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Korean food (in Seoul) is terrible
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panthermodern



Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Taxronto

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 7:43 am    Post subject: Korean food (in Seoul) is terrible Reply with quote

How many people who now live in Seoul have lived outside Seoul ....

How many people who lived outside Seoul have eaten Korean food in Seoul ...

How many people have eaten in Jeon Ju (ChonJu) ?


I love Korean food but in Seoul ............
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just because



Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that all the things that you hear about regional specialities might have been true 50 years ago but its not true. The food to me tastes the same all over the country. I'm sure the Bibimbap tastes good in Jeonju but it tastes the same to me all over the country. An exception maybe seafood on the coasts.
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panthermodern



Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Taxronto

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 8:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I strongly disagree, with everything except the seafood thing.

My opinion is that Korean food is better outside of Seoul, with regards to the average run of the mill restaurants.

The best Korean meals I have had, over the years, have been in either Deajon or Jeon Ju.

That's my opinion.


Last edited by panthermodern on Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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The King of Kwangju



Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Location: New York City

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PM, I strongly agree with your strong disagreement.

There is definitely a difference, but if you think Seoul is bad, wait til you try Koreatown in Toronto...
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panthermodern



Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Taxronto

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

KoK:


As I told a friend (from Calgary) complaining about a steak in Seoul ....

"Hey, if you think they got this wrong ... order Korean at home ..."

Has anyone ever had "President's Choice Frozen Korean ...."


Last edited by panthermodern on Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:48 am; edited 1 time in total
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The King of Kwangju



Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Location: New York City

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"GWOW?" surely you mean "KoK?"

Last Friday night my sister went to a big industry party here in Toronto. Apparently "some company" (my sister couldn't remember the name) is launching soju here with great fanfare.

I'd love to hear their angle:

"Immerse yourself in the silky goodness of the mysterious far east..."
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panthermodern



Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Taxronto

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry about that .......

How about this one:

Soju: Korean White Lighining .......
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Dan



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Sunny Glendale, CA

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

korean food tastes good in los angeles
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I go to Seoul, I like to avoid Korean food...particularly grilled meats and stuff. I've found the ultimate cheap kalbi restaurant, the ultimate meaty kalbi restaurant, and the ultimate bulgogi restaurant, and they're all here in Cheonan. Suwon has the strange concoction, bibim mandu, and also has the best donggasuh restaurant I've been to.

Besides, Seoul is "international", so I don't want to eat Korean food when I go there.
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Dr. Buck



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Land of the Morning Clam

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's all relative. Sometimes you hit a good place, sometimes you don't.

It's the places in the small towns and countryside that you sometimes have to look out for:

Was out fishing last weekend--middle of nowhere, and I stopped in a hole in the wall resturant. "Greasy spoon" would be a compliment for this joint.
Fly-specked flourescent lightbulbs, peeling wallpaper, smeared grime on the lightswitch and on the sliding door, an old soju calendar on the wall, a broken cukoo clock, cigarette burned linoleum with the flaps up on the wall.
The ajumma squats in the kitchen and works on the floor, slapping meat around. The place was a dump, and the food just as bad.
Many of the country folk just don't have standards that are exactly up to par.
But this permeates throughout the nation: simply put, Korean cuisine is low brow, poverty-influenced cooking. It's unoriginal and its the same dishes over and over again. Same tired recipes, same boring ingredients. The list is short and most of the dishes can be made by any 12 year old.
How to butcher a chicken for dak-jim: smash it up with a cleaver and chuck it in the pot.
How to fillet a fish for most Korean dishes: smash it up into chunks with a cleaver, throw it into the pot.

Let the diner pick out the sharp bones stabbed into his gums.


Read John Thorne's Simple Cooking http://www.outlawcook.com/
and you'll get a new perspective on what you put in your mouth.
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indytrucks



Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 3:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Korean food, like anywhere else in the country, is delicious depending on where you go.

The best places to eat in Seoul, IMHO, are the little ajumma soup places in/near Namdaemun. Cheap and great atmosphere. There are some other great little maeoontang near Kwanghwamun as well.
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Yangkho



Joined: 22 Sep 2003
Location: Honam

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had great bibimpab in:

Portland, Maine
New Haven, Connecticut
Columbus Georgia (whose Korean population is quite large...they've even got a Noraebang with the tiny little rooms and everything.)

So, there's hope.
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indytrucks



Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dr. Buck wrote:
simply put, Korean cuisine is low brow, poverty-influenced cooking. It's unoriginal and its the same dishes over and over again. Same tired recipes, same boring ingredients. The list is short and most of the dishes can be made by any 12 year old.
How to butcher a chicken for dak-jim: smash it up with a cleaver and chuck it in the pot.
How to fillet a fish for most Korean dishes: smash it up into chunks with a cleaver, throw it into the pot.


Who cares about the process? It's the end result that counts. By the way, I have been enlightened. I didn't realize cooking could be described as "low brow". Thank you for your profound insights.
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Ody



Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: over here

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i agree with Dr. Buck to a point. restaurants on the cheap (as most are) serve "low brow" korean food. for authentic korean cuisine the price goes up. in Seoul one can find finer food in insadong where "high brow" restaurants are nettled between tea houses. in general, specialty restaurants are the way to go. i've dined at a place specializing in kimchi (outside kangnam where almost every dish was kimchi based and to die for. in shinchon, there's a porridge nook that's dreamy plus, my husband's mother and uncle have restaurants (one sashimi, one calbi) where the food is definatly a cut above the rest (and so are their prices). in general, i avoid eating in places that have a predominately college or high school age cliental since the younger generation of koreans tend to go for sweeter, more mild food flavor. these places are likely more abundant in Seoul where universities and hogwons abound.

Last edited by Ody on Mon Oct 06, 2003 11:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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little mixed girl



Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Location: shin hyesung's bed~

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

....

Last edited by little mixed girl on Fri May 09, 2008 5:46 am; edited 1 time in total
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