Seoul｜Hong Kong restaurant sweet and sour pork for one person, see the business landscape and genius of Bai Zhongyuan

Have you ever encountered this kind of trouble: when you eat seafood noodles or noodles with soybean paste, you want to have some sweet and sour pork with it, but you are afraid that if you order a large portion, you won’t be able to finish it? This problem is solved in Hong Kong restaurants. Noodles and sweet and sour pork are served in the same dish, and the portion is just enough for one person. The name is Hong Kong Restaurant, but it actually sells Korean noodles, rice, and spicy seafood noodles. It was already around 2 or 3 in the afternoon when we visited, and half of the customers were still in the restaurant after lunch time, most of whom ordered this single-serving meal. Speaking of Baek Jong-won, he was already a popular star on Korean TV shows long before Chef Black and White. His The Born Korea empire and 30 brands have more than 1,500 directly-operated and franchised stores around the world. After he was discharged from the army in 1993, he opened the first Yuanzu rice bowl restaurant in Gangnam based on his experience working part-time in college. He later incurred a debt of 1.7 billion due to the financial crisis, but it did not break him. He continued to develop new brands based on his original Korean cuisine, Shinchon BBQ, Ban Bar, and Zhanqian Oolong. In the Hongda business district where every inch of land is valuable, he also launched two brands, so that after eating noodles, there is a coffee shop next door, which is convenient for consumers. The Rolling Pasta pasta brand is launched in areas where young people gather, so that young people can enjoy pasta, pizza, and risotto for less than 10,000 won when they go on dates or have dinner together. The noodles are easy to eat for the middle class, such as pizza, and risotto. Koreans love to drink coffee, so Paik's Coffee also opens stores in crowded areas, and the price of drinks is less than 4,500 yuan, about NT$100. His restaurants would hang up a big photo of him to attract curious customers who wanted to try something new, and it also made Bai Zhongyuan spread all over Korea, and he became more and more famous. Relying on his keen business sense, he also entered the capital market. In November last year, the stock price of his company listed in Seoul soared by 90% at one point, causing his shareholding to surge by more than US$300 million, making him one of the richest chefs in the world. But in recent days, there have been scandals about tax evasion, land occupation, and price gouging. Whether Bai Zhongyuan's character has collapsed or he can make a comeback once again remains to be seen. #2月好地方2025