The Rest of my Birthday and a Review of Yeolbong, Se7en's Chicken Restaurant

Well, my birthday was last Friday, and I'm finally all caught up on my sleep/work/activities/promises, so here is the recap of my birthday.

In my last post I wrote about my birthday morning, and here's the conclusion:

At school I got a package from my parents: birthday gifts. A cute Betsey Johnson bracelet and hair pins, and such. Really cute things. I put those in my Nike bag with that big ol' card Hoon gave me. ^_^

After school, I went off to Baskin Robbins, not knowing what to expect. When i arrived at Baskin Robbins, I walked in and approached the girl at the counter. I simply said, Hi, I'm Allison... and she said, "아~ 케이크~!" Cake??? What cake?? Jong Hoon got an ice cream cake for me (last time we went to BR I had said ice cream cakes are my favorite... he must have remembered). On top of the ice cream cake box was another note.

The note said, go to the 아디다스 store. (Adidas Store). !!!!! The Adidas Store was across the street so off I went with the ice cream cake box and the Nike bag (with a balloon a student gave me tied to it lol) over to the Adidas Store. I walked in and the worker immediately looked at me and said "아! 옷~!" Clothing??? What clothing? And he walked to the back and gave me an adidas bag with some soccer pants I've been wanting for a while. Inside the bag was also a letter which was from him. SO CUTE.

I went home, changed and got ready for our date.

We met at Noryangjin and went to Sinsa station, to Garo-su-gil to eat dinner at 열봉찜닭. This restaurant is owned by musician Se7en, who is someone I really admire. I've been hoping to go to his restaurant for a long time. It's really easy to get to, which is good because I had never been to Garo-su-gil before, and it wasn't too hard for us to find it. ^^

The restaurant is located on the second floor just off the main road. We walked up the stairs and of course you are greeted by a cardboard cutout of Se7en님. We took pictures before we left to commemorate our time there.

The restaurant is quite small, smaller than I had thought, but it was tidy, and well-decorated. Dark wood tables, white light fixtures and semi-private nooks for some parties. Most seating is open, however, and they do try to fit as many tables in as they can. Even though it was tight, it didn't feel particularly cramped, but I did notice that even without all the seats filled, it was still quite loud. There are several fake trees adorned with chili peppers and pictures of celebrities, which are fun additions to the decor. On the left wall as you enter, they have posted numerous pictures and autographs of celebrities including members of Miss A, Big Bang, Park Han Byul, 2AM, as well as other actors and singers I don't remember or didn't recognize.

All of the dishes are branded with the cute chicken mascot of Yeolbong or with the chili pepper that also is used to represent the restaurant. The menu is divided into two sections. The left side is the traditional spicy jjim dalk (열봉 means really spicy, or something along those lines, that's my boyfriend's explanation) and the right side is Se7en's specialy chicken. Supposedly that's really spicy. We decided to go with the traditional spicy side.

On the spicy side you can choose your spiciness level 1-3 peppers. We got one, because we didn't know how spicy it would be. Boy were we glad we ordered level one spicy. IT WAS LIKE EATING FIRE. It was really spicy. I mean, I like spicy food, and so does Hoon, and this was quite spicy. Not unpleasantly spicy, but I can't fathom ever eating any level higher than that. I think I'd die.

We were sucking in air through our teeth and gulping 쿨피스 (Coolpis -- a fruit juice that is amazingly effective in countering extreme spice) after just two bites.

Even though it was spicy, it was really delicious. The chicken was cooked perfectly. It was not difficult to get off the bone (although if you are not adept at chopsticks use, I would recommend asking for a fork), and the carrots and potatoes were cooked like a dream. The noodles were probably the most spicy (the soak up all the sauce which makes them extra intense) but they were also SO delicious.

Afterwards, we added rice (which also had dried seaweed laver and tofu mixed in) and mixed it up. If you do go, I recommend ordering the rice at the end, after you finish your meal. It comes out really quickly, and that way its still piping hot when you add it to your slightly cooled sauce. We didn't do that, and it's a shame. IT was still good, but we imagine it'd be much much better if we had eaten it still hot...

On the whole, I would definitely recommend this to any spicy food lover traveling to Seoul. Also, I recommend it for anyone who is a big kpop/kdrama fan (just order the mild... it's listed under the main section on the left. It is less than one pepper, lol. The Right side is more spicy!!!) and is interested in looking at the pictures and even have a chance to glimpse a celebrity while you eat.

As for portions, 반마리 is half a chicken and it's enough for two-three people. There are two larger sizes, 한마리 and 한마리반 (one chicken, and 1 1/2 chicken respectively). For two-three people, you can order just one of the special rice dishes (남두 밥) and you'll be all set. Definitely add a 쿨피스 to cool you off if your feeling all spiced out!

Price: $$ for Korean food, it's a bit pricey. But for westerners, it's very reasonable for a dinner. 반마리 + 남두밥 + 쿨피스 came out to about 25,000 won, which is about 23.50usd, for two. A gut-bustingly filling meal for less than 12usd per person? Not too bad, I'd say. But, if you're pinching pennies, I'd say go for the bibimbap. lol

Food: *****/ 5 out of 5 - I don't have a lot to complain about with our food. The only complaint I'd have is that we foolishly ordered our rice too early (my fault). The flavor was excellent. Spicy but flavorful. Chicken was moist and tender. Vegetables thoroughly but not over-cooked. Noodles cooked perfectly.

Service: ****/ 4 out of 5 - There was nothing wrong with the service, but nothing to write home about. I think they are used to seeing celebrities and therefore treat their normal patrons with general indifference. Don't take that the wrong way. I just mean that some restaurants (not so many in Korea) treat their patrons with excellent service regardless. Here, in Korea in general, wait staff don't bend over backwards for their patrons. If you need them, call them. If you don't, don't expect them to check up on you because they won't.

Atmosphere: **** / 4 out of 5 - The decor was lovely. A nice mix of playful sophistication. The colors were good for the restaurant and the concept. The furniture was aesthetically pleasing. But it was a bit loud. I don't know if the acoustics of the restaurant need improving or if it's just a result of packing a few too many chairs into a restaurant. Some restaurants are meant to be loud an noisy. But the noise level didn't really fit the rest of what the restaurant, stylistically, seemed to be going for. In my opinion, they could stand to lose seating for maybe 5-8 patrons. I think that giving up that seating would make for a better atmosphere by far...

Overall: 4.5/5 I had a great time and it's definitely some place I'd recommend.

Black People in Korea

I had an interesting experience today at school. With my grade 3 middle schoolers, I had my students writing sentences using the perfect. The intention was to prepare them to play a modified game of Never Have I Ever next class. I had them write 5 sentences using the affirmative present perfect, and 5 using the negative present perfect. The sentences had the following stipulations regarding construction:

1. The sentences had to be true according to their author, meaning that the student must have actually had or not had the experience depending upon whether the sentence was affirmative or negative, respectively.

2. The students must use the present perfect and English to write their sentences. No Korean, no other tenses.

3. The students should attempt to think and create sentences about experiences that are unique or special, meaning the sentences should represent experiences that not all of students have had (for example: I have played the recorder is not a good sentence to use because every student in every class plays the recorder in school as a requirement. Instead, I have played the guitar is good, because in one class of 36 perhaps just 5 students have played the guitar).

So, my students began writing and many of their sentences were excellent. I have students who have been to France and ridden elephants and raised pet scorpions (all taken directly from my students' papers and all things I have never done). Some students were less creative, but still, their sentences were grammatically correct and generally not common experiences.

Then I come across SuJin's paper. She is an excellent student--very hardworking and while not the best English speaker, she certainly attempts to use English as much as possible. Her sentences included I have been to Jeju-do (Jeju Island which less than half of each class has been to) and some others but the one that stuck out was "I have talked to a black person."

I was pretty surprised by this sentence (mostly because of all the experiences in her life, this is a memorable one that is still in the forefront of her brain).

Now, having lived in Korea for over a year now, I have grown rather thick-skinned to the ignorant, although rarely ill-intentioned, comments Korean people have regarding black people (or anyone of a minority race). Korea is extremely homogeneous and even as it grows more inclusive of minorities and as other ethnic groups expand within the country's borders, still there seems to be a general misunderstanding of black people and black culture within Korea. Unfortunately, the primary (almost only) source of information regarding black people (be they African American, Caribbean, or African) comes from American movies (namely gangster movies or comedies where black people are largely cast in pigeon-holed roles even today). Korean students largely see black men as gangsters, dangerous men who all rap and have tattoos and kill guns. This is because that is how even most of the American media portrays them. The movies that attempt to change the way Americans think about black people, (see Spike Lee's movies, Boyz in the Hood, Richard Pryor, Tyler Perry, etc) are all but unknown here. There are not prominent black authors. Sure, Beyonce is famous. And everyone now knows Barack Obama. Plus there are celebrities like Heinz Ward who have a Korean parent and a parent of a different racial background. But that doesn't erase the fact that Korean people see Blacks a largely fear-inducing group, regardless or age, creed, gender, religion, or socio-economic status. This perception, I think, is not due to a true base belief that Blacks are inherently a bad, worthless or dirty race. However, when Korea was first opening its doors to immigrants (mind you since the Japanese colonial era and the end of the Korean war, Korea has been extremely closed to almost all races) the American-cultural boom invaded Korea and movies and pop music that contained not such sparkly-clean imaged of black people. And so, without having ever seen a black person not on a television or movie theater screen, opinions and judgments were being formed.

It is unfortunate, but it is true. I have shown my students pictures of me with friends who are black and my students often gasp in amazement at my apparent closeness.

Half of my students are afraid of black people.

Half of my students are entranced by black people (one student once said, I want to be Barack Obama's wife. When I asked why, she said, because he's black. I said, so? She said, black people are cool).

I'm rambling, but it's been an interesting thing to witness, if not first-hand. 

I'll leave you with this. On YouTube, most people posted this as a KFC commercial. It's not a KFC commercial. It's for KyoChon chicken, one of the biggest Korean fried chicken chains. It has ad conracts with Super Junior and is currently located throughout Korea and has locations in LA and New York City.