Cycle 15 – Item 204
27 (Sat) July 2024
Bulgogi
2.5
-Changchon, Seowon, Hoengseong, Gangwon, Republic of Korea-
with IZ
This month, the seismic news in our neck of the boondocks was that the owner of the neighborhood Korean-Chinese joint would be retiring and handing the business over to his brother-in-law. Perhaps no big deal out in the real world, but when it’s the only place in our sparrow-fart town to get jjajang myeon or jjambbong – the closest alternative is 15 km away (see generally 4.121 Jjajang Myeon), as far as I’m aware – the change was bound to make people nervous. If the food weren’t excellent – personally, I can’t think of anywhere better – we wouldn’t care so much.
On the way to the cabin, IZ and I dropped by for lunch.
Alas, we were very sadly disappointed, as described in the photos before (above) and after (below).
Having taken over 1 week prior, I’m willing to give the new owners benefit of the doubt that maybe the stress of transition impacted the quality of food – quite overwhelming for a single chef to be cooking for up to 20 customers at once – so I might give them a second chance a bit further down the road.
Later, my mother went there with my father for dinner, and returned to proclaim that it was worst jjajang myeon that she’d ever had in her life. “Your entire life? The worst? Really?” I asked. “Yes,” she confirmed.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)