Worst...Meal...Ever...

So...imagine that you're walking around on a cold, windy, winter day ready for a hike.  You've grossly underestimated the extremity of the weather and you're still trying to shake off the remnants of the previous night.  You've set off in the general direction of what looked to be the closest mountain, hunger is taking over and you are losing your motivation to the brisk Korean air.  You need something to help warm up...

Since neither Sarah or I have mastered Hangul (the Korean alphabet) or many of the words yet, pictures have been a crucial crutch to help us get around town, especially with our food choices.  We had already walked a couple of miles toward the distant mountain when we and desperately needed a break.  We saw but dismissed several restaurants before spotting an authentic looking place with pictures of some soups in the window.  It was welcoming, warm and very "Korean" looking so we went in, took our shoes off and found a table.

Once seated, a young Korean girl came with some warm tea and two menus, which were merely a 1/4 sheet of paper with about 15 options.  We asked her to explain the food choices on the menu but she was only able to describe the 1st two things in English.  Both were noodles but one was hot and one was cold.  We were starving and running out of daylight for our hike so we opted for her suggestions.

We enjoyed the tea, which was very similar to a cup of water with a bullion cube, but it was warm, satisfying and hit the spot, unlike the entrees that were brought to the table.  All we wanted was something to help warm us up before spending the next couple of hours hiking outside.  What we got was a bowl of buckwheat noodles, soaked in a tub of iced cabbage water and topped with a hard boiled egg and some vegetables...you can see the chunks of ice floating around in the picture below.  Sarah's 'hot' option included a bit of spicy sauce and a few extra vegetables.

It was a pretty funny situation given our expectations.  I'm all for trying new things, but this dish was one of the most difficult things I've ever tried to eat.  Each bite was worse than the one before.  After about 10 minutes of uncontrollable laughter and fishing for something edible, we gave up, paid and left.  Life is full of surprises and hopefully this will be the 1st of many to come in our Korean adventure!

        

       Restaurant Menu

Atop the Mountain

     

Mul-laeng-myon (ice noodles)