Tell It Once: Merry Christmas!

The last day of school before the holidays was on a Thursday. We did not have to teach any of the classes but the teachers still had to be present. It was just a half day so the teachers wanted to have a Christmas lunch before we separated for the break. We ended up going to the middle of nowhere and ordered a fusion set lunch. I've never been to a Korean restaurant where the food comes out one dish at a time, in small portions. It's similar to Chinese set dinners where you have to order the set before hand and each dish can only feed a set number of people.

It looks like a house, but this is the restaurant.

And I wasn't lying when I said it was in the middle of nowhere =P

DDeunl An Chae

We got 5 orders of the 27 000 won set. =)

Cute little tables

1. 팥죽 (Red bean congee/porridge)

It's traditional to eat this on 동지 (winter solstice) and the red is supposed to protect you from evil. Some people love it but I didn't really like it.

2. Potato-squash salad

3.잡채 (japchae)

4. Smoked salmon salad

5. 보쌈 Pork with pickled radish and greens

6. Shrimp salad

7. Sashimi

8. Two types of 파전 (Korean-style pancakes)

9. Octopus salad

10. Blowfish soup

I'm not even sure if it's actually blowfish..since it's apparently dangerous but it was just really spicy and it just tasted like any other soup

11. 갈비

12. Meat from the "blowfish"

close up

13. Finally a set of eel, soup, rice and veggies

It was delicious and definitely different. It wasn't really Korea, Asian or Western so I guess fusion was the perfect description. If you ever get a chance to try something like this in Korea..please try it!

***

After school was over I had to start getting ready for our "Ugly Sweater and White Elephant Party." I found my ugly sweater last minute at 강남역 (Gangnam station). If you ever want to do some cheap shopping, a lot of stations have like little shops inside the station and you can find a lot of shoes, jackets, clothing, accessories, beauty products, even cell phones and food. My friend, Heather, found this place called "I am Hof" right by 강남 station where they allowed us to order turkey and "rent" out the place to us for a couple of hours.