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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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 Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| kangnamdragon wrote: |
| Toby wrote: |
| Americans are too lazy to cook their own food when they go to a restaurant? |
I think this is a good point. |
Not every Korean restaurant in the U.S. is a barbecue joint.
I agree with the posters who have mentioned the following:
1) Korean restaurant owners by and large target a Korean clientele and do not feel it worth making the effort to "market" Korean food to non-Koreans, the way many other Asian cuisines have been in North America.
2) Many Koreans believe that Korean food is for Koreans and that "foreigners" will not and cannot like it/appreciate it. This is analogous to the attitude of many Koreans to the Korean language.
I believe that neither price nor the dislike of cooking one's own food are the reasons Korean restaurants lag behind Thai and Vietnamese in their popularity.
Also, FWIW, I participate in a few West Coast-oriented food ng's and WWW boards and there appears to be a great deal of interest among "foreigners" in Korean cuisine, but often a frustration at its relative inaccesibility. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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I think the reason is just that it seems too weird. When I fisrt came here, I was scared as hell about the food. I thought I might end up eating McDonalds every day. I imagined all Korean food had seafood in it, and I REALLY never enjoyed seafood much. Those restaurant advertisements with the big tentacle, shrimp, and crab leg dishes really played on my fears..
People are unfamiliar with Korean food for the most part. I offered one of my friends in the US one of the little fruit jelly things that they sell in Korean supermarkets, and he made this hideous look...Over a little cup of jello!!!
Also, it's a rip-off back home. The kimbap I had was crap quality and cost $7 for one. Sun-du-bu had squid in it, which I don't like, and the average American would be completely disgusted by. Japanese food is still a mystery to a lot of people, and Korean food is even more of a mystery...
Funny though, that the local breakfast eatery back home serves fried pork brains with eggs and also chitlins (pig intestines). Also, people eat hot dogs, which, no comment... |
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Toby
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Wedded Bliss
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Americans are too lazy to cook their own food when they go to a restaurant? |
Mmmm maybe, but I know of a Mongolian bbq place in my home town where you pick your own ingredients and it's cooked for you, about the same amount of effort and it's very popular. Could it be the lack of any strong 'touristy' images of Korea I wonder? |
Exactly. It's cooked for you. Americans don't have to lift teit fat arms to do it for themselves.
Koreans cook their own. |
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buddy bradley
Joined: 24 Aug 2003
Location: The Beyond
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
| I lived in Switzerland for 6 months, the idea of that greasy starchy rubbish being better than korean food is just laughable. Laughable I tells ya! |
You're English. Your opinion regarding food doesn't count. Swiss food is excellent.
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Toby wrote: |
| Swiss James wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Americans are too lazy to cook their own food when they go to a restaurant? |
Mmmm maybe, but I know of a Mongolian bbq place in my home town where you pick your own ingredients and it's cooked for you, about the same amount of effort and it's very popular. Could it be the lack of any strong 'touristy' images of Korea I wonder? |
Exactly. It's cooked for you. Americans don't have to lift teit fat arms to do it for themselves.
Koreans cook their own. |
Is this for real?
What happens in Korean restaurants is either (a) the ajumma comes by, lights your burner, and periodically turns your meat for you and then cuts it; or (b) one woman (if there's one in the group) takes charge and does everything.
All the unmotivated diner really has to do is lift the piece of meat from the grill. |
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Haggard
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Americans are too lazy to cook their own food when they go to a restaurant. |
Americans are also too lazy to wash their own cars when they go to a car wash, cut their own hair when they go to a barber shop, and shine their own shoes at a shoe-shine stand.
Lazy idiots. |
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intergalactic
Joined: 19 May 2003
Location: Brisbane
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Haggard wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Americans are too lazy to cook their own food when they go to a restaurant. |
Americans are also too lazy to wash their own cars when they go to a car wash, cut their own hair when they go to a barber shop, and shine their own shoes at a shoe-shine stand.
Lazy idiots. |
They do pump their own gas though.
My thoughts :
My in-laws have a Korean restaurant back home, and my opinions on the failings of Korean restaurants at home come from this. I love my inlaws and love their cooking, but I would like to see the restaurant doing better.
The service: Table service depends on my mother-in-law's mood. Either great or rotten. Office workers call and ask for a lunch menu to be faxed to the office, my inlaws can't work the fax machine in time. Extra staff don't get called in until it gets busy, then they can't come on such short notice, or they come and then later quit. Waitstaff are Korean students who can't speak english. If my mother-in-law doesn't think you made the best menu choice, she brings what in her opinion would taste better that day.
The menu: Things like "soup with cold noodle", "mixed rice vegetable" don't sound appealing. After 7 years I finally convinced my husband to talk to his parents about changing it to sound trendier like "Chilled noodle salad". We re-wrote the menu but whether or not it got printed up I don't know.
The decor: No trendy interior design in this restaurant! Fold-out vinyl chairs and little vases with plastic flowers on each table. Strings of coloured bare bulbs in the courtyard. Meanwhile the Thai and Japanese places nearby look really swanky.
The cooking: Here in Korea, restaurants offer only one or 2 speciality dishes. Maybe Koreans have a talent for cooking one particular dish, or make a better profit only buying one bulk set of ingredients. At home this might also be true, but they still offer a variety of dishes. Some are below par. Also the honkified tastes are a little strange - GoChuJang which is 50:50 tomato ketchup? (Because foreigners can't eat spicey food, you know)
The competition: Restaurants offering other international food are more appealing for all the above reasons.
Korean restauranteurs don't visit the other types of restaurants to see what's going on there, because they either don't want to try other foods, or don't want to spend money in restaurants, don't have time, or just think learning from the ideas of a Thai or Chinese man is ridiculous.
Maybe.
And another thing. When I was a student I used to get takeaway food from a Korean restaurant all the time. However, I didn't even really know it was a Korean restaurant. It was just another asian takeaway joint that sold cheap lunch food in boxes. I only realised this place was Korean after I had lived in Korea. Ignorance I guess. |
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helly
Joined: 01 Apr 2003
Location: WORLDWIDE
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Dogbert, what are those west coast oriented ngs and www boards talking about Korean food? VERY curious. |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| helly wrote: |
| Dogbert, what are those west coast oriented ngs and www boards talking about Korean food? VERY curious. |
news:ba.food
news:la.eats
Chowhound |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Buddy Bradley wrote: |
| Quote: |
Swiss James wrote:
I lived in Switzerland for 6 months, the idea of that greasy starchy rubbish being better than korean food is just laughable. Laughable I tells ya!
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You're English. Your opinion regarding food doesn't count. Swiss food is excellent. |
The swiss food I had when I lived in Switzerland for 6 months eating nothing buy swiss food every day was stodgy, greasy, not particularly tasty and generally bad for you. A typical swiss dish consists of a fried ham slice served with rosti (grated fried potato), topped with a fried egg.
I don't really count a pan of melted cheese, garlic and wine which you then dip chunks of bread into as one of the world's foremost dishes either. Fondue was briefly popular in England in the 70s, but even we got tired of it pretty quickly. Now what does that tell you?
But I ain't mad at you Buddy. It's pretty clear you're not having much fun in Korea (sorry to hear that) and pass your time posting stupid things to get a rise out of people cheers you up in some way. Carry on![/quote] |
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kangnamdragon
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| many Korean restuarants in the States give bad service and they still get tipped... |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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I only read the OP, but here is my 2 Australian dollars worth.
Why eat korean when you could eat Thai 
I like korean food, i try and make the best of it but variety is the spice of life (gochujang only is not) |
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jaebea
Joined: 21 Sep 2003
Location: SYD
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| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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There's no reason why Korean food should be so expensive in other countries with large Korean expat populations like the US and Australia.
Soju I can understand, since imported liquor is usually subject to a raft of taxes and levies.
However, why should a serving of kalbi or bulgogi cost more in Sydney than one in Korea when Australia has bountiful beef and produce available?
For the same cost, I can eat like a king at one of the mutlitude of Italian, Malay, Chinese or Turkish places all around the city.
It's what's been mentioned before. Korean foot outlets are mainly catering to a Korean customer base, and Koreans won't hesitate to kill for a kimchi fix if they're driven to it.. :)
jae. |
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Toby
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Wedded Bliss
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| kangnamdragon wrote: |
| many Korean restuarants in the States give bad service and they still get tipped... |
I thought that was because it is EXPECTED in America? England is going the same way with tipping.
Tipping should be voluntary, unlike these places here and home that automatically stick 10% on your bill. That is, in my opinion, wrong, especially if the service you have had is sh1te. |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| jaebea wrote: |
Korean foot outlets are mainly catering to a Korean customer base, and Koreans won't hesitate to kill for a kimchi fix if they're driven to it.. 
jae. |
There was a Korean restaurant in my fairly small town for a period of time. It was doomed for failure though for the above reasons. Whether they wanted it or not, they alienated non korean customers by having stuff whose english was barely passable.. they certainly couldn't 'sell' the food to sceptical people who may have wandered.
You kind of felt like you'd stumbled into someone's (korean) living room.. a little overwhelming for the average person.. bottom line there weren't enough koreans in the area to sustain it. |
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