The 20th annual Korean Festival will be held Aug. 2-3 at Kakaako Mauka Gateway Park. Enjoy K-pop dance performances by local talent and a special performance by K-pop girl group SPIA.
Besides the activities at the park, the festival is also hosting a free showing of Night of the Assassin from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 2 at Consolidated Theatres Ward. It will feature a meet-and-greet with actor Shin Hyun Joon.
And, of course, there will also be a variety of delicious Korean food to enjoy from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at the main event at the park. If attendees aren’t stuffing themselves competitively for the kimchi or jajangmyeon eating contests, they can enjoy these vendors’ foods at their own pace:
Family Jjang Korean Restaurant
Family Jjang Korean Restaurant will offer kimbap and a wide selection of Korean banchan (side dishes).
While it won’t be available at the festival, the biz also sells bentos and noodle options with marinated meats at its brick-and-mortar location on Iwilei Road.
Call 808-200-2177 for more information.
88 Mart
This Korean market will be serving up snacks like tteokbokki, cucumber kimchi, kimbap and mandoo. There will also be spicy pork or bulgogi bentos, fish jun and kimchi jun.
Its location on Bishop Street features Asian snacks and beverages, a variety of ramen and banchan options.
Follow the biz on Instagram (@88supermarkethawaii).
Hawaii Christian Church
Hawaii Christian Church will be serving up delicious hotteok, or sweet pancake with a brown sugar syrup filling. For more popular Korean street food options, it will also have kimbap, tteokbokki and kimchi pancake.
Hawaii Banchan Co.
Premium side dishes and ingredients flown in from Korea can be found at Hawaii Banchan Co.
At the festival, attendees can try a savory, nutty-tasting mung bean pancake or a classic kimchi pancake. There will also be sweet potato bread and a fishcake bar. For a cool refreshment, there will be bagged iced juice.
At its brick-and-mortar store on Kapiolani Boulevard, it offers tubs of kimchi and other banchan alongside soups, noodles and more.
Learn more at its Instagram (@hawaiibanchancompany).
Jagalchi
Satisfy cravings for Korean fried chicken or bossam with Jagalchi. The bossam features steamed pork belly wrapped in salted cabbage leaves and served with a spicy radish kimchi and fermented shrimp sauce.
The biz will also be selling kimchi spicy pork with rice and a chicken tenders plate.
Located on Young Street, the biz also offers meat jun, galbi, bulgogi bibimbap and kimchi stew.
Learn more at its Instagram (@jagalc.hi) or call 808-593-8830.
Khan Skewer restaurant
Khan Skewer Restaurant, known for its Asian-fusion dishes, will offer a variety of skewers, from kimchi and pork skewers to its signature Mongolian skewers. The latter includes meats like pork, lamb, beef, chicken and Maui venison. Each is marinated and traditionally seasoned to perfection for a mouthwatering bite of a savory and slightly sweet flavor with a hint of smokiness.
At its brick-and-mortar location on Isenberg Street, patrons can also order seafood options like fish tofu, scallop with vermicelli and grilled whole squid.
Learn more at its Instagram (@khan_skewer).
Yomie’s Rice X Yogurt Hawaii
If spending the whole day at the festival, stay cool with drinks from Yomie’s Rice X Yogurt Hawaii.
Enjoy creamy yogurt drinks in flavors like strawberry, mango, lychee and ube or one of the biz’s milk teas with boba. Try one of the different fizzy beverages like Strawberry Guava Fizz or Smurf Fizz. There will also be butter beer (non-alcoholic) and tanghulu, which is a candied fruit snack.
At the biz’s location in Ala Moana Center’s Makai Market Food Court, it also sells Korean cream cheese garlic bread in flavors like ube cream, azuki beans and bacon cream cheese. Its yogurt is made fresh daily and its purple rice is sweet, chewy, rice and high in protein, fiber and antioxidants.
Call 808-951-1580 or visit yomieshawaii.com.
