A Food Lover's Paradise?

I must say that when I arrived in Korea the initial thing I felt when I tried the food was that it was too spicy. It was only a ramen bowl as well. I couldn't even finish it. The only feeling in my mouth was burning pepper. It wasn't only the spice that took me by surprise, the bigger surprise was the fact that the food was spicy in Korea. I had no idea, as most people do when they saunter through Incheon Airport starting a new Korean adventure. Anyway, just so you know alot of the dishes in Korea are really quite spicy, so just be aware before you come here. You might want to do some spice tolerance training before you come here. Maybe try the spicier salsas in your neighborhood taquerias, or opt for a spicier Pad Thai at the local Thai noodle house. However, there are plenty of non-spicy dishes as well. Additionally, if you decide to stay here a while you will be surprised how quickly the body is able to adapt the spiciness. What's even better is that the longer you stay to build a spice tolerance, your knowledge of the different foods available also drastically grows. This means one quickly realizes how much food is truly available in this country, and how incredibly affordable it is to boot. The upshot of this means that you can eat every meal daily in a restaurant, not cook and basically not worry about having to drain your bank account.



When I came to Korea, I only knew a few dishes; kimbap, ramen, mandu. One can not survive on a few dishes alone, so one always turns to what they are familiar with. In Korea, there are a plethora of familiar western food style chain restaurants (like Outback,) that serve up reliable, familiar to the Americana taste bud cuisine. Places like this were a gift from above for me for the first year in Korea, since I couldn't speak or read much Korean- which made it more difficult to investigate new and interesting foods to partake in eating. That all changed over the last six months though. I am happy to say that I basically cut out Outback, and *McDonald's from my diet completely in the land of Kimchi. I even had a dining routine during the week with some friends rockin' different Korean food establishments. For example; There were Dakgalbi Mondays, which is spicy grilled chicken with cabbage and rice noodles, there was also Kamjatang Sunday lunch, which is a potato and pork soup. They are both amazing dishes. Anyway, there are so many styles here that it's difficult to describe in a single anecdote, however, since I am no longer in Korea, I must say that the biggest thing I miss-other than my friends, job, and soccer, is the food.


I think if you are curious about the food here, you should check out my friend Therese's blog. I enjoy eating food a lot, however, she does a much better job capturing the whole food and dining experience in South Korea. So any attempt on my part would only fail in comparison to her blog. So instead of carrying on incessantly, I will simply mention the fact that if you are a food person, her blog is worth a look. I also want to add though is that I am going to really miss Dakgalbi Mondays. I get sad just thinking about it. So I will stop here, but please check out some pictures I've saved.








* I must admit that the Mcdonald's Shanghai Chicken sandwiches are spectacular!