Panama may be famous for ceviche, seafood, empanadas and enormous plates of rice and beans, but there is another culinary world quietly making itself very comfortable here: Korean food.
And honestly, if you have spent weeks travelling around Panama eating the same predictable backpacker staples, walking into a good Korean restaurant can feel like someone just turned the flavour dial from 5 to 11.
Korean food is perfect for hungry travellers. It is spicy, salty, sweet, smoky, fermented, crunchy, soupy and gloriously messy. You can have sizzling meat, steaming noodles, crispy fried chicken, bubbling stews and enough little side dishes to make your table look like a miniature banquet.
And then there is kimchi. Lots of kimchi.
🥩 Hanjip Korean BBQ
If you want the full Korean BBQ experience, Hanjip Korean BBQ is one of the names worth knowing.
This is the kind of meal where dinner becomes an activity. Instead of simply sitting there waiting for someone to bring your food, you get meat cooking right in front of you, filling the table with that irresistible smell of grilled beef.
Order some bulgogi or other marinated meats, add rice and side dishes, and suddenly you are no longer thinking about sightseeing.
You are thinking about whether ordering another round would be irresponsible.
It probably isn't.
🍚 Soban Korean Gourmet
Soban Korean Gourmet is a great choice if you are looking for something a little more traditional and comforting.
Think beautifully seasoned beef, bibimbap, Korean soups, vegetables, rice and those wonderfully varied little side dishes that keep appearing alongside your main meal.
Bibimbap is particularly fun for travellers who have never tried it. Rice arrives covered with vegetables, meat and other toppings, often with a fried egg sitting proudly on top. Mix everything together with Korean sauce and you get a bowl that somehow manages to be healthy, filling and ridiculously tasty at the same time.
🔥 Gangnam Place
Gangnam Place is another popular Korean option and a good introduction to the cuisine if you are travelling with friends and everyone wants something different.
You can work your way through bulgogi, kalbi, japchae, pajeon and assorted Korean side dishes.
Japchae deserves special attention. These glossy Korean glass noodles have a wonderful chewy texture and are mixed with vegetables and seasoned meat. It sounds simple until you taste it and suddenly realise you have eaten half the plate without noticing.
Then there is pajeon, the Korean savoury pancake. Crispy around the edges, soft in the middle and packed with flavour, it is excellent sharing food.
Which is dangerous when you are travelling with people who say, “Let's just order one.”
🍜 Busan Korean Cuisine
Busan Korean Cuisine gives you another side of Korean food, particularly if you are interested in soups, stews, noodles and hearty meals rather than simply BBQ.
Korean soups can be seriously satisfying after a long day of travelling. They arrive steaming hot and packed with ingredients, with deep savoury flavours that are worlds away from the usual tourist food.
And if you see kimbap, give it a try.
Kimbap looks a little like sushi, but it is its own Korean creation, generally made with seasoned rice and various fillings wrapped in seaweed. It is fantastic travel food because you can eat it without needing to construct an entire ceremony around your dinner.
Although Korean people might reasonably argue that eating kimbap properly is already a ceremony.
🍗 Kokio Korean Cuisine
If your idea of Korean food starts with fried chicken, you are going to have a very good time.
Kokio Korean Cuisine is known for approachable Korean dishes and, naturally, Korean fried chicken.
Korean fried chicken is not simply chicken with a different sauce thrown over it. The magic is in the ridiculously crisp coating combined with sauces that can be sweet, spicy, sticky, garlicky or all of the above.
It is the sort of food that makes you say, “I'll just have one.”
Twenty minutes later, there are bones on the table and you are considering dessert.
🍖 Oriental Garden
Oriental Garden is another name to keep in mind for Korean comfort food.
This is the kind of place where you can explore beyond the familiar dishes and try BBQ, jjigae, noodles, kimbap and other Korean favourites.
Jjigae is especially worth trying if you enjoy bold flavours. These Korean stews can be bubbling, spicy and intensely savoury, with ingredients cooked together into something that feels almost designed to fix you after a long day of buses, hiking and questionable hostel sleep.
In other words: backpacker medicine.
🍱 Korean Time
Korean Time offers another fun way to experience the cuisine, particularly if you like the idea of choosing from lots of different dishes.
You can find things such as kimchi, Korean pancakes, kimbap, tteokbokki, fried chicken and BBQ style meats.
Tteokbokki is one of the foods you should absolutely try if you like spicy food. These chewy rice cakes are cooked in a rich, spicy sauce and have a texture that is completely different from almost anything you will find in traditional Panamanian cuisine.
They look innocent.
They are not innocent.
🍗 Yoi Korean Fried Chicken
For something casual and uncomplicated, Yoi Korean Fried Chicken is a particularly tempting option.
This is Korean food in its wonderfully addictive fast food form. Crispy chicken, sauces, rice and noodles make it easy to grab a meal without turning dinner into a three hour event.
The sauces are where things get interesting. Korean fried chicken can go from sweet and sticky to seriously spicy, and once you discover your favourite combination, you may find yourself returning far sooner than planned.
🍗 bb.q Chicken
Another name for Korean fried chicken fans is bb.q Chicken.
The appeal is obvious. Crispy chicken, plenty of sauce options and that magical Korean technique of creating chicken that somehow remains crunchy while wearing a delicious coating.
It is excellent food for sharing, although “sharing” becomes a flexible concept when everyone at the table is hungry.
🇰🇷 So, is Korean food worth trying in Panama?
Absolutely.
One of the great things about travelling is discovering that a destination's food scene can be much more diverse than you expected. Panama has an increasingly international restaurant scene, and Korean cuisine gives travellers something completely different from the country's traditional dishes.
If you have never eaten Korean food before, start with something approachable such as bulgogi, bibimbap, Korean fried chicken or kimbap.
If you like spicy food, move toward tteokbokki and jjigae.
If you are travelling with friends, go for Korean BBQ and make dinner an event.
And if you already know Korean food, you probably don't need any convincing whatsoever.
You have already heard the words Korean fried chicken and are mentally looking for your shoes. 😋
For backpackers, there is another bonus: Korean food is often fantastic for sharing. Order several dishes, put everything in the middle of the table and let everyone attack.
Because sometimes the best travel memories aren't standing on top of a mountain or swimming in a tropical waterfall.
Sometimes they're sitting around a table at 9 PM, covered in sauce, surrounded by empty plates, wondering who ordered the extra kimchi.
Panama has plenty of adventure. But every now and then, the adventure should involve chopsticks.