A Hidden Gem
Blessing Burger in Haenam.
Interview by Maria Moschini.
Living in rural Korea can be tough, especially when the homesickness sets in, but Blessing Burger in Haenam has become our home away from home and Friday night tradition. We don’t often get Western food down here, but this hidden gem, right in the heart of Haenam, more than satisfies that craving. From the delicious burgers to the irresistible milkshakes, we always leave feeling happy and well fed. The owners, Joseph Choi and Yuna Kim, are always so lovely and welcoming and were kind enough to grant me time to do this interview for the Gwangju News.
Maria Moschini: Hello and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Firstly, where are you both from and what made you decide to move to Haenam?
Joseph Choi: I am from Busan, but Haenam is Yuna’s hometown. When we came to Haenam, I had just finished school in Toronto, Canada, and was working as an audio engineer / music producer. At the time, Yuna’s brother asked me for help with his business, which I did not want to do, but he wanted to work with me because he needed someone whom he trusted. We are Christian and he also wanted us to go to church as a family, so we decided to live in Haenam.
Maria: Before you started Blessing Burger, what sort of work were you both doing?
Joseph: I studied music, audio production, and Korean traditional music, and Yuna’s major was Chinese language and literature. I worked at the Busan Metropolitan Traditional Music Orchestra and for many fusion music bands.
Yuna Kim: When I graduated from university, Joseph and I got married, and I worked as a department teaching assistant and at a sushi lunchbox factory in Toronto.
Maria: What’s the Blessing Burger philosophy?
Joseph: We really like conversation with customers, and we hope that customers can be comforted and share the joy of eating our food. So, we really like it when customers say that they are happy and comforted after eating. When we started here, we dreamed of influencing the local economy, and at that time, we had a lot of ideas and thoughts, but we realized that we were setting our sights too high.
Yuna: You know, these days everyone wants to go higher in life, and in the beginning, we wanted to go higher or “sharper” (to use a musical term) and gather many local people here, but that was our greed talking, and now we are thinking a bit “flatter” by concentrating on one person at a time and not 100 or 1,000.
Joseph: We do not want to become commercial; we want to stay original, so we are focusing on one customer at a time and having a closer and more personal relationship with each.
Maria: When did you start Blessing Burger and what gave you the idea?
Joseph: We started this store as a gift and local souvenir shop. At the time, Yuna made sweet potato candles, magnets, cups, and such things, and then we updated it to a coffee shop. Then, because we have a small stage, I looked for some local artists because I wanted to make events like small concerts, open mic nights, workshops, seminars, space rental, a flea market, a farmer’s market, etc. Then, last Christmas, we wanted to have a small Christmas party, so we needed food. We spoke about what was good and thought that hotdogs might work, but we could not find a big enough sausage, so we changed to pulled pork burgers and poutine.
We missed North American food, so we tried it out. The customers really enjoyed it and asked us to put it on our menu. We started with just pulled pork, omelets, salad, grilled cheese toast, and a few other items, but we hadn’t had any restaurant experience. Naturally, we needed time to work out recipes and wanted to make the time going from kitchen to customer shorter and keep our costs low, so we thought about what would be good for both us and the customers.
Most Koreans are not familiar with pulled pork and were instead looking for a beef burger, so that is when we decided to make the burgers that we have now. We are always looking for what needs to be increased or decreased; the process has been trial and error.
Maria: Why did you decide to name the restaurant “Blessing Burger”?
Yuna: “Blessing” means that I have a blessing and can bless someone else. Someone comes here and gets a blessing. I can bless people with hope, love, and faith, so I decided to name it after that idea. It may not be a fitting burger name because I started with just a souvenir shop and café, but I cannot change the name now.
Maria: What’s been your favorite part about this experience so far?
Joseph: When customers tell us that our burgers are good, it is comforting for us. Sometimes customers give us letters and gifts, and we are always very touched by that.
Yuna: Sometimes, customers do not buy anything. They just come to meet us, and if they are sad, we can comfort them. We are glad that we can give them some hope.
Joseph: Over time, I have realized that every customer is so important, and I have to do my best to empathize with them. Every customer teaches me something.
Maria: What are some problems that you have had to overcome in opening Blessing Burger?
Joseph: Cultural problems: A burger is a different culture’s food, and Korean people, especially people in the countryside, do not understand American burger culture. A lot of people have asked us where the bulgogi burger is and others have said it is too salty, so we must always explain the menu and American burger culture. We always think customers’ feedback is so important, so we change things step by step and figure things out as we go along.
Yuna: We like to think that we are providing our customers with a taste of a different culture, not just familiar food.
Maria: Which menu item would you say is Blessing Burger’s specialty?
Joseph: The most popular burger is the Bacon Tomato Burger. I always recommend it to our customers.
Yuna: Because it is the perfect balance, everyone likes it.
Maria: How have you gone about attracting more customers?
Joseph: A lot of the time, we just advertise through word of mouth, but we have also used Instagram, posters, and flyers.
Yuna: We have not advertised a lot because we are focusing on the food and service at the moment. We will do more advertising in the future.
Maria: Has it been difficult running a business during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Joseph: Yes, waiting for customers has been the hardest part. When we have customers, we are so busy and time goes fast, but when there are no customers, the time spent waiting is tough.
Maria: Are there any future developments that customers can look forward to?
Joseph: We had six burgers, but now we have fewer burgers on the menu to make things more convenient and timesaving for our customers. But if the local people begin to understand American burger culture better, then we can expand our menu. I am also looking to have small music concerts – that is why I made the stage – so maybe after COVID-19, we can do that. If we get the chance, we also would like to move to the first floor because the restaurant would be more noticeable there and customer access would be easier.
Maria: Thank you, Yuna and Joseph, for your time and for introducing Blessing Burger to Gwangju News readers. Your burgers are truly a blessing!
Blessing Burger
Address: 18 Jungang-2-ro, Haenam-eup, Haenam-gun (2nd Floor)
해남군 해남읍 중앙2로18번길 2F
Operating Hours: Monday–Wednesday, Saturday 11:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Thursday & Friday 11:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m., closed Sundays, and closed every first Monday of the month.
Phone: 061-532-8845
Instagram: @blessing_haenam
The Interviewer
Maria Moschini is a high school English teacher living in Gangjin. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Maria moved to South Korea in April 2019. She has a degree in English literature and a postgraduate qualification in teaching. Maria loves the opportunity that South Korea gives her to pursue her passions for teaching and traveling. Instagram: @mariamoschini