Somewhere in Seoul...

I had an awesome food experience last night. Awesome like the first time that I had gelato in Italy or sushi in Japan. What made the experience even better is that this was my first time. I recall eating Korean food on a number of occasions back home, but this was beyond what those restaurants could only hope to attain.

I found the place within 15 minutes of my hotel last night; the name is Pool Hyang Ki. I walked in, replied to a greeting that I didn't understand with 'hello', and took off my shoes. The restaurant was empty, save for the 50+ year old women who were working there. My server pointed to the a page on the menu, and said '[korean words I don't understand] vegetarian [more korean]'. I nodded & smiled in approval, not knowing what was coming next.

Soon enough, she came back with a serving tray of food. 5 to 8 dishes, at least. I started to dig into the food, chopsticks in hand. She came back with a fork - I shook my head no; I don't need those things! Before long, I had 18 dishes of food set in front of me. Good thing that I was sitting at a table for 4 people...

The tastes were amazing, savory soy flavors with the sour & salty flavors of the kim chee. Other dishes were extremely spicy. I was smiling. This is the best food experience that I've had in months. I had a table of food in front of me; I didn't know the names of any dishes, and I didn't recognize many of the ingredients, but all of them were incredible. One of life's moments, where I sit back & smile, happy that I'm alive.