So here is the seafood restaurant. It does not have any special curb appeal, but I guess often the best hole-in-the-wall places are this way. You walk inside and are greeted by your dinner. The various menu options are swimming around in their tanks. There were many different fish, squid, octopus, sea anemone and some other things I didn't want to think about eating.
So it's simple. You decide what you want, get in line and then place your order.
The man retrieves the fish from their tanks and puts them in a red bucket just for you. Isaac's dad decided upon two of the fish from the large blue tank above. This particular fish is in season now so it should be extra delicious.
After you pay, you go upstairs and are seated at a restaurant and the fish you just chose are served to you in whatever way you want. We saw some people cooking shrimp at their table, a cooler beside them with the live shrimp and a gas burner and pot before them.
That is the fishy kitchen in the top left corner of the picture above, where many heads are looking down busily prepping seafood.
There are our two fish awaiting their turn with the chef. And a shot of the restaurant. It looks like a typical Korean sushi restaurant, you take your shoes off at the room entrance, where the sliding screen doors are, and then sit on a heated floor upon little square cushions.
Bring on the food! Korean food is famous (and wonderful) because of the many side dishes that are given for free with each meal. Casual restaurants will often serve only one or two basic side dishes like kimchi or pickled radishes. Going to specialty restaurants like this seafood place is always fun because you're sure to encounter different side dishes. Here's what we received.
So just for fun, that's: steamed pumpkin, soybeans, egg hotpot, potato salad, fried vegetables, assorted sushi, grilled fish, small sea snails and salad. I think I listed everything. The small sea snails (in black pointy shells) were neat to try. You just hold it by the end, press your lips to it like a straw, suck and a tiny salty bit shoots into your mouth. The pointy tips of the shells are broken off to ease the process.
There was a moment, just before I took the last picture shown above, when I felt a little overwhelmed. My stomach already felt full, and I had leaned back against the back wall for some digestive support. I asked Isaac "So they brought out one fish grilled. Will they bring the other fish out raw, as sushi?" Isaac responded by telling me that we had yet to receive either of our fish, and that all of the above were just the free side dishes provided.
And then this appeared. There was more meat on the fish than even Isaac's dad anticipated, and we all felt a little overwhelmed. Piece by piece, we dug in.
So below is my preferred method of Korean sushi consumption. Fish, garlic and dwoenjang paste. Dwoenjang is one of the essential tastes of Korean food. It's made from fermented soybeans and has a unique flavor that I can't describe. It is a magical substance with many health benefits, perhaps most famous for flavoring stews. It always leaves you feeling refreshed and it is quite addicting. This particular leaf is my favorite too. I still remember the first time I tried it at Isaac's aunt's house. It is very fragrant and reminds me a bit of licorice. It's shaped like a jagged heart and its Korean name sounds a lot like "cat nip" which is cute too.
You ball it up and stick it in your mouth. It's a sign of affection to make leafy wads of meat and flavors for loved ones. So I can fix one up and then shove it directly into Isaac's or Apa's mouth and it's totally okay.
We ate about half of the raw fish and felt defeated. But with this type of dinner, it is customary to have a stew afterwards. If you notice, of everything we have eaten so far, there is very little carbs, just mostly vegetables and meat. It is pretty nice because you get full slower and can eat more. But still, we were already stuffed. For obvious reasons.
So after eating sushi, we were served maeuntang, which is literally means spicy soup. They put the leftover bits of the fish not served as sushi in the soup and it gives it a rich, complex flavor. And of course it is pretty spicy and always makes my nose run.
Isaac came up with a battle plan to finish all of our fish. He dumped the remaining fish meat into our spicy stew and cooked it.
It was the best maeuntang I've ever tasted. I couldn't believe it, but we ate all of the fish.
As we stood up to leave, I took a final shot surveying the overall damage.
This type of traditional style meal is one of the best experiences of Korean culture I've enjoyed. You will surprise yourself with how much food you can consume, and there are countless different flavor combinations to enjoy so it never gets boring. Korean people have many good reasons to take pride in their traditional foods.
I feel pretty confident saying that eating is one thing at the heart of Korean culture; in a similar way to how people associate Italian culture with their food. You spoil those you love with good food, expressing your care through cooking for them or treating them to a tasty restaurant.
This Saturday night, at this seafood restaurant, I was feeling the love as I leaned back against the wall, face flushed and thoroughly stuffed.
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