Wednesday, May 09, 2007

DPRK Food, Day 2

Day 2. Korean restaurant, hotel food.

Breakfast (sorry no pictures) at the hotel was simple and normal: bread, scrambled eggs, and some Korean stuff like kimchi, fried flatfish, rice and etc.

We were greeted with another Korean beer at lunch. TaeDongGang was not bad but I did prefer the one we had on day one.

The starters for the day: kimchi and veggie tempura. The kimchi was nice and spicy and not too garlicky. The Korean version of tempura was more solid and a lot heavier than the fluffy Japanese version. I actually prefer the rustic approach (especially when I'm hungry!).

Then we had beef bulgogi!!!! It was probably the best dish we had of the entire trip. The sweet bulgogi sauce and the tender and lean beef. I am getting hungry as we speak.

The Korean pancake thing was plain, floury and soft and it had a piece of thin bacon fat on top. It was probably deep fried and too greasy for me.

Another winner of the meal: bibimbap! I always liked the version with the hot stone bowl but the cold version was actually really nice and refreshing. There was hardly enough chili sauce though(I LOVE the Korean chili sauce).

In comparison to the excellent lunch dinner at the hotel in Mt. Myohyang paled significantly. Actually it sucked big time even without the comparison. The veggies were bland and uncreative and I think there was a meat dish too. We fed on the bread.

The soup was best described as beef and radish slices in (not even hot) water (quote courtesy J and E).

Our attempt to make up the calorie count by drinking more beer was turned down bluntly ("NO" completed with an evil stare). We moved to the karaoke instead. There we got to try the syrupy wild grape liquor. I had a small glass but I felt like I was going to have an instant hangover. Time to move on.

Legend has it one can not get a hangover in Mt. Myohyang because of its fresh air and we would put this theory to test. (Yes I am a Mythbusters fan.) We decided to hit the soju. (Ahh it reminded me the good old days when my friend V and I would go and have Korean BBQ with at least 1 bottle of Jinro each!) This version was easier to drink then Jinro probably due to its relatively low alcohol content at 25%.
And you know what the legend is true! Despite something around 10 (albeit small) shots of the stuff I woke up the next day fresh as a daisy.
The day's favourite: beef bulgogi.

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