Western food in Korea - scary and expensive with a side of pickles p.1
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Western food in Korea.
Part One of Two.
Why sweet baby Jesus are there pickles served with everything here?
It’s so unnecessary. For some reason, Korea feels the need to supply Western food with a heaping side of pickles with every meal. I still can’t tell if it is for the benefit if foreigners who have this supposed insatiable appetite for salted cucumbers or if it’s for Koreans who want an alternative to 김치 during their meal. Either way, it’s peculiar.
In addition to the green spectacle served with pizza, spaghetti and other Italian mutations, there exists gut-wrenching excuses for Western food in this land. Granted, fast food and convenience store food is awful no matter which country you live in, but this abomination… is unforgivable.
See, I come from a country where ‘real’ Italian food is hard enough to come by, but we Americans get by. Although we have Papa John’s and Fazzoli’s, we acknowledge that it isn’t ‘real’ Italian but it’s still tasty food none the less. It’s like a delicious copy. But the sinful excuse for Italian food in Korea is shameful. A copy of a copy in every sense of the word, Italian food here has become a shadow of its former self and moreso, a western food monster. Sugar sprinkled garlic bread, marinara sauce with the sweetness of vanilla ice cream and a peculiarly thin cream sauce will raise bot only eyebrows but also the dead.
I won’t even get started on Korea’s relationship with cheese. It’s no bueno.
I confess though that I actually like most cream sauce dishes here. It doesn’t leave the heaviness of alfredo sauce but that’s probably because it doesn’t have alfredo cheese in it. So, if it’s lacking in real cheese, why am I paying an arm and a leg for it in the first place?
For example, a heaping serving of delicious 참치김치찌개 (tuna kimchi stew) that comes piping hot with at least four side dishes and a healthy portion of cooked rice will run you 5000원 (less than five bucks USD). Not bad. A freshly cooked healthy meal with plenty of vegetables. Who can argue with that?
How about a artery clogging fake cheese drenched noodle bowl with some pickles on the side? Good thing I paid four times what I should have for that big steaming pile of lies. Italian food - you are expensive and you have bad taste. You’re like the Adam Sandler of food.
Thoughts?
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It |
January 12th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Oh, I forgot to mention the curiously sweet garlic bread. Why is there sugar on my garlic bread?
January 12th, 2010 at 11:40 am
I still can’t tell if it is for the benefit if foreigners who have this supposed insatiable appetite for salted cucumbers or if it’s for Koreans who want an alternative to 김치 during their meal.
The answer is decisively the latter. Be glad that they are not actually serving kimchi. In fact, next time trying asking for it — even Western restaurants keep a little bit handy for fussy customers.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
@ The Korean - wouldn’t you know it? Over the weekend, I was eating at Bennigan’s and my fiancé remarked that she thought 김치 would go well with our dinner. We were eating steak and shrimp. I jokingly asked the waiter for some 김치 thinking she was pulling my leg. Less than a minute later, I was staring at an uninvited guest to my dinner table. Pickled, salted and invading my surf and turf, 김치 arrived in full side dish fashion. All I could do was shake my head.
Staring at some pickles next to a plate of spaghetti seems like almost a blessing now in comparison. I can easily stomach them but that doesn’t mean I crave them. I suppose I should watch myself next time.
Don’t get me wrong. I like 김치.. but I also like toothpaste and orange juice. I just don’t like them together.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Hi again, Thanks for sharing of your ideas and information to all of us.scripts“Korean barbeque” is probably the most popular Korean dish for Westerners, split in Korea itself into bulgogi (불고기), which uses cuts of marinated meat, and galbi (갈비), which uses ribs, usually unmarinated. In both, a charcoal brazier is placed in the middle of the table and patrons cook their choice of meats, adding garlic to the brazier for spice. The cooked meat from both of these is placed on a lettuce or perilla leaf along with shredded green onion salad (파무침 pa-muchim), raw (or cooked) garlic, shredded pickled radish (무채 muchae) and some chili-soya paste (쌈장 ssamjang) and then devoured. All are optional, so be creative. Thanks Regard.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Let me tell you about the dinner I had tonight. It started off with baked mushrooms stuffed with a light white cheese. Then I had a fresh pesto pasta over soft spaghetti. My date had cheese-stuffed tortellini in a cream sauce. To drink with the meal, I had a deliciously hoppy, but balanced, locally brewed craft beer. Are you drooling yet?
Anyway, don’t get too depressed about the trouble you have finding western food. You have access to good and cheap Korean food any day of the week.
January 14th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@ Jeff - good point. 메롱.
January 15th, 2010 at 8:06 am
I love your captioned pictures.
January 16th, 2010 at 3:03 am
Korean food itself is overall extremely healthy for you, better than the copy cat colon blocking crap in America. I don’t think that there’s much demand or desire for other cuisines and if there is its only a passing fancy, hence the grotesque imitations you that you find.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:07 am
The pickles are probiotics, dude. All European and Asian cultures pickle vegetables as a way of delivering gut healthy enzymes.
Ketchup dude. Why is there ketchup on every American table? Get with the program dude. You’re a visitor in someone else’s home.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:34 am
Hi. I jst came back for three weeks in South Korea..
I would have to say that in most typical fashion, western food or imported food i.e. Japanese and Korean is just as expensive in my home country, Malaysia.
But in the case of western, it’s about the same everywhere. Even in Malaysia. the portions served by local malaysian cafes trying to serve steaks and spaghetti = customers are still hungry at the end of the meal. and its expensive. not exactly very good either. they just don’t serve pickles or kimchi though.
So if i wanted to eat out at western, i’d go to a place like San Francisco steak house, TGIF. Sure, we pay more. but the portions are definitely guaranteed bigger and better. And hopefully the service too.
Don’t even get me started on cappuccino in South Korea… i’ve been to a lot of side cafes in South Korea– who actually sell cappuccino for 2,000won. its machine made… and thats expensive!!
However, i did try the one at Ediya, and it was not too bad. about 2,600won onwards. Probably the sit in cafes are better, but I’d advise not to get any coffee from side cafes unless you wanted something instant and machine made.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
@ Jason Chaotic - There’s definitely a demand for alternatives to traditional Korean food among the younger generation. However, the grotesqueness of “real” fusion Western food is not bad at all. This post is clearly for entertainment slash shock value. However, I would still agree that 한식 is definitely the majority here.
@ narly - dude I just wanted you to know dude that I think of Korea as my like second home dude so I’m not knocking Koreans dude I just want to get with the program you know? I’m not making the rules in someone else’s home dude I’m just commenting on probiotics dude.
@ Chae Yee - Cappuccino and other coffee products would make an excellent post indeed as there is much to be deserved in terms of service, price and taste. Also, those little Maxim single cup servings are just atrocious. But if I ever wrote about, I would have to first disclose that first and foremost, I’m not a coffee drinker.
February 14th, 2010 at 2:55 am
I enjoyed reading this blog last week and thought pickles were certainly very strange with Italian. Then I just started watching a new kdrama called “Pasta”. Episode 4 is all about the new head chef banning pickles much to the horror of the other cooks. It even starts a fight! So thanks for the background info, it was really helpful. Check out the episode at http://www.mysoju.com/pasta/episode-4/part-2/
February 16th, 2010 at 3:16 am
I’m going to Korea next month for a holiday. Would appreciate recommendations of korean food that I have to try. jangeml@yahoo.com