1.184
8 (Thu) July 2010
Spicy Grilled Eel
2.5
at Jigeul Jigeul
-Sinchon, Seodaemun, Seoul, Korea-
with MtG and various members of Backcountry Camping
A common type of restaurant in Korea is the meat buffet. It offers an array of beef, pork, chicken, and seafood to be do-it-yourself grilled at the table, “Korean BBQ-style,” along with rice, noodles, and side dishes. Popular among college students, or young people in general, with big appetites and light wallets, the prices are usually cheap, almost suspiciously so, anywhere from 8,000 won per person and up.
Jigeul Jigeul is a meat buffet restaurant. The name is onomatopoeic for the sizzle of meat on a grill (I just realized how utterly unonomatopoeic it sounds for someone not Korean).
The restaurant is owned by KIT, a member of Backcountry Camping. MtG and I first met him on our first outing with the group in February (see 1.053 Franks & Beans). He was the guy that I described in that post as follows: “One guy pulled out a whole roaster-size chicken and a massive stock pot to make chicken stew for dinner, enough to feed four. He would also make clam soup, also enough for four. Whole chicken and clams. Other than rack of lamb, I can’t imagine menu choices with worse weight-to-food ratios. And this for the sake of feeding strangers. What an idiot.” We encountered KIT again on our trip this past weekend (1.179 Chili-Cheese Dogs).
With other members of Backcountry Camping, whom we’ve grown close to in the intervening months, we all met up at Jigeul Jigeul for dinner and drinks, our first meeting outside of a camping environment.