Restaurant day

Restaurant day, what a great concept! The variety of foods was again impressive in my city and the prices were very reasonable as usual. I was also happy to notice that many places had vegan options as well. Today I only had time to visit two restaurants for lunch. As a starter, I had a sriracha seitan wrap. It was delicious but not very photogenic and quickly eaten. As a main dish, I had bibimbap. I chose this one as I wanted to refresh my food memories from South Korea from a few years back.

Here's the bibimbap, i.e. mixed rice (the ginger beer was bought from Punnitse & Säästä shop nearby). And like I remembered, it's not one of my favorite foods. Don't get me wrong, it was very well made but it tastes too much like kimchi.  Somehow I haven't learned to like fermented cabbage in this form or any other and they serve it basically on every meal in South Korea. Perhaps this is why I'm not a big fan of Korean food in general. However, I remember eating bibimbap every other day during my two-week stay in South Korea because it was one of the safe and less meaty options.

After admitting my distaste for kimchi, I have to mention that I enjoyed many food-related things in South Korea, too. First of all, I loved those little side dishes that you could snack while waiting for food (like in the photo below from Seoul in 2012). There was always kimchi but it was separately and thus easy to avoid. I've also had one of the best dinners in my life in a blow fish restaurant in Seoul. They served seven dishes made of different parts of blow fish, and they were all great. If I remember correctly, the dessert wasn't made of fish. There was also a big Loving Hut restaurant in Seoul with a huge vegan buffet. It was pretty close to heaven even though I find the movement behind the restaurant chain a little suspicious. And finally, I tasted green tea ice cream in South Korea for the first time and it was mind blowing. Sadly, I haven't found one as good afterwards.

I hope I have now saved the reputation of South Korea's food culture and I warmly recommend everyone to try Korean food if they haven't already. Even kimchi.