‘Please help us stay strong’ – Kimchi Hophouse posts heartbreaking plea for support

James Fenton

Kimchi Hophouse have called on people to help them “stay strong” by ordering from the restaurant, otherwise they may have close their doors permanently.

Much-loved Korean bar/restaurant Kimchi Hophouse on Parnell Street have confirmed that they will be scaling down operations in order to maintain profitability. In a post on Facebook, the venue explained that daily lunch bookings will cease but the restaurant will be open for dine-in and delivery services on Saturdays.

The post says that ‘after two weeks trial of opening for lunch service, we have decided to close for lunch service, for many reasons; obviously, the most pertinent being that it has not proven profitable for us’.

It goes on to say: ‘We, like many other small-medium businesses across Ireland and the world, are very much in danger of having to close down due to the present pandemic.

‘Therefore, we ask for your continued patience, consideration, and support, at this time.

‘On the plus, until we absolutely, and very sadly, have to close our doors for good, we will open on Saturdays from 12:30pm until 11:00pm; if you care at all, let the fun times roll at/with Kimchi Hophouse while they can.

‘All of our delivery partners will deliver at the designated times, alternatively you can Call & Collect; it means so much to us to see a friendly face!

‘Please help us stay strong, and thank you in advance, we gratefully appreciate your custom.’

When I contacted Edia at Kimchi Hophouse, I was told that “a lot of businesses have been suffering and closing. Though our landlord has offered us no respite whatsoever, where others have had some.”

While speaking to Edia earlier, I mentioned that Kimchi Hophouse was the place in which I met with friends in 2009 as we discussed moving to South Korea to teach English. I eventually ended up spending five years teaching over there and I when I shared this story today, Edia said that that’s exactly what makes Kimchi Hophouse what it is – “It forges such strong socio-cultural bonds between two seemingly disparate peoples, the Irish and the Koreans, yet who are conjoined through a certain sensibility through a shared colonial and famine-ridden past.”

Kimchi Hophouse is located on Parnell Street and is Dublin’s oldest Korean restaurant. Its extensive menu offers the best of Korean dining including bulgogi dishes, mandu dumplings, bibimbap and loads more. You can have a browse through the Kimchi Hophouse menu here.