Korean Job Discussion Forums

[thebektionary]

I think the things I missed the most last year were subs (turkey mostly) and New York bagels. I used to eat a sub every single day and was obsessed with them, especially the custom ones from Publix (supermarket in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee for all of you who are not lucky enough to have it ).

But it's strange. I really adapted to Korean and other Asian tastes. It's to the point now where I can't eat most Western foods without saying or thinking "This is so BLAND!" I crave spicy noodle soup constantly - way more than I ever craved subs in Korea, I think.

I also realized how processed and shi**y almost all American food is. However, there are a few guilty pleasures that I will sorely miss this time around (some of which I will hopefully be able to get at Costco):

- Reese's (new obsession)
- Cheesy popcorn
- Strong cheeses like Bleu and Gorgonzola
- NEW YORK BAGELS!
- Hot wings, though I know I can get them in Itaewon
- Mac and cheese - #1 guilty pleasure for life... will probably just get a good recipe and a lot of real cheese from Costco and make it myself
- Organic peanut butter
- Orange sweet potatoes! Those white ones are just too dry and not the same.

Now, for the food that I sorely miss now that I can't wait to have easy access to again:
- So-galbi and Samgyupsal for cheap!!!!
- I lived in Chuncheon for 9 months and I cannot wait to go back and eat Dak Galbi
- Jjigaes
- Those awesome red bean fish pastries sold on the street
- BBQ Chicken!!!!!! (the chicken place, not actual BBQ chicken)
- Those amazing kebabs on the street in Hongdae
- Shabu Shabu... oh man. The best.

What's your list? (Can be the opposite way around)

10 days until I'm back

[The Floating World]

Food I miss from back home -

Affordable European deli meats and cheeses (would have said beer too, but homeplus does those imported German beers now for like 1.9k a can which are very drinkable) and frankly, an English style sunday roast. When I went back last Xmas for vacation I was amazed by how much better meats are there. Roast leg of lamb, roasted shoulder of pork with roast potatoes, parnsips and gravy and all those plain but natural flavours of the meat and veg that is lost to me in a lot of Korean food due to it being smothered in red pastes. Apart from that, like you I found a lot of the food back home to be either bland or just too 'chunky' after returning for a while. Oh and a good sunday style salad with cold cuts and pickles, British food may have a bad reputation but nowhere does better pickles. Oh and pork pies.

Things I will miss and did miss from Korea -

Spicy chiggaes, galbi ttang / seollong tang / al tang / so or dwaedgi guk baps and the large communal bbq meals / kalguksoo. Luckilly I didn't live to far from Soho and Chinatown and they have some decent Korean restaurants and the Chinese supermarkets all have a small Korean section now, so I could either eat out at insane prices 5x of what it would cost in Korea or could make my own at home.

Oh and the Indian, Turkish, Russian and Middle Eastern food in places like Hongdae, Sinchon, Itaewon and HBC are much much much much much better than you'll find in the UK, which frankly is kind of surprising.

[motiontodismiss]

Chipotle. Having proper ingredients for everything.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I miss NY pizza and bagels. There's definitely something in the water back home that makes them superior to all imitators.

I miss the availability of foods from all over the world at 2am, delivered. Brown rice sushi, vegetable dumplings (not meat meat and vegetable,) stinky cheeses, low-sodium soups, mushu vegetable, and organic-frozen-vegetarian burritos. I also miss those macro-vegan bento boxes sold at health food stores.

I'll miss the vegan, organic, local buffet in Incheon. I'm not vegan, but the food is delicious, healthy, and not too salty.

[strange_brew]

After being here a few years, I think I can say that after I leave, there won't be too many things Korean I'm craving food wise. Most things have a variation of two or three flavours, and I'm fairly bored of them at this point.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

^
Agreed. I mostly cook at home. Right now, I've got some beetroot roasting, and I'm going to add that to some baked potatoes for a lovely, pink mash with chives on top. If only I'd remembered to pick up sour cream, it'd have been perfect. I might use a little bit of butter as a replacement, but it's not the same.

I feel lucky. With the foreign food markets in Seoul and the numerous delivery services�both domestic and abroad�we have it pretty easy, if expensive, when it comes to eating a varied diet. I've got friends who've been here since the 90s, and it was Korean food or no food.

I like eating Korean food, but maybe twice a week, and even then it's usually home cooked.

[wainy316]

[The Floating World]

[byrddogs]

TG I don't have to worry about that; eat Korean food everyday at lunchee, amazing Chinese food for dinner, and can get my fix on for any western food that I crave. Shanghai rocks it out!

[The Floating World]

[smithy]

[The Floating World]

[smithy]

[wainy316]

[The Floating World]

Man that IS EXACTLY my point.

Tradional food from India, Nepal, Pakistan often aren't as spicy as they have been made for the British market and they never have that much - if any - meat in them.

The Itaewon / hongdae restaurants (again, sucks to have to keep repeating myself, but it just seems that people do not read before posting) NOT the stuff adapted to the Korean pallete - are more authentic than what you'll find in the UK.

What I'm saying is they are MORE AUTHENTIC - not that they are more deicious to everyone (though they are to me.)

Brick Lane, I'll make an exception for, but only just as it is a special area. And tbh I wasn't that impressed. Like most areas that become as popular as Brick Lane has, the quality goes downhill as they want to cater to as many as possible and food gets rushed and prepared badly as a result.

Your average curry house anywhere else on the UK high street is not authentic Indain food and IMO the restaurants I named before kick their arse.

I know it's a souce of pride to many of you fellow Brits, but it's just the way it is.

If it helps, I'm coming from the perspective of some of my best friends were from Pakistan and I used to get fed by their Mum a couple of times every week with amazing home cooked food.