1.064

10 (Wed) March 2010

Set A: Albab

1.5

at Suninje (Ajou University School of Medicine)

-Woncheon, Yeongtong, Suwon, Gyeonggi, Korea-

solo

Known as “al-bab (알밥)” in Korean, which means “egg/roe” (al) and “rice” (bap), this dish typically consists of rice, kimchi, and veggies topped with raw fish roe and served in a sizzling hot pot. It’s most commonly found in Japanese restaurants here (though likely not in Japanese restaurants in Japan), sometimes as a stand-alone dish or as the final course in a multi-course meal.

Prior to digging in, I took multiple shots of the tray from various angles, standing up for some, getting down to table level for others. I must’ve made something of a scene because the manager of the cafeteria ran over with a concerned expression on her face and asked what I was doing. She thought that maybe I was taking photographic evidence of a cockroach or some other sort of quality control problem. Even after I’d tried to explain, she didn’t look entirely convinced. I was tempted to remark that I was documenting how lousy the food was, but held back.

Suninje is the student cafeteria in the basement of Ajou University School of Medicine.  At any given meal, on any given day, Set A offers a Korean dish with various banchan.  It’s probably my least favorite place to eat in the world.