[Consumerwide_ Yohan, Bok Reporter] What 'Nakwon(paradaise)' reminds you? We can easily think of a place with plenty of good things, and peace, etc. But have you ever thought of this paradaise wi soya sauce? It is a bit random. Or, is paradaise if there is soya sauce?

Not a paradaise with honey and milk, but with soya sauce? It is probably a rare idea to have paradaise and soya sauce in connection. However, now there is a paradise where soy sauce flows in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. It's a popup-store in Monggoganjang.

Having 117 years of history, Monggoganjang opened a popup story, which is the first time in the sauce industry. This store is named 'Yorinakwon (cooking palace), a place full of joy for cooking. I was curious about what kind of specialty there would be in the paradaise made by a sauce company. So I went to Torotoro studio in  Seongsu-dong to check this out.

Last Sunday (25th), late afternoon, I went to Yorinakwon in Monggoganjang. Regardless it being quite a late afternoon, there were many people making a long line in front of Yorinakwon. It seemed like family, friends, and a couple of people came to spend time with them. The popup store runs with the concept of 'a place full of joy for cooking, Yorinakwon', and they present renewed products with a 117 years' long Monggoganjang heritage.

As my turn came, I finally entered Yorinakwon with soya sauce. The staff kindly helped us to get around the place. The first course was the Heritage zone (Monggoganjang label change history exhibition) and experiment zone (tasting). There comes a tasting space right after the heritage zone.

In this corner, you can taste dumplin with your choice of soya sauce (ganjang). Sauce options are, Cheongyangcho maeun ganjang(the real spicy soya sauce), Cheongyangcho deolmaeun ganjang(less spicy soya sauce), and the bestseller, Songpyoprime ganjang.

Basically, you have to choose only one soya sauce, but if you want, you can taste all three. I chose 'Deolmaeun ganjang'(less spicy soya sauce). It was a tiny bit spicy. It probably has no problem for kids, who are spicy taste lovers. I actually saw some elementary kids tasting while enjoying them. The tasting section staff told me, 'Deolmaeun ganjang is chosen by most visitors. Responses are good as well. Maeun ganjang is chosen by spicy-tasting manias. Those visitors say that they've enjoyed our product."

The second course at Yorinakwon is the Photo zone. You can take nostalgic photos wearing Dopo, the traditional overcoat of the Joseon Dynasty, and Gat, the traditional hat. I was shy about taking photos, so I didn't. But, many visitors left their moments with photographs, making natural pauses in the photo zone. You can get photos right away. A visitor said, "I came with my friends. It's my first time to see a sauce company popup. It's cool to see things like this. We had a lot of fun taking photos."

The 3rd course of Yorinakwon is 'drawing lots'. You can participate in this way: Upload your certification shot taken in popup space on Monggoganjang's official instagram story. Follow Monggoganjang's official instagram. You show them (story and follow screen) to the staff. It is a 100% winning lot and giveaways are Monggoganjang goods and new products (Maeun ganjang). The 4th course of Yorinakwon is  product sale. You can purchase Monggoganjang goods (tshirts, glasses) and some ganjang products.

You get a free giveaway present, but it's a first come first serve basis. Daily giveaways are for 100 visitors, and at weekends 300 visitors. The gift is 'Maeun ganjang'. Popup staff said, "During weekdays, quite a number of workers near Seongsu came during lunchtime. At weekends, people who came to visit the Seongsu area visited us. Giveaways ran out fast. Visitors said that it was rare to see a sauce popup-popup store. I hope more people come and see us. The event is until 29th."

It takes about 10 minutes to look around the whole Yorinakwon. There were tasting, history, two events and sale corners packed in a small space. So walking around the space wasn't easy. Space was too busy and sometimes people had to wait if others were taking photos. The tasting part (small water dumplin with one soya sauce) could have been better as well. But, one thing is clear, that they have shown the potential for getting out of the comfort zone that sauce companies can do, popup stores. I look forward to seeing that next Ganjannakwon with more fun and solid experiment.