns a restaurant that provides food from other ethnicities.

haha...??

Japan is not the only country that is "stealing" Korean traditions. Singapore is a city state where all kinds of foods from around the world are fiercely competing with each other. A total of 212 restaurants were last year rated Singapore�s Top Restaurants. Only one Korean was on the list -- Crystal Jade Korean Ginseng Chicken & BBQ" Unfortunately, it is run not by a Korean but by a large Singaporean restaurant chain.

Here, it is the same story: Crystal Jade is crowded with Singaporeans at lunchtime on weekdays, but the other Korean restaurants run by Koreans are crowded mostly with Koreans.

Park Kun-ho (35), who moved to Singapore three months ago, said, "Crystal Jade serves Korean foods whose taste is no different from those served by other Korean restaurants operated by real Koreans. But it has a much better atmosphere. It doesn't smell bad. And you don't eat food just because of the taste, do you? If I were to introduce my foreign friends to Korean cuisine, I wouldn�t take them to restaurants operated by Koreans."

The number of restaurants selling "Korean" food is growing. But it is foreigners who make the money.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0802040013.html

You just got to laugh at the "unfortunately" in that excerpt... haha.
And again, Korean food isn't the only type of food that is being "stolen" but for some reason, the author was making a really big deal out of it. The author seems a little personally insulted also which is kind of funny to laugh at :/

[IATEYOU]

The Japanese have a long history of simply taking whatever they wanted without regards to ethics...why should food be any different?

^sigh..unfortunately this is true! and it makes me verry very very very irritated!
yea..changing the names=NOT COOL.

c'mon koreans! step ya game up

[SeeinGxStarS]

Mm.. not really worrying me. Nothing beats a hearty meal than Korean Cuisine.

[yunaa8]

it's okay to sell korean food

but don't claim it as your own

of course a japanese would do that

if your going to serve korean food let it be known that it's korean, leave the korean name, don't change to make it sound like japanese and claim it's japanese.

honestly, the japanese are never okay with us koreans growing. when they see koreans prosper in any way or form they try to take it away. the popularity of korean food is growing but they're trying to steal it away and claim that it's their own. i seriously wouldn't be suprised if they came out and said all the food that koreans eat are actually from japan. didn't they claim that kimchi was japanese? like seriously wtf..and i bet soon they're going to say that KOREAN BBQ is really japanese. what a bunch of crap.

Haha actually they are not changing the names of the foods. They probably write it in katakana which pronounces/spells it differently. Just because the restaurant's name is japanese doesn't mean that there "claiming" it is japanese food. Im sure japanese people know ("galbi, bibimbap, japchae.etc") are all korean food because it doesn't even sound japanese. Only some people who are not asian can't tell the difference between asian food.
If the japanese are NEVER okay with koreans growing why are there so many japanese tourists going to korea?? In japan right now korean music/dramas are really popular. I honestly think this article is over exaggerated.

[Antz]

does it really matter who owns what..? my sis' bf's sis' + her husband owns a thai restaurant. and they're viet.
and my mum works in a malaysian/chinese restaurant that is owned by vietnamese.

[addickshun]

my family friend is korean and chinese but he owns a japanese cuisine.

[maharu.]

uhm. It's called YAKINIKU.

Their dressing styles, prices, food style is TOTALLY different. Yakiniku is more delicious than korean BBQ because the size is more smaller, less appetizers, better dressings, no marination....

if you havent been there or seen jyukaku, don't judge it.

[nghister]

That's funny.

I've eaten at a few GyuKaku and they serve traditional Japanese style barbeque. JAPANESE because it's been around for ages and their flavoring is very different. They're quite famous for their traditional meat grilling and I don't think they'll be this successful if the only thing they serve is Korean BBQ renamed as something else. Because, honestly, Koreans aren't the only ones who came up with grilled meat..

Sure there are some Korean inspired dishes, but those are labeled in english and in katakana with the japanese spelling of the original korean name. They're not changing the names of the food, it's just the way it's written in Japanese, since they don't have the same word structure as korean. The reporter doesn't even know that much and yet he's already accusing them of "stealing" from his culture. Katakana is written for names of foreign things in Japan, so them writing it in Katakana meant the food is not of Japanese origin. If foreigners don't know that, it's their own fault for being ignorant to that fact. I'm sure if they ask the waiters would be able to help them. =]


As for koreans needing to provide a better atmosphere to lure in customers... I've seen plenty of new Pho restaurants opened up whose owners are all Korean. In some of them, their menus refer to the soup without any mention of it being a traditional Vietnamese dish.. so maybe Vietnamese restaurants should step up their game too? lol


What's with the sly remarks about Japanese people in this thread anyway? It's about food, leave the politics to the news forum? =x


EDIT: 50-80% is a big gap... I don't even remember that many Korean things being on the menu when I go (maybe because I don't order them as well?) but they should at least give a more specific and accurate #.

[starstrewnnight]

The way the writer posed his article is definitely setting the negative mood.

It's not about the Japanese "stealing" Korean cuisine. It's more about how foreigners assume the food is Japanese just because it's in a Japanese restaurant. As for the naming, that's just how the Japanese pronounce things. Anything foreign to the Japanese, they write it in katakana (to indicate that it's FOREIGN, not indigenous to Japan). I've been to a lot of Korean places that offer Japanese cuisines and translate it to Korean wordings. Are they claiming udon, sashimi, etcetc as their own? No.

[simplejoy]

it doesn't really matter who owns it right? but the problem here is that the foreigners don't know that the food they're eating is korean, since the names are changed into japanese for the restaurant. i don't think it'd be hard to just keep the original name of the food they serve there.