The heart and Seoul of Insadong

These past few years, Korea’s influence on Asian pop culture has been undeniable. Musical acts and soap operas have eclipsed computers and cars as South Korea’s biggest exports, making superstars like Rain and Daniel Henney household names in Asia.

With the inclusion of Seoul in the New York Times’ “Top 31 places to go to in 2010,” it doesn’t come as a surprise that anything Korean has become an obsession among trend- and style-savvy Filipinos.

Enter Insadong resto/bar. Located along Kalayaan Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City, the place has become a cozy hangout for the hip student crowd from neighboring schools as well as Korean expatriates who reside and study in the area’s top English schools.

Insadong, a bar and restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City, has become a cozy hangout for the hip student crowd in that area. The place was born out of the owners’ own travels to Korea and their fascination with Korean culture.

Named after the happening street in Seoul, Insadong encapsulates what modern Korean culture is all about — a mix of East and West.

Its owners are a group of teachers who met at a Korean English school in the neighborhood.

They envisioned the place to become a mecca for both Korean and Filipinos to converge to exchange ideas and cultural identities.

Keeping with the theme, part of their décor is a huge billboard where people can post advertisements, photographs, invites to parties that relate to the burgeoning Philippine-Korean community this side of town.

This energetic bond between Koreans and Filipinos in the area translated to Insadong’s very successful hosting of events that revolved around the last FIFA World Cup that was held in South Africa.

Insadong serves the best authentic Korean cuisine in the area with many Koreans and Filipinos alike enjoy their dishes such as jap chae, bulgogi and galbijjim.

Football fans of the neighborhood converged at Insadong to watch various matches culminating in the finals between Holland and Spain where hardcore and new fans alike cheered and jeered between rounds of ice-cold Soju.

Aside from the neighborhood’s vibrant energy, Insadong also boasts of the best authentic Korean dishes found in Quezon City. Many rave about their jap chae, bulgogi and galbijjim along with their wide array of Korean wines.

My personal favorite is the seafood pajeon, a savory Korean pancake made of eggs, rice floor, onions and a generous heaping of shrimp and squid. For people always on the go, I recommend their kimchi rice with fresh tuna for that perfect mix of spicy-hot.

Insadong is located at 65 Kalayaan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. Contact them at 0915 562 1928.

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Grace blogs at http://www.divasoria.ph.