Yaki, Mrs. Kim, and Chicken on a Stick...Huh?
Written: May 30 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tastes better than Denny's and IHOP and is more fun to eat
Cons: You have to be careful which stands you buy the food from
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| jwcumming's Full Review: South Korea |
Here is the last part of four part series on what I have experienced while stationed here in South Korea. This is the fun part. You’ve done your shopping, eaten at a fine restaurant, experiencing the effects of SoJu and now you have the munchies again since you haven’t eaten in eight hours. So where do you go for food at this time of night? Look all up and down the strip, and I’m sure you will find something.
The busiest places on the strip at this time of the night are the Yaki stands. Everything at these stands are deep-fried and salted heavily. You will love the sensation of your arteries clogging as you are loaded with SoJu. Here you can get Yaki Mandu (wanton-like pasta stuffed with vegetables and meat), hot Korean Peppers (they are usually 4 –5 inches long, and have a grenade effect: wait five seconds after biting, you’ll get burned), shrimp, squid tentacles, and potatoes. They will ask you how much, tell them how much WON you want to spend. Basically, it comes to a pound/1000WON. Give them a little bit of a hard time (“OH ADJI-MA!!! YOU GAVE ME MORE LAST NIGHT!!!” It works every time) and you’ll get some extra.
Another good place to stop is Mrs. Kim Hamburgers. Now be careful which stand you go to. The one I frequent has a Blue and White sign, and is located in front of the OB Lounge. It will be on your left as you walk towards the entrance to the Shinjang, about 300 feet away. Order a Cheeseburger. This cheeseburger is the best and will remind you of the Carl’s Jr. motto: “It’s not any good unless it’s all over your face.” She grills the buns, and the condiments you get are interesting: Mayonnaise, Mustard, Ketchup, cabbage, cucumbers, hot sauce, American cheese and two fried eggs. She does break the yolks so it’s not all runny. I know this may not sound appealing, but trust me. It is incredible and only cost 2000WON. Make sure you tip her too. She’s about seventy years old and on her feet for eight hours dealing with drunks. Make her day. The only other things I recommend from her stand are the hot dogs (served with cucumbers, cabbage, hot sauce, ketchup, and mayonnaise) and the ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. These only cost 1500WON but aren’t as much fun to eat. I do not recommend the kim chi burger. The other Mrs. Kim has a red sign and is located at the corner of the alley across from the Blue Opera. I don’t recommend her. She doesn’t refrigerate her meat and doesn’t clean her grill regularly like Blue and White Mrs. Kim.
A big thing that a lot of people get is Chicken On A Stick. Nobody knows if it is really chicken, but they still eat it. Chunks of white meat BBQ’d over hot coals with a spicy sauce that makes your lips smack. The Chicken on A Sticks are only 1000WON. You’ll see people walking around with five and six of these. Be careful where you get yours. I only recommend two places. The stand at the top of Arragon Alley, which also conveniently has a Yaki stand behind it, is very good. The best place is J.J’s Best Chicken Stick. It is a blue truck sitting at the entrance to the Shinjang right in front of the main gate to Osan AB. This guy has a rotisserie he cooks the sticks in first and then pulls them out and BBQ’s the sticks to order. He is also very generous with the sauce. I don’t recommend the other stands because of Sanitation reasons. The women who run them I have personally seen change children’s diapers on the stand and they walk around picking up sticks from ones that were already eaten to reuse the stick.
There are other stands that sell these white rice sticks. I don’t particularly care for them. In fact, the only people I see eat them are the Koreans. There are also these little cafeteria stands that serve Kim Chi, Jopjop (clear rice noodle with spices, meat and seaweed), kim bop (seaweed wrapped around rice, ham, egg, and cabbage), and various stir-fries and soups. Pretty good eating if you have the time and very inexpensive.
Well, I hope that I have given you some good directions, insight, and ideas of where and what to do while visiting this part of Korea. I also hope that you’ll want to visit this great peninsula. There is so much to do here, like visiting Inchon, Seoul, and so many other places. But that will have to come in another review of “The Land of the Morning Calm.”
How many am I allowed to write about this place?
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jwcumming
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Member: Jason Cumming
Location: Manchester, NH
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 2 members
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