A Korean Resaurant

“Annyeong-haseyo”

You will always hear this when you enter a Korean restaurant. It is the greeting for Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, and they mean it. They will shout this out from the kitchen if they hear somebody enter. There is not a clinical or air of western austerity, just a warm welcome, a bow and a tray with little metal cups and a 1 liter glass bottle of water from the tap you can pour yourself at your leisure. Often the cook, host, owner and wait staff is all the same person.

If you choose a traditional restaurant, you will see a rack at the door when you enter to take your shoes off before entering the dining room. There will be a slight elevation to distinguish the entrance for the dining room; they don’t waste space on hallways and things like that, everything is used. Some nicer restaurants will have slippers for you to wear while dining, if not bare feet or socks will do fine. Traditional seating is on the floor, again, nicer places will offer you flat cushions to sit on if you desire. It is fun seeing mothers with children and businesspeople dressed professional all seated on the floor enjoying their meals.

The utensils, metal chopsticks and a soup spoons, are typically in a little box with a clear glass lid where you can take your eating utensils for yourself, along with a napkin holder with napkins that resemble tissues more than napkins in their thickness and size, nothing is wasted. The floor typically will have a thin piled rug for each table and a real wooden table in a rectangular shape. It is not unusual for strangers to share the same table, nothing is wasted and everybody is family.

If you do not speak or read HanGul, ordering can be tricky, even traumatic at times. If you stare and look stupid long enough they will just bring you something traditional and smile warmly. They know foreigners do not typically eat food as spicy as theirs, so they will bring you a milder dish. There is no judgment for foreigners lack of knowledge, they feel worse about it than the customer because they really want you to feel comfortable and at home. Quickly they will scurry away to bring the order to the kitchen and return with another tray full of “side dishes” that are to be shared by everyone directly from the dishes they come in. There are no separate plates/bowls for each person with the exception of receiving a small cup of a broth-like soup similar to Miso soup to cleanse the palette before the meal, nothing is wasted. It is fun to share food; it breeds warmth, conversation and closeness while enjoying the meal. The side dishes typically will include a small dish of Kimchi and another small dish of pickled yellow radish sliced thinly, those are the two most common. You may also find various forms of cooked greens with sesame or some other delicious sauce; small strips of seasoned pork, a flavored ground and textured bean paste or substance, or other pickled vegetables. It all comes free with your meal, as does the broth-like soup. While you are picking on the side dishes, your main meal will be served. Most meals are made to be eaten individually but some are for more than one person and to be shared like all the other foods on the table. If you are struggling with chopsticks, they gladly will bring you a fork without laughing or being insulted, they understand and accept differences. Most meals come with a small bowl of rice in a metal bowl with a metal lid that can be taking on and off to keep the rice warm, or noodles. There are rarely breads with a meal. One of the most enjoyable features of Korean food is that meals have compatible foods that go with each other for taste, digestion and nutrition, all is on balance with each other. The exception is the Korean versions of fast food like fried or BBQ chicken. Most meals are based with a sauce of either red pepper, which is very spicy and hot, or a bean paste, except for meals that are stews, which can be anything that tastes and belongs together. The juicy stews are such good meals and you will never leave without being full and satisfied with your body happy and smiling.

One area where my ego is out of balance is related to the consumption of food, specifically, quantity. I have always eaten more than small families and when I was younger I thought that was something to be proud of like drinking more beer than others, which I also did as well when younger. Korean meals are made to leave you feeling full and satisfied. They are not based on leaving you still unsatiated so you will order desert, they want you pleased and full. It is very difficult to finish all the food on the table, very difficult. It is expected you will leave some of your side dishes or rice uneaten, it is not considered offensive to the cook, they want you to be full and complete when you leave. Many restaurants will offer you a small cup of green tea or coffee flavored like some kind of latte-type thing for free when you are done.

At most local neighborhood establishments, you will eat all that I mentioned made to perfection for the equivalent of between $4-7, yes, you read that correctly, less than eight dollars is the typical meal outside of Seoul, and not much more in Seoul. They do not change the prices or quantities for lunch and dinner; you get the same good value and quantity every time you eat. One other thing, they do not change their menus often and typically only have one or two “specials” which are not really specials since they are part of the printed menu on the wall. Special means a little bit more expensive, like the equivalent of two dollars and includes more ingredients.

As someone who has been a professional cook and finds cooking to be one of my favorite activities, it is hard to choose not to go out to eat, since it is such good food, warm atmosphere and cheaper than preparing your own meals. Like if McDonalds starting making real food by real people that was healthier than what you can make at home but in a delightful atmosphere. Hard to get motivated to go to the store and put together a meal when you can walk a block in any direction and have ten choices to eat, much like most NYC neighborhoods but cheaper than home, better quality and taste. There is no tipping as an added charge, and they include taxes in the price of the meal. It really costs what it says it costs. They don’t need a tip to serve you well; they do it because that is what you do here. If all else sucked for me in Korea, which is doesn’t, I would stay here for the food till I learned how to make all the dishes traditionally. The food and atmosphere is worth the trip all by itself.

On the way out, “Anyeonghi-gaseo” goodbye, and another bow while you are putting your shoes back on your feet smiling from a great meal and good people. Welcome to Korea.