Let me paint a picture for you:It's Tuesday night.  The time is Korea Happy Hour time.  You're young; your stomach is gnawing at your throat; your wallet is so thin you can see through it; you're beautiful.   (Ok, 3 out of 4).     I know the feeling.  So let's cut to the chase:  the best way to satiate that roaring appettite without having to dig through your Teachers' Lounge couch cushions for cash is wait until Tuesday night and head to Itaewon in Hannam dong.  Don't pretend you don't know where it is--you do.  Its the Best of Korea, and the Worse of Korea, all in one neighborhood, or 동네 (dongnae).    Here's a few starting spots for Tuesday night; click on the link to get to the website for description and directions.Let me know if I've missed any and I'll buy you a drink if you can find me on a Tuesday night at one of them!3 Alley Pub:   Buffalo Wings, 300 won each (traditional spicy, teriyaki and honey/garlic available); also get a draft OB beer and dinner for 5,500 won, whatever "dinner" means.   Older crowd and right under Sam Ryan's. Dillinger's.  Burger Bomb Set!  Burger and Fries for only 5,000 won.   Hollywood Grill:  A pretty decent steak for 13,500 won.   Sorry but no link yet...Its on the main strip, about a 5 minute walk out of Exit 2 of Itaewon station, on the second floor on the right.

You've seen the Korean-language, poster-sized ads on the swinging glass doors of Mr. Pizza, Pizza Hut & even Domino's Pizza in Seoul:   Thick slices of sweet potato, drizzled with honey mustard sauce, surrounded by heaping amounts of corn, grilled chicken doused with a white-garlic ranch sauce, jalapenos and cherry tomatoes, all criss-crossed with a version of balsamic vinaigrette and all piled high on a thick crust stuffed with mozzarella or surrounded by a heavenly golden-ring of cream cheese. 

Yeah, if you haven't figured me out by now, you should know I can't stand food writers that "Play for Pay."  My philosophy has always been, you get a bite, if the place sucks then you either don't write about it or you warn others about your experience.  More often than not, you can find a decent thing or two about any place (tablecloth was clean, hot dude/chick working behind the counter, good beer selection, whatever).  

Most people contemplating moving to Korea from any non-Korean country have two major misconceptions:  (1) that they'll need to speak Korean to survive and enjoy their time in country and (2) that there is a dearth of local cuisine suitable for the finicky Western palate and the expandable Western stomach.   Response:  undeniably and irrefutably FALSE!   I'm not much of an expert on the first point, but I do urge everyone to learn a few clutch expressions in the local language, regardless of which country you currently reside (e.g.: "donde esta el baño," "beeru ni hong oni gai she masu," and at least a "yobosaeyo, bro.").   As to food, however, I can say without hesitation that Korea can and will satisfy every tastebud and every stomach size regardless of race, color, creed, religion, education level or class/lack thereof.

As most of you know, I do my damnest to investigate the latest on Korean cuisine, cooking and foreign food culture to help you get what you want, when you want it, sans hassle as a native English speaker with a native Western palate. So when my unforgiving and unmerciful editor came to me with an assignment to get the inside scoop on the new Taco Bell Korea, I proffered my best cultivated, withering sneer.  "Taco Bell?  C'mon, goddamnit," I responded with a nervous laugh.  "I'm a food critic, and not an unremarkable one, either.  Like hell I'm reviewing a new Taco Bell, much less one in Itaewon."Photo:  What happened to the chiuhuahua?  Credit:  http://www.itgotweird.com/?p=98But the more my editor pleaded, exhorted, cajoled, extorted and ultimately, threatened me with violence, I realized that maybe he had something:  after all, I do heart both Taco Bell and Korea.  I mean, what's better than a tongue-tingling enchilada bubbling with mild, melted cheese and red sauce?  And what restaurant in Seoul today can compete with the powerful crunch inherent in that natural corn taco shell, spilling over with spicy ground beef, fresh lettuce, wonderful, copious amounts of cheese and the option of four different types of Taco Bell salsa packets?  No one.   And that's why I agreed to get my hands on the film you are about to see; a look deep inside the new Taco Bell Korea, its location in Itaewon, Seoul, along with the date of the Grand Opening revealed for the first time online!Take a look here; you can also use for directions to Taco Bell in Itaewon, Seoul from the subway station:

  Let's see--where were we?  Ah, yes, the world of Korean food and with it, the world of Soups & Stews.  Part III of this series will tell you how to order guk (국) off a menu in Korea or while at a Korean restaurant anywhere else?   Unlike its counterparts in the jjigae (찌개) and some tang (탕) categories, guk tends to be the most like soup.  The former two phylum are frequently thicker and heavier, and more similar to stew.

If you are a foreigner living in or coming to Korea, before you read any further, you should know I can read your mind.    Don't believe me?   Sit back, close your eyes and think of the one food item you miss (will miss) the most as a foreigner living in Korea; the cuisine that springs tears from your eyes and leaves you sadly salivating wishing you were back in Calgary, Texas, Omaha, California...Got it?  

Ah, dear wine.  Its been rumored as of late that a decent glass of white wine not only can coat and protect your throat from the onslaught of Chinese Yellow Dust, but can potentially cure existing aches and pains from a past affliction of the noxious Gobi Desert sand clouds.  If only white wine was as omnipresent.

In Part I of this series on Korean Soups and Stews, I described various types of jjigae (찌개), and how to order your desired dish in a Korean restaurant.In Part II, I'll brief you on different Korean tang (탕) dishes  (Note:  "tang" here is pronounced with a long "a", or "tahng," like the "a" in "lawn").  Do you have a favorite spot for Korean soup or stew?  Let us know and we'll post it up in our Restaurant Listings!More Tang, Please!

In my last post, I spoke of Korean barbecue meats-- the Expat's food/dish most commonly associated with Korean culture.  In this post as well as the next two posts, I will focus on the most frequently enjoyed dishes in the Korean culinary scene;  the pride and joy of Korean cooking and grubbing down:  soups and stews.