A Wonderful Dinner With A Wonderful Family

Tonight, a friend of my father's took Nick and I out to dinner at an absolutely amazing restaurant. We had the most delightful time with his family. Despite the language barrier with his wife and daughter, the night was full of great conversation and delicious food. This was the first time Nick and I were sharing a meal with a Korean family, and we loved it! We are sad that we met this wonderful family so late in our stay here.


The restaurant they took us to was a traditional Korean family restaurant. It was so beautiful! The building was all carved wooden logs and inside tree-like pillars held up heavy polished beams that created a vast hexagonal room. The china had delicate spring flower patterns and it the room felt very summery with large floor lamps that looked almost like classic street lamps. We liked it a lot.


We had a course menu that was full of tasty treats and delectable dishes. It was a true feast! We started with some pumpkin porridge, then moved on to green pea jelly noodles and salads. As we were chowing down on all that, baked bulgolgi, slivers of raw flat fish, and hot kimchi pancakes cluttered up our table. We practiced wrapping bulgolgi meat in little round tortilla-like pancakes with our chopsticks - it is a lot harder than it looks. Then came a cold noodle buckwheat soup, which was great since it is now so hot, even in the evening.


Next came a seafood stew, with overcooked rice in a spicy red pepper base. Vegetables, squid, clams, and shrimp overflowed into our eager bowls. Marinated short ribs entered the scene, and we happily ripped into the tender meat. Then large dishes of crispy fried tuna with sweet and sour sauce and crispy chicken and garlic ("manu" in Korean) topped with lemony cabbage. We were stuffed to the brim, but plates still kept on coming out! Finally came the traditional Korean sides - the kimchi, the cucumber in red pepper paste, cold eggplant with mushrooms and carrot slivers, pickled peppers, seaweed, mint leaves, and jasmine rice with ginkgo nuts. The rice was cooked over open fire in a thick black pot, and the burnt rice on the sides were turned into a tasty soup after we poured hot water into the pot for the grains to soak up.


After all that we took some tea and coffee and sat outside until it was time to go. We truly enjoyed and treasured the experience. It was something I wish I had the opportunity to do again. Not because of the food (although the food was spectacular), but because of the company. Nick and I felt truly blessed to spend such a wonderful evening with them :)