Cycle 4 – Item 82

28 (Thu) March 2013

Cowboy Burger

2.5

at Smokey Saloon

-Sinsa, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with MtG + NSJ

Smokey Saloon is an American restaurant chain.  Specializes in burgers, offered in a variety of styles, made to order.  Most are priced around 10,000 won + 3,000 won extra for a soft drink at + 3,000 won for fries + maybe 4,000 won for an upgrade to a larger patty + 10% VAT.  The chain belongs to a family of fabulously overpriced restaurants founded(?)/owned(?)/run(?) by restaurateur David Hyun that includes Isabelle’s Porterhouse and Butcher’s Cut.

This meal didn’t happen by accident.  The evening’s main event was a movie date with MtG to watch Django Unchained, which recently opened in Korea.  (Come to think of it, the last movie that we’d watched together was Inglorious Basterds, another film by Quentin Tarantino.)  (We also watched Brokeback Mountain together, but never mind that.)  (His wife joined us this time, rendering the atmosphere distinctly ungay.)  Given the spaghetti western theme (or “southern,” as Tarantino has been labeling it), Smokey Saloon seemed a most appropriate dinner venue.  As we were looking over the menus, both of us simultaneously selected the Cowboy Burger.  Of course we did.

The Cowboy Burger was okay.  Aside from the pathetic size, the construction was fundamentally sound: a (not overcooked) beef patty with (melted) monterey jack cheese on a (not sweet) (toasted) bun.  The additional components, however, including the (too thin and too few) slices of grilled mushrooms, the (too thick) (somewhat mushy) disc of grilled onion, and the garlic mayo (tasted like mayo), needed some reworking.  In any case, I’m not sure how any of that constitutes “cowboy.”  Cowboys don’t eat mushrooms, certainly not on their burgers, not even gay cowboys.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)