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FastForward
Joined: 04 Jul 2011
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 Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| ThingsComeAround wrote: |
I think White Castle could do very well here- imagine college-age ladies going there to buy a 30-sack for their 10 girlfriends when they want to "study"... Indeed. That and guys would order Bek-Sacks just cause.
iHop should hit Itaewon. Please come! Unlimited Pancakes for all!
And Wendy's does have a salad bar. I envision them having an usher check and stamp tickets for people to use it- so they don't pilfer the good |
There was a White Castle in the Seoul area in the mid 90's. I actually went to the opening of it when I was a kid. I guess it didn't do well and closed down. |
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nero
Joined: 11 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:23 am Post subject: |
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| This obsession with fast food borders on the ridiculous. How many of you are North American? (just curious). |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:35 am Post subject: |
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| During a business conversation with a Korean, he asked me why I thought Subway had failed in Korea. He explained it one word: kimbap. According to him, Koreans can spend 1,000 on a kimbap meal and feel satiated, so there was no point in spending 5,000 on a Subway sandwich. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:44 am Post subject: |
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| hogwonguy1979 wrote: |
| Denny's was here like 15 years ago, they had a location in the Savoy Hotel in Myeong-dong and in Gangmam, it was funny as it appeared to be upscale they even served beer, they didnt last much past 98 though |
I distinctly remember going to a Denny's around 1988 or 89 in Itaewon. There was a large group of about 13-15 of us Americans and we felt relieved to see a bit of home in a foreign land. After they had seated us and brought us water, many in our party became uneasy about just how expensive it was. I don't remember the exact costs, but the menu items were something like 3-5 times the cost of your average bowl of jajangmun at the time (about 2,000 at the time IIRC). A bunch of people started balking at the price and we had to leave without ordering anything. I remember feeling pretty embarrassed by the whole incident as there weren't very many foreigners in Korea at the time, let alone such a large group of us. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| madoka wrote: |
| During a business conversation with a Korean, he asked me why I thought Subway had failed in Korea. He explained it one word: kimbap. According to him, Koreans can spend 1,000 on a kimbap meal and feel satiated, so there was no point in spending 5,000 on a Subway sandwich. |
I say bull to that. The Subway in Itaewon was once the leader in sales of any Subway branch in the world and the one in Jonggak is also doing well. I can see, however, that Subway doesn't do as well in the provinces and such because of lower wages and standard of living. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Koreans, like most people, tend to eat at places they've heard of. They don't like taking a chance on some unknown chain. That's why the big three, McD's, BK, KFC, do so well in Korea but other less famous chains usually flounder. |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| madoka wrote: |
| During a business conversation with a Korean, he asked me why I thought Subway had failed in Korea. He explained it one word: kimbap. According to him, Koreans can spend 1,000 on a kimbap meal and feel satiated, so there was no point in spending 5,000 on a Subway sandwich. |
Ever been to a coffee shop? You can get coffee at the convenience store for 1000원 easily however most Koreans prefer to pay 3,000-5,000원 for a coffee and more than they would at Subway on whatever food the coffee shop is serving. An passable egg salad sandwich from one of those places runs more than 4000원 usually.
Also, who feels satisfied after one kimbap? And you know that a 야채김밥 runs around 2-2500원 now and hasn't cost 1000원 since 2008 or so.
Subway also failed in Japan in the same way it did in Korea, despite it being the most successful fast food restaurant the world over (yes--Subway is more successful than McDonald's). The Japanese have had "expensive taste" for far longer than the Koreans have.
From what I've heard, the reasons for it are cultural, mainly. I've heard Subway failed for the same reason Wal-Mart failed: it didn't cater to the local palate (I've also had a few businessmen students tell me this).
| nero wrote: |
| This obsession with fast food borders on the ridiculous. How many of you are North American? (just curious). |
I don't get it either. I think it's mainly an American thing. The only fast-food I go apesh*t about is Subway.
My American co-workers eat McDonalds for lunch every single day and miss the food back home much more so than people from other countries. I said on a few occasions that I couldn't tell the difference between the chocolate here and the chocolate back home which started a whole slew of "OH MY GOD..." and "ARE YOU RETARDED?" They also get these cravings to go all the way to Seoul to stack up on Taco Bell. Yanks are weird. |
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ThingsComeAround
Joined: 07 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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Pizza Hut, Dominos, and Papa Johns have also prepared their pizzas differently from what I enjoyed back in NY, so I don't eat them.
The only fast food service I salivate for is BK. They make a mean Fish sandwich, when the two McDonalds near me stopped serving it 
Fast food I miss most? Dunkin with those bagel-egg-cheese sandwiches, little hash browns and a REGULAR COFFEE WITH WHOLE MILK AND SUGAR. |
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:14 am Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
| nero wrote: |
| This obsession with fast food borders on the ridiculous. How many of you are North American? (just curious). |
I don't get it either. I think it's mainly an American thing. The only fast-food I go apesh*t about is Subway.
My American co-workers eat McDonalds for lunch every single day and miss the food back home much more so than people from other countries. I said on a few occasions that I couldn't tell the difference between the chocolate here and the chocolate back home which started a whole slew of "OH MY GOD..." and "ARE YOU RETARDED?" They also get these cravings to go all the way to Seoul to stack up on Taco Bell. Yanks are weird. |
Funny. I've worked primarily with Canadians and Americans, and the Canadians have always been the pickiest eaters who were most prone to hit the American chains in my experience. Then again, my experiences don't do justice to the entirety of the Canadian population in Korea. On the other hand, your opinions . . . |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:53 am Post subject: |
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What's with all this talk about "why Subway failed"? It didn't and there are two branches within walking distance of where I live (in Dongdaemun-gu, NE Seoul).
I wish Starbucks had the pumpkin spice latte here. |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| What's with all this talk about "why Subway failed"? It didn't and there are two branches within walking distance of where I live (in Dongdaemun-gu, NE Seoul). |
But if you go inside, it's only foreigners. There are quite a few in Seoul because of the foreign population. When there was one open in Yeongtong, Suwon, I remember only ever seeing foreigners there every time I went.
Try finding a Subway outside of Seoul, it's nearly impossible. The website says there are only 43 locations in South Korea and after a quick glance, I saw several that have closed down in the past few years (including the one in Yeongtong and the one in Pyeongchon that just went out of business a few months back).
In North America and everywhere else, Subway actually outnumbers McDonald's (though Subway franchises take up much less physical space and are only operated by one or two people). In Korea, I'd bet that McDonald's outnumbered Subway more than 50:1. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
| Ever been to a coffee shop? You can get coffee at the convenience store for 1000원 easily however most Koreans prefer to pay 3,000-5,000원 for a coffee and more than they would at Subway on whatever food the coffee shop is serving. An passable egg salad sandwich from one of those places runs more than 4000원 usually. |
To be fair the coffee thing is mainly so they can sit down and hang out with a date without doing anything in particular. Or talk with friends without doing anything in particular.
| Quote: |
| From what I've heard, the reasons for it are cultural, mainly. I've heard Subway failed for the same reason Wal-Mart failed: it didn't cater to the local palate (I've also had a few businessmen students tell me this). |
More specifically, it doesn't come with rice. I've had numerous coworkers explain that sandwiches just don't leave them satisfied and feeling full. |
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nukeday
Joined: 13 May 2010
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| nero wrote: |
| This obsession with fast food borders on the ridiculous. How many of you are North American? (just curious). |
Not much point in naming a local restaurant that no one outside of your village has heard of or tried, is there, Limey? |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
| From what I've heard, the reasons for it are cultural, mainly. I've heard Subway failed for the same reason Wal-Mart failed: it didn't cater to the local palate (I've also had a few businessmen students tell me this). |
Also, try finding a non-Asian franchise outside of Gyeonggi-do, Seoul and the 6 metropolitan cities, it's pretty hard. And there are a few sizable medium sized cities. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
| cdninkorea wrote: |
| What's with all this talk about "why Subway failed"? It didn't and there are two branches within walking distance of where I live (in Dongdaemun-gu, NE Seoul). |
But if you go inside, it's only foreigners. There are quite a few in Seoul because of the foreign population. When there was one open in Yeongtong, Suwon, I remember only ever seeing foreigners there every time I went.
Try finding a Subway outside of Seoul, it's nearly impossible. The website says there are only 43 locations in South Korea and after a quick glance, I saw several that have closed down in the past few years (including the one in Yeongtong and the one in Pyeongchon that just went out of business a few months back).
In North America and everywhere else, Subway actually outnumbers McDonald's (though Subway franchises take up much less physical space and are only operated by one or two people). In Korea, I'd bet that McDonald's outnumbered Subway more than 50:1. |
I've said it before and I'll say it again, could it possibly be because Subway doesn't taste that good? Subway is like the Hires Root Beer of subs. Passable, but is smoked by A&W, Barq's, Jones, IBC, even Mug, and so on.
The core of a good sub is its bread. Subway's bread is absolutely atrocious. Lacking in texture and taste, it is also too voluminous for its content.
To say nothing of the mediocre cheese and cold cuts as well as the processed tasting steak and chicken, yeah mediocre sub.
| Quote: |
| More specifically, it doesn't come with rice. I've had numerous coworkers explain that sandwiches just don't leave them satisfied and feeling full. |
Explains why the kebab places have failed to expand past Itaewon.
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| I wish Starbucks had the pumpkin spice latte here. |
Oooo, or the Spiced Apple whatehaveyou they used to have. Those were great in Autumn.
That and McD's Shamrock Shakes in March would be nice.
Of course, the Ribwich, aka McRib is a must as well.
| Quote: |
| Also, try finding a non-Asian franchise outside of Gyeonggi-do, Seoul and the 6 metropolitan cities, it's pretty hard. And there are a few sizable medium sized citie |
Mostly confined to BR31, KFC, McD's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, and maybe Burger King. Really only BR31 gets into the smaller cities of 50-150,000 people. |
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