By Gemma Wardle
afatgirlsfoodguide@gmail.com
"Mother, Father, Gentlemen," goes the popular PSY song, but in my neighbourhood of Haebangchon, "Mother, Father, Gentrification" would be more fitting.
Every evening and weekend, hordes of selfie stick-toting 20-somethings with money to burn make their way to hang out in the foreigner-friendly and super-trendy neighbourhoods of HBC and Gyeongridan. It is a fad that started last summer, but this year things have gone to a whole new level.
Itaewon has always been the famed capital of foreign foods in the area, but HBC also has its fair share of foodie gems and treasures, too. Compared with Itaewon, the rents have always been much cheaper, meaning small businesses that just wanted to share their passion for food had a chance to flourish. It was like a little secret hideout that only expats knew about. Originally a home for North Korean refugees, Seoul locals shunned the area for years.
But it is shunned no longer and in the past year, to meet the demand of these extra visitors, new restaurants have sprung up like weeds. Sadly, we lost our beloved post office to make way for a place selling Koreanized burgers and hot dogs. At many of these new joints, prices are inflated and quality is low, which is ironic considering HBC became a popular destination thanks to its great food in the first place.
A favourite self-service bar and pizza joint has a permanent queue outside it now, meaning locals can never get a table without suffering an hour-long wait. And the candy floss trucks parked at both ends of the street make us feel as though we are living in a circus, and we, the community, are their dancing bears.
While Itaewon is riddled with chain stores, HBC had remained an independently owned sanctuary. Then, last week, the unthinkable, a sunglass chain store opened, selling 150,000 won glasses. I wonder who its target customers are. Certainly not the hard-working locals and expats who live here, that's for sure. I'd like to think it will be a one-off, but I'm not so sure. With new interest in the neighbourhood, rents have skyrocketed and soon the only people able to afford to make a living here will be the ubiquitous corporate chains.
Unfortunately, the trend does not seem to show any sign of abating. Residential properties are disappearing left, right, and center to make way for restaurants, bars and cafes to serve the incoming masses. More and more, HBC is moving away from being the chilled-out, culturally diverse hidden gem of the city and becoming more like a mirror image of Gangnam.
As a (reasonably long-term) resident of the area, it makes my blood boil to see subpar dining establishments try to cash in on the latest trend, adding little to the charm of the neighbourhood. I'm all on board for change for the better, but a queue out every door to be navigated just to buy my morning coffee is not something I want to deal with regularly.
afatgirlsfoodguide@gmail.com
"Mother, Father, Gentlemen," goes the popular PSY song, but in my neighbourhood of Haebangchon, "Mother, Father, Gentrification" would be more fitting.
Every evening and weekend, hordes of selfie stick-toting 20-somethings with money to burn make their way to hang out in the foreigner-friendly and super-trendy neighbourhoods of HBC and Gyeongridan. It is a fad that started last summer, but this year things have gone to a whole new level.
Itaewon has always been the famed capital of foreign foods in the area, but HBC also has its fair share of foodie gems and treasures, too. Compared with Itaewon, the rents have always been much cheaper, meaning small businesses that just wanted to share their passion for food had a chance to flourish. It was like a little secret hideout that only expats knew about. Originally a home for North Korean refugees, Seoul locals shunned the area for years.
But it is shunned no longer and in the past year, to meet the demand of these extra visitors, new restaurants have sprung up like weeds. Sadly, we lost our beloved post office to make way for a place selling Koreanized burgers and hot dogs. At many of these new joints, prices are inflated and quality is low, which is ironic considering HBC became a popular destination thanks to its great food in the first place.
A favourite self-service bar and pizza joint has a permanent queue outside it now, meaning locals can never get a table without suffering an hour-long wait. And the candy floss trucks parked at both ends of the street make us feel as though we are living in a circus, and we, the community, are their dancing bears.
While Itaewon is riddled with chain stores, HBC had remained an independently owned sanctuary. Then, last week, the unthinkable, a sunglass chain store opened, selling 150,000 won glasses. I wonder who its target customers are. Certainly not the hard-working locals and expats who live here, that's for sure. I'd like to think it will be a one-off, but I'm not so sure. With new interest in the neighbourhood, rents have skyrocketed and soon the only people able to afford to make a living here will be the ubiquitous corporate chains.
Unfortunately, the trend does not seem to show any sign of abating. Residential properties are disappearing left, right, and center to make way for restaurants, bars and cafes to serve the incoming masses. More and more, HBC is moving away from being the chilled-out, culturally diverse hidden gem of the city and becoming more like a mirror image of Gangnam.
As a (reasonably long-term) resident of the area, it makes my blood boil to see subpar dining establishments try to cash in on the latest trend, adding little to the charm of the neighbourhood. I'm all on board for change for the better, but a queue out every door to be navigated just to buy my morning coffee is not something I want to deal with regularly.
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