South Korea‘s economy arguably is the Far East’s most dynamic and transformative, making it an incubator for a slew of successful new industries that are undoubtedly go global any time soon. Based in Seongnam, a booming satellite town situated only a 20-minute car drive southeast of Seoul, is bio-food tech company Himnanda. Founded only in 2015, its product range is based on the philosophy to achieve a healthy lifestyle through a microbiome diet a.k.a. a healthy gut and includes salads, juices, and interestingly, also hamburgers. Unsurprisingly, Himnanda is Korean for ‘get energised’. The company manages a network of dedicated venues for its three products across the sprawling metropolitan area of the South Korean capital, and one of its latest retail endeavours is a new Himnanda Burger restaurant at its head office at Pangyo Techno Valley.
Mind you, the location is a highly prestigious high-tech industrial complex and known as the country’s very own Silicon Valley. Following a marketing strategy emphasising merely health benefits, and which didn’t resonate very well with the general public, the hamburgers are showcased as flavour bombs just as ordinary hamburgers. Seoul-based architecture practice BY SEOG BE SEOG created an interior design that takes more than ample cues from classic American diners from the 1950s with all the prerequisite furnishings, but one oozing a distinct ‘Pop’ edge. The chosen colour palette aims to complement the many hamburger varieties on the restaurant menu, and as such, boost the flavour sensation. Himnanda Burger serves no less than 17 different hamburgers, using beef, chicken and shrimp, and even one with local delicacy Bulgogi, in addition to different salad plates and soft drinks.
Himnanda Burger
Pangyo Techno Valley, 815 Daewangpangyo-ro, Room 107 (Sujeong-gu)
13449 Seongnam
Telephone: +82 31 51829256
Daily 9am-10pm
Publishers Note
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