Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rteacher]

"Seoul International Vegetarian Club" ... We had a meeting today at the SM Ching hai. Although no regular members showed up (for a variety of honorable reasons...) we had new members from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and Korea (not pictured - she was camera-shy...)

Here are the pics (also shown on the "Attention All Vegetarians..." thread in the "General" forum ...)

[Rteacher]

Well, the opening post is a tough act to follow, but if you want we could continue this thread by completing the "Wanna change you life ? - Join the [whatever...]" theme...

[laogaiguk]

looks good, but what is that weird pig/rabbit/cow animal in the top right of your first picture (on the banner's right)???

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

Sorry, but that food offering you have on hand looks totally unappealing and unappetizing. A bit like rabbit droppings or lawn/weed clippings.

As do the people in your pictures, who seem grimly intent on eating it. They do look rather serious, as if they are questioning themselves as to whether they WANT to eat that alarming looking food. But you, I have to say, do look quite jolly and merry and rotund in the pic. Are you actually happy to eat that kind of "food?" You seem to be. If you are, may you be happy and fulfilled, I guess ... I prefer roast leg of lamb or a very rare steak done to perfection on the grill.

No offense intended, but I sure wouldn't eat what's featured in your pictures. I have to wonder why you do, religious claptrap nothwithstanding.

[Hater Depot]

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

You're a veg then, I take it...

There was no bashing involved. Nor was there any pointlessness involved in what I posted.

I simply don't care for eating lawn.

Do you?

Root beer?!? I gag...

[Qinella]

I have to agree -- that food does look pretty awful! Isn't there a photo of the other items? Surely the food toward the other end of the buffet was more appetizing / less drowned in sauce.

[pet lover]

I also agree that the food doesn't look appetizing. It's like they fried and/or overcooked everything. Everyone, veg food doesn't always look like that!

[Rteacher]

Actually, the food entrees at the other end of the table were more visually appealing (especially to those of us conditioned to eating meat...) At the near end of the table there were a lot of new salad-like items that seemed geared for lighter summer eating. Most of the faux meat preps were at the other end. They also have whole-grain (as well as white) rice, a great Lotus-something soup, separate fruit-and-vegetable salad bar, whole-wheat bread and a delicious Japanese apricot tea drink...

I'm sure that all of us who were there Sunday agree that overall it was a very tasty and satisfying lunch experience... I also checked out their "vege-love" bakery that's nearby, and I discovered that they even carry non-alcholic beer ("Elite" malt beverage) in bottles and cans. (Next time I go there I'll take better pictures of the buffet - this time I just took a very quick shot before any of the Korean customers could notice my camera...)

[red dog]

I've certainly enjoyed some delicious meals at SM, where I first had a chance to taste many Korean foods such as kimchi (which isn't veg at most restaurants, but is there), pumpkin soup, doenjang paste and pajeon (only I can't remember if they include the green onions or not) ... and I almost forgot -- kimbap. It's a really great place, and the people who run it are super nice.

But after a while I started finding many of the buffet-style restaurants less appetizing -- unless you get there at exactly the right time, the food may have been sitting out too long and may not be that fresh. At Sanchon and Soshim, this wasn't usually a problem -- although Sanchon serves you way too much food and would be best for special occasions (like this one, maybe).

There are also two non-buffet-style SDA-run places in northern Seoul (Hoegi-dong) that have a good selection of Korean foods, including veggie mandu and kimchi mandu, at very reasonable prices. Country Life near Sinsa Station has a reasonably priced buffet (cheaper than SM, the last I heard), and I don't recall any problems with freshness ... although I unfortunately didn't go there very often because I found the hours inconvenient.

There's also a Chinese place in Yeouido with several veg options, including jjajangmyeon, which is really good -- their prices are also reasonable and (unlike many other nonveg places) they understand the concept of vegetarianism.

Anyway, it's too bad I couldn't go -- and does anyone know the literal translation of the Korean part of the sign? Something about our animal friends saying thank you to vegetarians? What a difficult language ...

[jinju]

hmmmmm...
um....

no.

[red dog]

[peemil]

There's only one thing missing from that meeting.

A pig on a spit.

[jinju]

[jinju]