And...we're back to the food

Here's a little story I wrote about the restaurant across from my hotel in Jeju City:

Found a nice little resto right across from my hotel. The name said it specialized in 추어탕 (loach fish soup) but there were some 찌개s (spicy stews) mentioned on the menu as well. Went inside to find a cozy place staffed by about 4 ajumma. I didn't see 찌개 on the menu so enquired about 물회. I was guessing that this was 'water-hwoe (raw fish)' but couldn't figure out what it was exactly. When I asked one of the women, the first thing she said was that is was 'refreshing' (시원하다) and then went on about how it was a Jeju special dish with '자리'. I kind of got lost so just said 'ok'. Not a minute later another ajumma came over and asked if I'd tried the dish before. I said no, and she expressed her concern that I might not be able to eat it because of soy-bean paste (된장) and spiciness etc. I said that was all fine. A moment later the banchan (sidedishes) showed up and and I saw that even if the main dish was gross I would be ok with just the scrumptous looking sidedishes and rice. I need not have worried, the main dish was DELICIOUS. It was sliced raw fish in an iced bath of tasty tasty broth. It was garlicy and a little spicy with some soybean paste and sesame seeds. Soooo good, though knawing on fish tails wasn't my favourite (the fish were pretty small so there were several - pretty sure those were the 자리). After I finished eating and was sipping a coffee the ajummas started a group analysis on what I had or hadn't eaten ("Did she eat that?" "Yes yes she did" "I don't think she had any of the potato" "Oh yes she had some"). They seemed particularly focused on the leaves. Fresh leaves are often served so that you can make 쌈 (ssam) which is where you wrap up some rice and whatever in the leaf. I was served three kinds of leaves: lettuce, sesame leaf and one I didn't recognize which the ladies told me where soy bean leaves (콩잎). I told them I'd never had that kind of leaf which elicited further animated discussion from the women. Anyway it was a great meal and those ajumma were quite friendly.

Here's the front of the restaurant just in case anyone wants to find it. Look at that happy fish!
Since the trip to Jeju was my vacation and considerably cheaper than my usual trip to Canada, I figured it was within budget to spend a night at a slightly expensive hotel. Slightly expensive hotels of course come with fantastically priced room service. Here's what a $20 bacon and eggs looks like. The coffee pot looks nice doesn't it. Too bad it contained only one cup of coffee. Cheap bastards.
From the sublime to the mundane. Overall I enjoyed travelling by myself except when it came to eating. A lot of the interesting Korean food doesn't come in single servings, which means eating in a restaurant is sometimes a hassle. Fortunately the franchised corner stores actually sell a reasonable selection of what qualifies as real food. One of the most ubiquitous chains is Family Mart. This one was cute with its traditional style roof. One of the stand-by corner store lunches is 'rice triangles'. Just a triangle of rice with a dollop of meat or fish wrapped in a crispy sheaf of seaweed. My favourite is tuna mayonnaise. They're actually a clever bit of work as they are carefully wrapped so the seaweed only comes in contact with the rice at the time of eating. This is to prevent the seaweed from becoming soggy. Nobody likes soggy seaweed.
My last night in Jeju City my friend Adam and some of his friends were available for dinner. We had more delicious Jeju style food. In the front you can see more of that yummy 'mul-hwoe' and the reddish dish that has been quite decimated is the remains of 'go-deung-oh jo-rim' (고등어 조림) or Braised Mackerel. Again, another super tasty dish.