Seoul's Side-Street Spirit Arrives in Sanur
Andaz Bali, by Hyatt has launched Pocha Bar, a new concept inside Fire Fox at Village Square that transplants the informal energy of Korean pojangmacha dining to the quieter end of Bali's east coast. Pojangmacha, shortened to "pocha" in everyday Korean, describes the canvas-covered street stalls that fill Seoul's pavements after dark, where workers decompress over shared plates and easy drinks. The Sanur interpretation keeps that same unhurried, social logic intact.
What Pocha Bar Actually Offers
The drink anchoring the menu is Somaek, a Korean staple made by combining soju with beer. The name fuses "so" from soju and "maekju," the Korean word for beer. It is light, low-fuss, and culturally loaded: in South Korea, the first pour of Somaek signals that the working day is officially over. Serving it at a Bali resort bar is a small but deliberate act of cultural translation.
Food follows a sharing format. The Foxy Bossam Set for Two centres on braised pork belly accompanied by fresh oysters, radish kimchi, lettuce, and ssamjang. Diners assemble each mouthful themselves, wrapping the pork and accompaniments in lettuce leaves in the traditional Korean style. The Galbi Smashed Burger takes a different angle, pairing marinated minced beef with cheddar cheese for a dish that borrows Korean flavour cues without pretending to be a heritage recipe.
Pocha Bar opens daily from 5pm to 11pm, positioning it firmly as an after-sunset destination rather than a dinner-service replacement.
How It Fits the Broader Property
Andaz Bali already runs Hansik Korean BBQ, so Pocha Bar is not the property's first move into Korean cuisine. The difference is register: Hansik occupies the more structured end of the spectrum, while Pocha Bar is designed to feel looser and later. Together they give the property two distinct entry points into Korean food culture, one for guests who want a proper sit-down meal and one for those who want to linger over drinks with something good on the table.
Sanur itself benefits from the addition. The neighbourhood has a reputation for a calmer, more residential pace compared to Seminyak or Canggu, and a venue built around the idea of stretching an evening over shared plates fits that character well.
Why It Matters for Hosts
Independent operators in Sanur and the wider Bali market can take a practical note from this launch: themed late-night concepts with a clear cultural narrative are proving effective at filling the 5pm to 11pm gap that many smaller properties struggle with. A focused menu of shareable dishes and a signature drink, rather than a full à la carte offering, keeps kitchen complexity low while giving guests a reason to stay on-site after dark. If your property has outdoor or semi-open communal space, a curated "after-hours" concept with two or three anchor dishes and a house drink can replicate this dynamic without the overhead of a full restaurant operation.
Details on Pocha Bar were first reported by Epicure Asia.
First reported by Bali Travel.