Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ryleeys]

If your bar is full, screw it, be picky about your customers...

If your bar is empty and you toss out 15 beers cause you want them to order 2000 won worth of fish, you're a moron and the Darwin Awards will be along any minute to take care of things...

[kangnam mafioso]

i usually don't argue with them if they are intense about you ordering anju. if you're with a group, just order the cheapest thing (usually dried nuts and squid). if it's just 2 people, try to find a place that doesn't make you order anju. most only require it with the draft beer -- order bottles instead or sit at the bar.

[the_beaver]

You have to buy anju because they make shit off the alcohol. Unless it's a really busy bar anju is the only place to make profit.

[Psy]

It's become kind of a habit now to munch on something while drinking.
I've been drinking at places like Applebees, TGIF, and Bennigens, since I've come back, just so I can eat while drinking. Strange

[Thomas]

At first I didn't like the "anju" thing and did leave a few places because they wouldn't just serve me beer. Eventually, I knew what places 'required' anju and which ones didn't. Most of the 'western bars' I went to did not require anju (but providded free peanuts). Eventually I got used to it and actually looked forward to anju.

I think the biggest difference is adjusting to the difference in the bar scene (at least in the countryside). Barhopping alone or often doesn't fit with how Koreans do it... therefore the owner finds it odd. I like the Korean style with a group of friends... have some food and drinks and talk and sit at a comfy table. I also like going out alone and hopping. When I encountered the people who wanted to force me to buy anju (or who wanted to stare or ask dumb questions)... I just left.

To the person ranting about the meat service at the restaurants. At first I didn't like this either... but the "per person" price is not just the meat but also for the charcoal (or gas) and the side dishes. Setting a big meat meal up for 7,000 won really isn't profitable. When I wanted meat and was alone, I just ordered 2 servings... one serving was never enough anyway. The restaurant was happy and so was I.

[Zyzyfer]

It may not be profitable, but I was the only customer in the entire (huge) restaurant.

I also tried to tell them to go easy on the side dishes, since I don't generally eat them. I'm not paying 14,000 won just to have some damn meat by myself.

[gomurr]

I usually don't like to order the anju myself, i'm usually there for the beer. Also being forced to order anju at alot of bars in Korea which are usually expensive, makes it harder to do a true pub crawl. When some friends and I tried to do a pub crawl in Kangnung years ago we only managed to hit 4 or 5 different bars and it cost quite a bit each time because we were slowed down by all the anju (even though we ordered the cheapest stuff). kind of takes the wind out of the sails.

[steroidmaximus]

just tell em you'll order the anju later.

[Ya-ta Boy]

That anju thing is quite annoying. It was just as annoying in Taiwan.

I have found that in the places where I'm a regular, the owner is more flexible about ordering anju. I can get by without ordering it everytime. But I do make sure to order something most of the time and I make sure to speak to the owner on nights when I bring a new friend.

[jaebea]

Yeah, having a regular watering hole is a good way to avoid anju if it doesn't really float your boat.

I actually try to factor in some anju when I'm heading out, even though it's expensive, there's nothing QUITE like doobu-kimchi with that soju.

Goddamn.

:)

jae.

[mishlert]

I have never had the problem of having to order food or leave, but I do know of of an incident in Daegu where the bar saw the stupidity of their ways.
Rock & Roll Bar in Daegu used to have this policy until a group of about 10, to 15 westerners came in to drink. They ordered their drinks and were told to order some food. They, of course, said no and the manager was called over to their table and he told them that they had to order some food if they wanted to stay and drink. He was informed of the amount of money they had spent at the bar in the past, and that they were planning on drinking a lot that night. He insisted, so they left in a huff telling him that they were going to tell their friends about it and to not be surprised if the foreign clients stopped coming.
Well, one the guys in the group was a friend of my co-worker and he told us about it. We told the teachers at the school I was working for at the time, and so on.
I did not go to Rock & Roll for a while, and then one weekend night I stumbled in with some friends and the place was dead, but the people working there went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We ordered, and got our beers without having to order food.
Whether or not the incident with the manager had anything to with it, I don't know, but the timing of it all makes one wonder.

[Thomas]

[Apple Scruff]

I've never met Anju. I don't talk about people behind their back.

[the wrangler]

[weatherman]