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A pop-up devoted to the divisive herb cilantro opened on the 25th at a café in Bukgajwa-dong, Seoul.
When doors opened at 11 a.m., a long line had already formed as people hoped to be first in. The crowd included everything from hardcore cilantro superfans to those who avoid it entirely — and everyone had an opinion.
Eun-sol Yoo, 32, who calls herself an “ultra-cilantro” fan, turned up in a cilantro T-shirt she bought in Vietnam. She said she not only adds cilantro to her meals but eats it raw and even ferments it into kimchi. “I’ve even tried growing cilantro seedlings myself,” she laughed, showing how serious she is about the herb.
She added that she and some coworkers who love cilantro formed a group called Gochinja — roughly “cilantro fanatics” — and that they’d shared the pop-up details among themselves.
Sharing food preferences online and bonding with strangers over likes and dislikes has become a bona fide trend. Think the 2017 Facebook page “People Who Hate Cucumbers” and the 2021 mint-chocolate debate that took the internet by storm.
This cilantro pop-up tapped into that same energy. It wasn’t just about whether you like cilantro — it was a chance for Millennials and Gen Z to loosely identify with others, and to broadcast that identity through merch and experiences.
Sung Areum, 31, who came with her partner Ji-ho Bae, 30, said she first tried cilantro on a trip to Vietnam and fell for it. “I usually pick up cilantro at the grocery store and eat it with tacos,” she said. “I’m not someone who usually wears my preferences on my sleeve, but I might buy a cilantro hat this time.”
The organizers lowered the barrier to join by sorting attendees into “ultra-fans,” “fans,” “moderate fans,” and “non-fans” instead of a simple like-or-dislike split. The idea was to make the event welcoming whether you were obsessed with cilantro or just curious.
Ju So-ah, 27, who came with moderate fan Yun Yeo-ul, 34, described herself as a non-fan. Yun said they agreed ahead of time how much cilantro Ju was comfortable trying. Ju added that she’d be willing to sample items with a milder cilantro aroma.
Influencer Na Bun, one of the event planners, said the three organizers all had different tastes. “I’m an ultra-fan, Yooni is a non-fan, and Lee Ha-baek is a fan,” Na said, adding that it’s more useful to think of cilantro preference as a matter of degree — how much you enjoy it — rather than a binary choice.
The two-day event runs through the 26th and features savory and sweet dishes highlighting cilantro, plus themed merchandise — cilantro T-shirts, hats, and postcards — available for purchase.
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