Cycle 4 – Item 166

20 (Thu) June 2013

Full Set

2.0

at Jaws Food (Ddeokbokki)

-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and DJ

Jaws Ddeokbokki is a Korean restaurant chain.  For some reason, “Jaws Food” is on the corporate logo and is the name of the company’s website.  Anyway, the menu consists of 4 items, namely, the 4 cornerstone items found at every street food cart in the country: ddeokbokki, sundae, twigim, odeng.  The main difference is that the operation is indoors, which is important for some customers, because indoors = running water = higher probability/capability of practicing proper kitchen hygiene, like washing the dishes after each use.  The food itself, however, isn’t necessarily any better or worse as a result.

Having previously presented the Holy Trinity of Korean street food (see 3.164 The Trinity), the Full Set here includes the fourth essential item: odeng.

As we were eating, I did the math and realized that the items purchased individually would cost the same 10,000 won.  When I mentioned this to the owner, suggesting that it was something of a fraud, he apologized and said that numerous customers had raised the same complaint.  Unfortunately, he explained, the terms of the franchise agreement requires him to carry out any marketing ploys devised by HQ without any deviation, no matter how dumb.  He claimed that he’d even requested permission to charge a couple hundred won less for the set but was denied.

I do like odeng, especially the ones here; in fact, the odeng is the only thing that I like from this place.  For some reason, however, I rarely eat them all together, either the 3 or the 1.  But offered in a package like this – at only 10,000 won, the cheapest family meal in our history – I couldn’t resist.

(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)