Ashley

Lately it's become clear that Isaac and I have a favorite restaurant.

We like this place so much, we decided to go there on Christmas Day. At 10:45 in the morning.

It's on the second floor, and here's a shot I took as we ran excitedly up the steps. We went just 15 minutes after it opened, worried that it would be too crowded. I can confidently say that we were both ecstatic about eating here.

Maybe it seems a little strange, but sure enough, as we began chomping down on our "Christmas brunch", families started piling into the place.

This restaurant is Ashley, located in the building outside of our living room window that colorfully lights up each night. It markets itself as "American Grill and Salad". The first time I visited this restaurant was last year in December 2014, when I came to South Korea over the holidays to visit Isaac. He suggested we go there for dinner.

My first impressions then were:

1. Why is it called Ashley? Shouldn't it be Ashley's?

2. It's 18,000 won per person? ($15) No way are we paying that much for an American style buffet. 

I've been to Golden Corral and it is not worth that much.

So we ordered a to-go pizza and did not eat at Ashley. Isaac was very sweet, doing just as I wanted. Maybe I overreacted because I was only visiting for a couple of weeks, and wanted to try restaurants different than home. Whatever the excuses and reasons, I was so wrong. Since that first visit last year, I've learned that the weekday lunch price is way cheaper and that even the dinner price is well worth it.

The first mistake I made was taking the restaurant at face value - being branded as an American style buffet was a negative in my book. I go back to my childhood of being a picky eater and seeing few things I like; I visualize big stacks of cafeteria trays and plastic cups.

This place has a much nicer feeling to it.

Say "cheese" pizza guys!

The decorations feature charming little bits of Americana like sports banners and classic car posters. There are also unexpected decorations, like mannequins wearing the same dress as some actress in a random television show.

We try to sit next to the window, so we can enjoy the inverse of our usual view. It is fun to gaze across the street at our apartment building there and count down from the top to the 12th floor and find our set of windows.

And of course the food is a big draw too. I only took a few pictures, but I think it's enough to give you an idea. All of the food areas are spotless and well-maintained, with a few workers constantly roving the floor talking into mouth pieces about what needs to be replenished and cleaned.

There are plenty of familiar foods - pizza, pasta, tacos - but everything is tinged for the Asian palette. Which I feel a little uncomfortable trying to describe, in case I do so badly, but I'll try. I tend to notice more complex flavors, fresh produce and less sugary or salty than what I'd get back home. Sometimes "complex flavors" just means adding in a contrasting taste to familiar foods, like ordering a cheese pizza to find sweet corn kernels scattered beneath the cheese (true story).

Below is a mixed rice bar, with all of the fix-ins to pile on top of rice to make the Korean staple bibimbap.

Below is a pretty awful picture of Isaac at the soup station, usually a crowded place. Unless, of course, you're eating Christmas brunch like us! This is a Vietnamese noodle soup (pho) bar where you fill up your bowl with noodles and bean sprouts and whatever else you want, then add the warm soup stock.

On the right is one of my favorites, the dessert fruits. Grapefruits with carmelized sugar and the tray closest the camera, popular with me and children, is a mixture of mangoes and dragon fruit in a sweet syrup.

The salad bar, which includes things most un-salad-like. I have not tried the "sweet pumpkin salad cake", maybe next time.

Isaac always ends up with one plate that looks like this.

Below there is Vietnamese noodle soup, a spicy mustard chicken and apple salad. Lots of Indian curry and rice, fried boneless chicken and gorgonzola pizza. I read somewhere that gorgonzola pizza is a specialty of Korea. Which made me think that, in fact, before coming here I had never tried it. Yet almost any restaurant here that serves pizza has a gorgonzola variety. Have you ever tried it before back home in America? Usually here the crust is super thin and light, with the mild tang of the cheese and some garlic as well.

Dessert is worth waiting for too. The beautiful black-seeded fruit is my favorite - passion fruit. It is one of the funnest and delicious things I have ever eaten. It feels almost like an exciting candy, incredibly sour and tangy at first, making your face pucker and mouth water, and then you get to crunch down on the seeds.

I know this was a lot of pictures of food, but maybe now you understand why this is one of our favorite restaurants. It has just enough familiar foods to make me comfortable, but enough variety that I get to try something new each time we go. This past time it was cinnamon nut granola made with ramen rice noodles instead of grains, and it was delicious!

Maybe it sounds a little sad to say that we took more pictures of food than of each other on our first Christmas as newlyweds. But we have this wonderful memory of our hearts pounding as Isaac and I ran across the wide city street, not wanting to miss the crosswalk light, busting through the glass doors and running up the staircase. We were just as excited as any other kids on Christmas morning, and that has to count for something.

Friday is our big moving day, so tonight is the last night we will get to watch the rainbow light show at Ashley outside of our living room window. This post seems like a fitting farewell to our most scrumptious neighbor.