Honolulu's Taste of Korea is marking a decade of dumplings, bulgogi and bulgogi-adjacent fusion dishes with its 10th annual fundraiser, set for Nov. 20 at the Honolulu Country Club in the Salt Lake area. The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and tickets cost $100 per person, with more than 20 dishes, Korean liquor tastings, live entertainment and raffle prizes on the menu for attendees.
The event is hosted by the nonprofit Hawaiʻi Korean Cultural Center and raises money to help establish a permanent Korean Cultural Center in Hawaii. More than a dozen local chefs and restaurants are set to participate this year, including Oʻkim's Korean Kitchen, MW Restaurant, The Pig and The Lady, Hangang Korean Grill House and Chogajip, alongside Paris Baguette, Waba Snacks, Panda Express, Waipuna Sushi and Rice Blossoms, per the same KHON2 report.
One of the more distinctive additions to this year's lineup is a kimchi tasting timed to National Kimchi Day, featuring regional kimchi imported from South Korea. Per the report, the tasting will include styles from both Seoul and Pyongyang, giving guests a side-by-side look at how the fermented staple varies across the Korean peninsula.
A Decade of Building Toward a Permanent Home
Taste of Korea began in 2014 to share Korean culture and raise funds to build a center that would house a museum, according to Hawaii News Now. The planned Korean Cultural Center is envisioned to include a museum focused on Korean immigration history and Hawaiʻi's independence movement, community meeting rooms, an after-school Korean school, a senior citizens' academy, and classes for both children and adults, according to the KHON2 report.
The Hawaii Korean Cultural Center is a nonprofit entity that hosts Taste of Korea with a mission to build that cultural center, according to a listing from Hawaiʻi Public Radio. The event has always pursued two goals in tandem: sharing Korean culture through food and entertainment, and raising funds to eventually open that center to the broader community, per the same public radio listing.
The nonprofit's groundwork for that center dates back years. The organization bought property deep in Kalihi Valley in 2017, according to Honolulu Magazine, which has covered the fundraiser's earlier years as part of its effort to turn that property into reality.
Pandemic Pause, Then a Steady Comeback
The event did not take place from 2020 through 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaiʻi Public Radio has reported, meaning this year's gathering arrives after a hiatus that interrupted what would have otherwise been an even longer unbroken run. Ticket proceeds from the fundraiser have historically gone entirely toward the cultural center project, per Honolulu Magazine, which described a previous iteration of the event as directing 100 percent of proceeds toward construction.
The 2023 seventh annual event featured 14 restaurants and food vendors, and Amanda Chang was chairperson. Last year's ninth annual gathering also included MW Restaurant, Waipuna Sushi and Panda Express serving fusion Korean dishes, according to Hawaii News Now, alongside a raffle grand prize of a roundtrip ticket to Korea, per Hawaiʻi Public Radio's listing.
Dates for the fundraiser have shifted somewhat from year to year. Hawaii News Now reported the ninth annual event was held at Honolulu Country Club on Nov. 21, while Honolulu Magazine described a prior Taste of Korea taking place Nov. 10 at the same venue — a discrepancy in the record that underscores how the event's exact calendar date has varied even as its Salt Lake-area location has stayed consistent.
Getting Tickets for the Anniversary Event
Tickets for the ninth annual Taste of Korea were available through the Hawaiʻi Korean Cultural Center website, continuing the same $100-per-person pricing structure the event has used in past years, according to Hawaiʻi Public Radio's listing. With live traditional and modern performances from both Hawaiʻi and Korea on the bill, organizers are framing the night as both a celebration of a decade of fundraising and another step toward the cultural center they have been pursuing since 2014.
