Eating intestines

Dongtan has more restaurants specializing in intestines than I have ever seen. No other place in Korea is this obsessed with organ meat. In this blog post you will learn how to identify which restaurants will serve you intestines. You can then avoid them, or try it. I recommend avoiding it.

Tl;dr: If you see a restaurant that says it specialize in 곱창, do not eat there. Unless you want intestines.

곱창 = intestines

But here's the tricky bit: 양, while technically meaning sheep, pretty much also means intestines. My husband and I love mutton. I recognized the word 양 and I told him we could have mutton. The restaurant was full of happy Koreans. We tend to think a full restaurant is a good restaurant. Spoiler alert: We were wrong.

So I order some 양 and they bring us this side dish:

Tripe and liver. Served cold and disgusting.

We had no idea. I mean, I figured the red bloody stuff was liver. I tried it. I didn't gag or anything, but I only had one. We didn't know what the grey stuff on the left was. I guessed shark's skin. It's actually tripe. Basically, the second or third stomach of a cow or sheep. It's one of the parts they probably grind up for that $1.99 ground beef manager's special. I didn't eat the tripe. It felt like it would take a lot of chewing.

They also served us 번데기, silkworm larvae. The Mr. ate almost the whole bowl, so it must have been good. Korean children like to eat them as an after-school snack. I ate one. I thought the taste was musty, like eating a cobweb.


So we weren't happy with the side dishes, but, we thought, no one can screw up mutton. Then they brought out the mutton.

It's mutton, but it's not the right part.

I couldn't even understand what part of the sheep it was. It certainly wasn't the delicious part the Irish put in stews, or the soft beefy part the Brazilians roast. We ate it, even though what looked like fat was exploding out of the pieces of meat on the grill.

So a piece of 양곱창 is complicated. I didn't know it, but it's the intestines cut into bite-sized pieces. Cholesterol spills out of in white puffs. After it cooks for a REALLY long time (you do NOT want to eat undercooked poop tubes), you dip it into some of the sauces on the table. To be honest, the cholesterol is delectable. But it dissolves on your tongue quickly, and you're left with the organ itself. It's chewy, and if they didn't clean it thoroughly enough, EEEWWW UGH I don't even want to think about it. 

The Mr. didn't like the 곱창 as much as I did, and I could only sort of tolerate it. We paid, were unhappy with our meal, and vowed to never eat at that restaurant again. Additionally, we agreed not to order 양 in Korea. I still didn't know what I should have known ...

 A few days later we were trying to find a restaurant. Because the Mr. works so late, our choices of restaurants are somewhat limited. We found an open restaurant. I did NOT order 양. I would never. I mean, tripe, people. We were tired and hungry. I just ordered their specialty.

And OH MY GOD THEY BROUGHT US INTESTINES.

I had not ordered 양. In fact, there were pictures of cows all over the restaurant. I had stupidly ordered  소곱창,  cow intestines. 

So the moral of the story is:  곱창 means intestines. Don't order that.

Obviously I'm too squeamish to get into 곱창, but a number of bloggers and several of my adult students tell me they love it. Other people say that because it is expensive, people eat it just to be extravagant. Apparently having the smell of 곱창 on your clothes is a sign of affluence. If you are adventurous, go ahead, try it. But don't say I didn't warn you.


All restaurants in Dongtan serving 곱창: No stars. For shame.

Places to drink in Dongtan: Munchen Ice Pub ★★★★

Many late-night establishments (like Boss BBQ) insist that patrons order food with their alcohol. But sometimes you don't want grease to dilute the healing magic of fermented sub-nutrition. That's when you need to go to a place where you can just drink. That's why I have this series: Places to Drink in Dongtan.

This series is specifically targeted to the sloppy, drinking masses. You know who you are.

The first place I would like to recommend to you is Munchen Ice Pub. Its name is good for practicing reading Korean. Actually, I would probably not have figured out that 뮌헨 is Munchen if it weren't printed on the windows. But ice has three syllables. That's easy.

뮌헨        아이스    펍

Munchen   Ice           Pub

Munchen Ice Pub

Munchen Ice Pub has one thing that raises it above the other drinking establishments: pints made out of ice that you can then throw at a target. Yes, that's right. Drinking is finally a real sport.

So this is a pint made out of ice.

Ice pint filled with rice beer

Now, I am aware that beer served ice cold disguises the flavor, but when it comes to Korean lager made out of rice, that's probably for the best.

So you drink your cold beer. Then, you stand behind a line drawn on the floor, and throw your ice mug at a target.

Like so.

The Mr. throwing his ice stein at the target

If you hit the target, you get a prize. Prizes range from 30,000 ₩ to a free beer. It's fun. It's just a splash at carnival games. Plus, it's hard. I've been there three times and I've yet to see anyone hit it.

If you do choose to eat at Munchen Ice Pub, you should know that the food is edible, but not memorable. Everything is, indeed, food, but it's overpriced and not very delicious. I recommend eating elsewhere.

The seafood noodle dish, inspired by Japanese cuisine, is good, but it's greasy. The Mr. and I liked it.

Seafood noodle dish at Munchen Ice Pub

But we also tried a salad which was not good. The salad is fried chicken and fruit on a bed of iceberg lettuce, drowned in sweet dressing. The dressing is completely unnecessary on the fruit. They should put the dressing on the lettuce and serve the fruit unmolested on the side.


Salad

So, do not eat at Munchen Ice Pub. Drink there, throw your pint at the wall, and have a merry time.

Munchen Ice Pub drinking: ★★★★
Munchen Ice Pub food: ★★

Boss BBQ ★★★★

Next to Central Park is a vibrant neighborhood with bars, restaurants, PC bangs (internet cafes), and even an animal hospital. Because the Mr. teaches at a private school until 10pm, and then often grades until 11pm, we have to eat at places that stay open late.

One of our favorite late-night spots is Boss BBQ. They specialize in chicken and beer. You can get 3000 cc of Cass (a Korean lager that has become more popular than Hite) for only 14,000₩. That's equal to about 8 bottles of beer. If that's too much, you can get 2000 cc for 10,000₩. Either way, it's a steal.

But Boss BBQ doesn't want you to drink without eating. It's not allowed. So you can order their specialty, chicken.

Their menu is very foreigner-friendly. It has pictures you can point at. If you read Hangeul (like you really should! It's super easy to learn) you will be sitting pretty.

One of their specialties at Boss BBQ is boneless fried chicken in a sweet sauce. It's a lot like the General Tso's chicken that you can get at Chinese buffets in the US. And it's delish, but definitely not healthy.

Boss BBQ's boneless fried chicken

Perhaps because specializing in beer and chicken is not a totally healthy lifestyle choice, Boss BBQ serves salad as a side dish with every meal. You can get free refills of your salad.

Boss BBQ also has more Korean-style chicken. This dish is an entire chopped chicken (bones in) simmered with vegetables. It is probably healthier than the dish above because it's not fried and it had vegetables. Also, the parts of the chicken were recognizable, so you know what you're eating. ("Found the neck!") It wasn't as delicious, though.

An entire chopped chicken with vegetables

For a place that specializes in chicken, it's strange that the Mr. and I like their non-chicken dishes better. Boss BBQ serves a mean budaejjigae (army stew), served with loads of mushrooms, sprouts and hot dogs. The Mr. also likes their fruit plate.

Gloss:

부대           찌개

army base   stew 

부대찌개 and fruit plate at Boss BBQ

In the picture above, you can see tomatoes on the fruit plate. Yes, tomatoes are technically fruit, but Westerners typically treat them as vegetables, serving them in savory dishes. Koreans treat tomatoes as fruit. They are served on top of cake, along with grapes and kiwis. I even got tomatoes with some chocolate fondue once. Linguist Ashley does not recommend tomatoes dipped in chocolate.

We like Boss BBQ because it's open late, the food is good, and the beer is cheap. As if that wasn't good enough, the old man who runs it is super-nice. Last night we asked him for some rice to go with our budaejjigae. He didn't have any, so he ran to the convenience store and came back with a microwaved plastic container of white rice. He gave it to us as service. Koreans sometimes give customers a freebie, called service, to inspire customer loyalty. Then the old man went back to his booth, eating chicken and drinking soju with a shotglass. We love him.

The final reason we like Boss BBQ is that it's not obnoxiously busy. The music isn't too loud, it's not too noisy or too smoky, and the clientele is less drunk than at other places. It's a classy drinking establishment.

Our only real problem with Boss BBQ is that we tend to go to Boss BBQ too often.

Boss BBQ: ★★★★

A star is deducted because not all dishes are as delicious as the fried chicken and budaejjigae, but it definitely beats Kkanbu Chicken.



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Very Delicious House: A Restaurant Review with (SPOILER!) a Surprise Ending

Across the street from our apartment is a restaurant named 정말 맛있는 집, or Very Delicious House. It would stand to reason that the food purchased in this house would be very delicious. 

And the Award for Best Name goes to ... 정말 맛있는 집!

Gloss:

정말    맛있는      집
Very    Delicious   House


But sometimes I just don't order well. I have been known to go to a steakhouse and be quite peeved about the quality of my casserole. I stubbornly ordered fish at every restaurant in Nashville before I admitted fish is not one of the South's specialties (do not speak to me of the bottom-dwelling catfish). And so it was with Very Delicious House.

With the Mr. off teaching over-schooled Korean youngsters that Columbus does not deserve a national holiday (Chungdahm's reading exercises are wonderfully revisionist), yours truly is often left by her lonesome during the hours the hagwon is open. Therefore, I must feed myself. Or, rather, I must choose a restaurant to feed me. One day, I chose Very Delicious House.

Dining alone in Korea is as awkward as dining alone in America, but choosing your restaurant well helps. Very Delicious House has booths separated by screens for optimal privacy. That way your shame can be shielded from the innocent accompanied diners. Also, Very Delicious House is, as I mentioned, across the street from my apartment. It is literally about ten yards from where I compose this blog post. Therefore it would appear to be a capitol spot to eat alone.

I took off my shoes, sat on a thin pillow on the floor, and examined the menu on the wall. Stuff was expensive. I didn't want a ₩12,000 dinner for one. I am not that extravagant. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu: 누룽지탕, for ₩5000. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was cheap.


The waitress brought this:

Not the 누룽지탕 I ate. Another blogger's 누룽지탕. But mine was similar.

This is just burned rice and hot water. I like rice, but I'm the kind of person who always puts something on the rice. I think it's bland by itself. Drowned in hot water without spices, vegetables, or meat it's ... well, I ordered wrong. I forced myself to eat the blandest food I have ever had in my life. I made it through the meal, paid my ₩5000, and memorized the word 누룽지 so I wouldn't order it again.

I knew the fact that I ordered something I did not like was not the restaurant's fault, so I braved going back. Very Delicious House deserved another chance at earning its name. I sat down in the same spot and carefully ordered 우거지탕. I didn't know what that was either, but it was only ₩5000 and at least I knew it wasn't 누룽지탕.

Well she brought me 누룽지탕 again.

And I was mad. I knew the two soups have similar names (nurungjitang and ugeojitang), and that she probably misheard me, or my pronunciation was too foreign. This happened in Venezuela when I ordered a mojito and I received a gin y tónico. When you speak a foreign language, your tongue becomes a giant raw potato in your mouth. But ex-pat frustrations aside, what was I going to do with this mushy rice before me?

Both times I ate at Very Delicious House I received eight colorful side dishes with my burned rice soup. This time, instead of punishing myself with rapidly-cooling watery burned rice, I mixed the spicy, flavorful side dishes (especially the kimchis and the sauces) with the rice soup. And low and behold, it was good. I ate all the rice. I asked for more side dishes. 

I am now full. I have this euphoric feeling Anglophones cannot describe with an adjective. We resort to a phrase we seldom use: I have eaten well.

Although I have only had one dish at this restaurant, and the waitress misheard me (or I misspoke), and one meal was miserable, I have to give this restaurant props for breaking down the walls I erected between myself and bland well-being food. Very Delicious House changed my mind. I now understand why 누룽지 is a beloved Korean comfort food.

Very Delicious House: ★★★



View 정말 맛있는 집 (Very Delicious House) in a larger map
Make your own  누룽지탕 by following this recipe.

The Art of Dongtan

Dongtan is a beautiful city to live in. As a planned city, the layout of the streets is a work of art in itself. As I wander through these streets, which are neither perfect grids nor as chaotic as medieval cities, I keep coming across artistic treasures. I've taken pictures of most of them so you can see how fun it is to explore Dongtan.

This is one of my favorites. It looks like a child's play-dough creation blown up to be larger-than-life. You can even see the thumbprints. It's like an homage to children's art.

Dongtan's play-dough man

Not far from the Play-Dough Man is a giant sculpture of an onion. Why? I don't know. But it's pretty cool.

Linguist Ashley and the big onion.
 

This one is, apparently, of a colorful ball of yarn which has been used to create a vase. Or maybe it's something else. I'm not sure what it is, but it's colorful and it cheers me.

Yarn and vase

Metapolis has a number of cool sculptures. Two sculptures are of a young couple and an old couple.

Sculpture of young couple

Sculpture of old couple

The coolest thing about the two couples is that they are all four of them facing this fountain. It's like the artist is saying that young or old, anyone can enjoy this public space. Or maybe it's like you can grow old together in Dongtan. It is nice to walk by everyday.

Near the two couples is a stream. Apparently there used to be a natural stream or ditch there; as Dongtan was built, this natural feature was incorporated into the city's design. There are sculptures of little boys catching fish in this stream. Since it is winter, I don't have a very good picture. The boys just look cold in their swimming gear. I can't wait to see this sculpture in the spring.

Fishing boys

Near these sculptures at Metapolis are these two creepy faces. I don't really like this one. For one thing they have no expression, and for another they are missing pieces of their faces, like jigsaw puzzle pieces that got kicked under the couch. They remind me of sad robots.

Kinda creepy!

If you walk away from the creepy faces and follow the stream, you have to walk up some stairs. Next to the stairs are sculptures of fish swimming upstream.

The struggle to flop upstream

Frozen fish

If you keep walking and follow the stream, you'll come to Central Park's pagoda.It is painted brightly in a very Korean way.

Central Park's pagoda

This is an even more beautiful pagoda in an apartment complex. (The complex is right on the street; I'm not creeping through private property!) The roof was not cemented together and it has unpainted wood, giving it a more natural feel than Central Park's pagoda.

An even better pagoda

Different apartment complexes invest in beautiful sculptures. This sculpture has three figures dancing in a circle. The figures are stylized, massive, playful, and above all balanced. It isn't easy to make weighty bronze figures balance on one hand or foot. 

Three Dancers

Of course, many of the sculptures I encounter in Dongtan are abstract, metallic, corporate sculptures that I pretty much just hate.

Nice bent paperclip.

Little metallic spheres.

But there are so many hidden art treasures that I just overlook the corporate sculptures when I can. I discovered, near the metallic spheres, public monuments to a classic Korean artist. There is a long wooded lane through which I walk to reach the post office. It has a series of stelae with reproductions of Joseon-era artworks by the great Kim Hong-Do. I love to stop and look at them and imagine what life would have been like for the Korean working class.

Sailing Home

Merchants peddling their wares

A Roadside Tavern

Boy Crossing a Stream on an Ox

Begging for alms

Korean wrestling

Fishing

Shoeing a horse

As a new and planned city, Dongtan is full of architectural surprises. It's marvelous to walk by beautiful works of art every day.

Café Mano ★★★★★

I have discovered the most perfect coffee shop in Dongtan. Behold, Café Mano!

Café Mano

The outside plainness is deceiving. On the inside, it is precious. It is worthy of Pinterest. Look at the cuteness.

This is a beautiful way to store your mugs

My reading corner

A painter comes in and paints these tiny paintings right in the café

The fine ladies behind the counter speak some English

But it's not all unfinished wood and quilts! No, they have coffee so good, they really shouldn't call it Americano. Outside of the US, I have become accustomed to being served watered-down espresso and calling it by my country's name. It used to bug me. I am now merely resigned (and I now have to admit that most percolators, if anything, produce even worse brew than watered-down espresso).

But Cafe Mano makes their Americano rich and creamy. They serve it with two sugar lumps and no cream. Somehow, it's perfect.

Photo by Eric Wong

They also have food that is unbelievably good. I ordered homemade soy salad on a bagel. The only thing was, I didn't know what I had ordered. I didn't know what 수제소이 was. As I ate it, I thought it was chicken salad! Their soy tasted like chicken. They served it with apples cut up in it, and the bagel was hot and toasty. Mmmm.

Soy salad set

The prices are reasonable. For the meal pictured above I paid approximately 8000 ₩ ($7.11). The quality of the food and coffee, as well as the twee atmosphere (unique in Korea), make this set a steal.

Honey Bread

If you're craving something sweet, try the honey bread. Delish!

I give Café Mano five stars out of five. If you are in Dongtan, get yourself to Café Mano. It is located literally next door to my apartment. Here is a map. This is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

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