There is a sashimi place directly behind our apartment that always looked a bit off until recently (empty tanks, dingy, and so on). Maybe it is under new management or something, but the vibe of the place has definitely changed. We see it everyday since it is near the bus stop, and so decided to try it out. Good call, as it turns out.
For one, we finally have got a vigorously moving plate of octopus. I've written before about the pleasures of eating moving squid, but given the large size and greater energy of the octopus, eating one is great fun. The suckers definitely stick to your teeth and mouth, and the plate, they are hard to pick up.
Here is some footage. (yes, if the pighead picture from a while back is obligatory, surely the moving octopus platter is at least as obligatory).
This is one of those restaurants that gives you a ridiculous amount of food, most of it raw and unusual. Since we don't know Korean, we never know if we are eating at a "regular" sashimi place or one where there are a dozen other raw sea creatures to eat. The prices are usually about 10,000 won more for so much food that you had better settle in for the long haul.
These were the starter plates:
Then there were at least 10 sides of varying complexity. The deep fried squid were the best, but how can you really go wrong there.
The flounder sashimi plate was rather elaborate, as these things go.
We ate the meal at leisure since the chef had taken over child care. He was very good, agi did not cry at all while this guy was on the case.
But what really made the meal was meeting a superlatively friendly Korean gentlemen who was kind enough to buy a few rounds. He spoke to us at some length, though our non-existent Korean made the exact nature of the conversation at times elusive. We seem to have been invited to a party in our honor at some point in the near future. I definitely picked up that he was injured by a rocket in the Korean war and that his daughter lives in the states, the rest was not as clear. I did join him and his brother for some soju. He wanted me to "go back to the US and tell everybody how happy Korean men are." There is a reason for this happiness, of course. To reciprocate the favors we were going to buy him and his brother some more soju but the waitress and the main chef (agi's babysitter) actually persuaded us not to given that he had drunk 6 bottles already. By Korean standards this seemed pretty low, but then again we were leaving and they were not.
For one, we finally have got a vigorously moving plate of octopus. I've written before about the pleasures of eating moving squid, but given the large size and greater energy of the octopus, eating one is great fun. The suckers definitely stick to your teeth and mouth, and the plate, they are hard to pick up.
Here is some footage. (yes, if the pighead picture from a while back is obligatory, surely the moving octopus platter is at least as obligatory).
This is one of those restaurants that gives you a ridiculous amount of food, most of it raw and unusual. Since we don't know Korean, we never know if we are eating at a "regular" sashimi place or one where there are a dozen other raw sea creatures to eat. The prices are usually about 10,000 won more for so much food that you had better settle in for the long haul.
These were the starter plates:
Then there were at least 10 sides of varying complexity. The deep fried squid were the best, but how can you really go wrong there.
The flounder sashimi plate was rather elaborate, as these things go.
We ate the meal at leisure since the chef had taken over child care. He was very good, agi did not cry at all while this guy was on the case.
But what really made the meal was meeting a superlatively friendly Korean gentlemen who was kind enough to buy a few rounds. He spoke to us at some length, though our non-existent Korean made the exact nature of the conversation at times elusive. We seem to have been invited to a party in our honor at some point in the near future. I definitely picked up that he was injured by a rocket in the Korean war and that his daughter lives in the states, the rest was not as clear. I did join him and his brother for some soju. He wanted me to "go back to the US and tell everybody how happy Korean men are." There is a reason for this happiness, of course. To reciprocate the favors we were going to buy him and his brother some more soju but the waitress and the main chef (agi's babysitter) actually persuaded us not to given that he had drunk 6 bottles already. By Korean standards this seemed pretty low, but then again we were leaving and they were not.
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