Cycle 5 – Item 230
23 (Sat) August 2014
johndory Fish & unseasoned Chips
2.5
at Second Ground
-Itaewon, Yongsan, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with HSK, MtG
Mission to Korea: Informal Round-Table Meeting on Litigation as a Tool for Tobacco Control + International Symposium on Tobacco Control & Law + Personal Deviation: Day 4 of 5
- Day 1 (5.227 Stars)
- Day 2 (5.228 Rolls)
- Day 3 (5.229 Really Good Food)
- Day 4 (5.230 johndory Fish & unseasoned Chips)
- Day 5 (5.231 Bibimbab)
In Seoul. For my first mission to Korea, I’ve been dispatched to support back-to-back meetings on tobacco control, Thursday and Friday, specifically in relation to the recent lawsuit filed by Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) against the tobacco industry to recover costs of health care arising from the treatment of tobacco-related diseases. Spending the weekend with W and the kids, then back to Manila on Sunday.
LUNCH
As soon as I was free of work obligations, the first meal at my own discretion was mul naeng myeon at Pyeongyang Myeonok, of course.
DINNER
At MtG’s fish & chips restaurant, I was surprised to learn that the kitchebn has decided to serve the chips completely unseasoned. MtG claims that they’ve been that way from the start, but no, nice try, I would’ve noticed; that’s not the kind of thing that would escape my attention, ever. At first bite, I was taken aback by the utter lack of anything – in essence, potatoes don’t really taste like much and require some kind of seasoning, even if a pinch of salt, to bring out their subtle flavor. He argues that, in England, chips are served saltless, with a salt shaker on the side; but no, that’s absurd, don’t know where he got that notion.
On the fish side, the John Dory (“johndory” – for some reason, he refuses to correct this on the menu) was exquisite. Perfectly seasoned and perfectly deep-fried, it had a resilient chewiness – distinct from the firm flakiness of halibut. And the small fillets, higher crust to flesh ratio, not only provided more crisp with every bite, but also solved the problem of the crust falling off the flesh.
I want to give this meal a higher rating, but won’t, not with half of it being so bland.
Adding salt as suggested doesn’t count; if it did, then I’d have to account for such adjustment margins in every underseasoned dish that I encounter. I rate them as they come.
(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)
(See also DUTY TRAVELS)