Mingoo Kang is the Korean chef behind Mingles in Seoul, the first and currently only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in South Korea. Born in South Korea in the mid-1980s, Kang trained in the United States, Spain, France and the Bahamas before returning home in 2014 to open Mingles with a focus on contemporary Korean cuisine built around jang, the fermented soybean, soy sauce and chilli pastes that define Korean flavour.
Mingles earned its third Michelin star in February 2025 in the Michelin Guide Seoul & Busan 2025, a promotion that made it the only three-star restaurant in South Korea. Kang also runs Hansik Goo in Hong Kong (one Michelin star), Festa by Mingoo in Seoul, and the Hyodo Chicken fried chicken chain.
TL;DR
- Korean chef born in South Korea in the mid-1980s
- Chef-owner of Mingles in Seoul (opened 2014 in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam)
- Three Michelin stars at Mingles since February 2025 (the only 3-star in Korea)
- Trained at Nobu Bahamas (youngest head chef there) and Martín Berasategui
- Inedit Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2021; Asia’s Best Restaurant in Korea, Asia’s 50 Best 2024
Mingoo Kang key facts
| Born | Mid-1980s, South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Main restaurant | Mingles, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul (opened 2014) |
| Michelin stars | Three at Mingles (since 2025); one at Hansik Goo, Hong Kong |
| Style | Contemporary Korean cuisine centred on jang (fermented soybean pastes) |
| Mentors | Cho Hee-sook (the godmother of Korean cooking) and Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan (Korean temple cuisine) |
| Other ventures | Hansik Goo (Hong Kong, 2020), Festa by Mingoo (Seoul), Hyodo Chicken chain |
Early life and training of Mingoo Kang
Kang grew up in South Korea in the mid-1980s, a period of rapid economic change in the country. His family background was ordinary, not culinary: he has said that he did not grow up in a restaurant family but decided on cooking early and chose to learn abroad rather than at a Korean culinary school. That decision shaped everything that followed.
He trained internationally, working at Nobu in the United States and then at the Nobu Bahamas outpost, where he became the youngest head chef in the group. From there he moved to Spain to work at Martín Berasategui’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant outside San Sebastián, one of the most rigorous European kitchens of the 2000s. He also spent time cooking in France. The pattern was deliberate: absorb European and Japanese-European technique at the highest level, then come home to apply it to Korean tradition.
When he returned to Seoul he realised that the Korean food he knew was home cooking, not the professional repertoire he would need for a fine-dining restaurant. He sought out two mentors: Cho Hee-sook, known as the godmother of Korean cooking and later named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2020, and the Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan, who has become internationally recognised for Korean temple cuisine. Their influence is direct: the Mingles kitchen treats jang, traditional fermentation methods and temple-cuisine restraint as the base, with European technique as the tool.
Mingoo Kang career timeline
- Mid-1980s: Born in South Korea
- 2000s: Culinary training and work in the United States (Nobu), Bahamas (Nobu Bahamas, as youngest head chef), Spain (Martín Berasategui) and France
- Early 2010s: Returns to Seoul; studies with Cho Hee-sook and Jeong Kwan
- 2014: Opens Mingles in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul
- 2017: Mingles earns its first Michelin star in the inaugural Michelin Guide Seoul
- 2018: Second Michelin star at Mingles
- 2019: Mingles relocates within Seoul (current address in Gangnam)
- 2020: Opens Hansik Goo in Hong Kong
- 2021: Wins the Inedit Damm Chefs’ Choice Award at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants; Hansik Goo earns a Michelin star
- 2024: Mingles named Best Restaurant in Korea on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants (ranked No. 44)
- February 2025: Mingles awarded three Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide Seoul & Busan 2025, the only three-star restaurant in South Korea
- June 2025: Guest chef at MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters Macau
Mingoo Kang signature style: jang-driven contemporary Korean
The central idea at Mingles is that Korean cuisine has a technical backbone the world does not yet fully understand: jang. Doenjang (fermented soybean paste), ganjang (Korean soy sauce) and gochujang (fermented chilli paste) are treated at Mingles the way the French treat stock, reduction and mother sauces. Each is aged, blended and adjusted to function as the umami base of a dish rather than as a condiment. Kang’s cooking builds layered, nuanced flavours from these ferments rather than from overt showiness or theatrical technique.
The format is a tasting menu of around seven to nine courses, currently limited to roughly 24-25 guests per service since the 2025 three-star restructuring. Kang reduced covers, cut the working week to four and a half days, and rebuilt the service flow around tableside presentation and more personal interaction. The dining room in Cheongdam-dong uses a warm minimalist vocabulary with Korean aesthetics, contemporary artworks and large windows onto greenery.
Unlike many Korean fine-dining kitchens that lean toward Korean-Californian fusion, Mingles stays anchored in the traditional Korean repertoire: seasonal hansik, temple-cuisine vegetable handling, fermentation-first seasoning. The restaurant describes itself as Innovative Korean rather than fusion, and Kang has been explicit that he wants the link to tradition to remain visible at every course.
Notable dishes at Mingles
Several Mingles courses function as signatures that return across menus. The Mingling Pot is a long-simmered broth rich with concentrated umami from dried seafood, vegetables and fruit, presented as the restaurant’s statement of intent on Korean deep flavour. The Jang Trio is the most recognisable dessert on the Seoul fine-dining scene: a French-inspired triple dessert reinterpreting doenjang, ganjang and gochujang in sweet form, which has become the dish most identified with Kang’s argument that jang is a foundational technique, not a savoury-only ingredient. Abalone baechu-seon (stuffed napa cabbage with abalone) and fish mandu (Korean-style dumplings) are further examples of the restaurant’s balance of tradition and modernity.
Mingoo Kang awards and recognition
- 2017: First Michelin star at Mingles (inaugural Seoul guide)
- 2018: Second Michelin star at Mingles
- 2021: Inedit Damm Chefs’ Choice Award at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants; Michelin star at Hansik Goo, Hong Kong
- 2024: Mingles named Best Restaurant in Korea on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2025: Three Michelin stars at Mingles (first and only in South Korea)
- 2024: The Best Chef Awards Three Knives distinction
- Published a co-authored cookbook in 2024
Mingoo Kang impact on Korean fine dining
The most direct impact is categorical. Before Mingles earned three stars in February 2025, no Korean restaurant anywhere had ever held three Michelin stars for Korean cuisine itself; earlier three-star restaurants in Seoul (notably Mosu under Sung Anh) worked closer to Korean-Californian fusion. Kang’s three stars for jang-driven hansik placed traditional Korean cuisine at the top of the Michelin system on its own technical terms for the first time.
The Hansik Goo expansion to Hong Kong in 2020 was the second structural move. Kang deliberately built it as a Korean restaurant for a non-Korean audience, with a format that leans more on traditional hansik than Mingles does, and it earned a Michelin star of its own in 2021. That combination (Mingles as innovative hansik in Seoul, Hansik Goo as traditional hansik in Hong Kong) established a template that Korean chefs have since used in other Asian cities.
Kang’s position in the current generation places him in conversation with chefs like Junghyun Park at Atomix in New York, who is also advancing Korean fine dining through a narrative tasting format, and the broader cohort led by Corey Lee at Benu in San Francisco, which has taken Korean-influenced fine dining to three stars in a US context. The shared thread is the argument that Korean cuisine has enough technical depth to sustain three-star fine dining without borrowing from French classical tradition.
Mingoo Kang FAQ
How many Michelin stars does Mingles have?
Three Michelin stars as of February 2025. Mingles earned its first star in 2017 and its second in 2018. The promotion to three stars in the Michelin Guide Seoul & Busan 2025 made it the only three-star restaurant in South Korea.
What is jang?
A collective term for Korea’s traditional fermented pastes and sauces: doenjang (fermented soybean paste), ganjang (Korean soy sauce) and gochujang (fermented chilli paste). At Mingles these are treated as the structural base of the cuisine, aged and blended like French mother sauces rather than used as condiments.
Who are Mingoo Kang’s mentors?
Cho Hee-sook, known as the godmother of Korean cooking and winner of Asia’s Best Female Chef in 2020, and the Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan, internationally recognised for Korean temple cuisine. Kang studied with both of them after returning to Seoul from his international training.
What other restaurants does Mingoo Kang run?
Hansik Goo in Hong Kong (one Michelin star, opened 2020), Festa by Mingoo in Seoul, and Hyodo Chicken, a Korean fried chicken chain. Hansik Goo focuses on more traditional hansik compared with the contemporary approach at Mingles.
Where did Mingoo Kang train?
At Nobu in the United States and at Nobu Bahamas, where he became the group’s youngest head chef. He then worked at Martín Berasategui’s three-Michelin-star restaurant in Spain and spent time in France before returning to Seoul.
What is next for Mingoo Kang
Following the three-star promotion in February 2025, Kang has focused on refining Mingles’ format with reduced covers and more tableside service rather than opening new restaurants. He continues to consult internationally, participates in collaboration events such as the MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters series in Macau, and has signalled interest in further Korean-cuisine projects abroad. His public Instagram (@mingoo.kang) is the most reliable source for current updates.
