Copyright thespinoff
Office workers in Wellington are feeling the loss of a unique Korean takeout restaurant, which has closed its doors for good after 25 years in business. Up an escalator next to the Woolworths on Lambton Quay, a family owned and operated eatery quietly improved the capital’s lunchtime landscape, serving carefully crafted Korean dishes for more than two decades. The kimchi was made in-house. The microgreens, radish and lettuces served in its nutrient-dense bibimbap rice bowls and kimbap rice rolls were grown pesticide-free in their own backyard. The walls of their kiosk were decorated with hand-drawn signs explaining Korean ingredients to Kiwi customers. The Garden was established in 1999. Woo Lee’s parents took over the business not long after its inception. In 2019, Woo and his wife Cha Hee Kim took over and transitioned to a Korean-inspired takeaway with an emphasis on nutritious eats. “Our food was to comfort the soul and nourish the body. We strived to showcase the best of Korean cuisine, modifying it where possible to add more nutrition into the dishes,” said Cha Hee. The combination of working-from-home culture, inflation and government sector job cuts took a toll the business could not recover from. “In addition, the news of our first baby on the way was a sign for us to reluctantly close and move on,” said Cha Hee. She will train to become a teacher while Woo is reobtaining his pharmacist license. Customers have been expressing their sorrow at The Garden’s closure online. “I was sad to see the shuttered shop front! I’ve loved your tasty and wholesome meals,” “Devastated”, “Such sad news”, “You are my favourite restaurant in the city !!!” customers commented on their social media. “Your family business has been a blessing to many people over the years especially your amazing & friendly customer service,” another customer wrote. “I thought The Garden was just closed for the day when I went by on Monday but it is closed FOREVER, how will I cope?!” I texted my husband with a string of crying face emojis. I first tasted bibimbap and kimchi when I visited Seoul in 2009 and became hooked. That same year, the South Korean government launched a multi-million dollar campaign to promote their cuisine internationally. These days spicy pickled cabbage kimchi and fermented chilli paste gochujang are readily available in major New Zealand supermarkets. Many aspects of Korean culture are currently popular in the Western world. Readers salivated over the vivid and yearning descriptions of Korean food in Michelle Zauner’s memoir Crying In H-Mart. No one with kids has escaped the catchy songs in sensation K-Pop Demon Hunters. 2019’s triple-Oscar winning thriller Parasite was a smash. There are two K-beauty specialist stores within walking distance of each other in Wellington. Korean fried chicken is absolutely everywhere. South Korean-born chef David Lee who founded Auckland’s Gochu has brought his popular Crack Chicken (half the menu is K-fried, half is Southern style) to the capital with a branch in Willis Lane and another in Porirua. Zzan serves eight flavours of K-fried chicken on Kent Terrace. When I visited to try the bibimbap (it was OK) last week, customers could be heard belting out Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Deja Vu’ from the noraebang (karaoke) rooms out the back. On Wellington’s Courtenay Place, KCB – Korean Chicken and Beer – is opposite a KFC. Even KFC had a Double Down on the menu recently with Korean-style BBQ sauce. This year there was “a kind of mini-South Korean festival” within Beervana, its director Ryan McArthur said, with beers from Seoul Brewery and Sevenbrau breweries poured here for the first time. “We also had Wellington’s best Korean Fried Chicken, Kei Hei (Upper Hutt) beside the beer stand in their new food truck.” While we seem to have an insatiable appetite for Korean fried chicken, healthy homestyle Korean food is harder to find in Wellington. The closure of The Garden feels like a blow for bibimbap lovers and solo-diners like me, who aren’t into K-food for the vibes of fried chicken and drunken singing that can be so fun in a group. Visa Wellington On A Plate festival director and Welly food expert Beth Brash recommends Country House Restaurant. “A small, unassuming restaurant just off Manners Street. They serve their special dish, Jjajangmyeon (noodles in blackbean sauce), only on a Friday. I love Banchan – all the small side dishes, pickles and nibbly bits! It makes each bite endlessly interesting and different.” It won’t be the same, but Cha Hee recommends making bibimbap at home, mixing virtually any kind of vegetables and proteins on rice as long as you have “the magical bibimbap sauce”. The Garden’s version had premium gochujang paste with a little raw sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds and chia seeds. “The combinations are endless and each bibimbap has a unique yet delicious flavour profile. For me, bibimbap represents the deep history of our homeland and reflects the long-standing Korean mentality of our ancestors of being resourceful and reducing waste: working with scraps and leftovers to transform it into a beautiful and nutritious dish.” On The Garden’s Facebook page, Cha Hee described their business as a labour of love, a place where food met friendship. “Whether you’ve stopped by for a warm bibimbap on a chilly day, shared a quiet lunch break with our kimbap, or smiled as you passed by – your presence has meant the world to us.” On behalf of all customers, I’d like them to know it was mutual.
