Named Okryu-Gwan (but the coming Netherlands location will simply be called Pyongyang). The story in the link claims there’s a branch here in Thailand, but everyone I know is scratching his head trying to figure out where it could possibly be. Never heard of it. The new Dubai branch is a big focus of the story, which mentions a report on it in Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper. I just happen to know several of the staff at The National, and they confirm that branch is real.
Love this gem: “The restaurants have also been also tied to the murky world of intelligence and espionage. A North Korean man defected to India through the Kathmandu restaurant. The man was reportedly the former manager of the Kathmandu Okryu-Gwan and fled to India with a large amount of cash taken from the restaurant.”
Sure, I always likes me a little espionage with me haute cuisine.
Well, I may have found the Thailand branch. There’s a local story that appeared three years ago: Edible “Sunshine”.
Must be that one. It’s called Pyongyang Gwan. Despite supposedly getting rave reviews on Thai blogs, I’ve not come across anyone who’s actually heard of it. Seems to be very obscure. The place is on the very edge of the city, making it only slightly more difficult to get to than Siberia. And there’s a branch in Pattaya.
This part is definitely outdated: “And with the North’s government less bellicose lately, perhaps now is a perfect time to see North Koreans promoting their traditional culture and cuisine - and showing that K-pop need not all come from the South.”
North Korean restaurant chain? This reminds me of the jokes people used to make about Ethiopian restaurants during the 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine. I thought North Korea still had a problem feeding its own people.
I didn’t mean that Ethiopian restaurants were non-existent in the USA back then, I meant that people would make jokes about the food you would find there, since the Ethiopa famine was in the news.
Excerpt: “Ongoing tension on the Korean Peninsula has reached Korean eateries in Cambodia, local media reported Thursday, with boycotts of North Korean restaurants by South Korean tour groups and allegations of reprisal raids on South Korean restaurants by North Korean ‘agents’.”
