Overall, the food in Pusan was really good. The service, while friendly, was a lot more slap dash and less ritualised than what I'm used to here in Japan. Korean people speak English with a different intonation to Japanese people. I could understand their English, all right, but just a half a bear later than what is socially acceptable. It made for some awkward exchanges. Just as Japanese people have difficulty distinguishing the English 'l' and 'r', Korean people struggle with 'f' and 'p'. And I can tell you that one of my greatest disappointments with the holiday was that the 'coppee' in Pusan is aboslutely 'awpul'! I think the staff are not taught how to use their expensive coffee machines properly, and no matter where I went, I ended up with a watery mug full of grinds and sediment. But back to what I ate...
It was such fun opening up all those little side dishes and trying to guess what I was eating. It had been entered in the menu as 'Korean bean paste hotpot with vegetables' , but there were definitely some funky and unidentifiable items in there, too. Don't get me wrong - it was delicious. But I had vivid, vivid dreams that night. And then on my morning walks I would often see wild turtles washed up onto the shore like this little guy,
and what with all the statues of them about the place, I'm guessing the area is pretty famous for them,
and well I'm just saying... there may have been more than kimchi and tofu to my first dinner.
Of course I ate lots of Korean dishes during the course of my stay. And this inculded a pretty swanky bibimbap. I'm used to the counter-restaurant style. It was really good but a little too spicy in the end. The overall experience became just one of chillis rather than the individual ingredients. Plus the background music was 'Stairway to Heaven' played using traditional Korean instruments, so I guess that didn't exactly aid digestion.
I branched out a couple of times, too, and had Italian. One of the great joys for me was to rediscover al fresco dining. It's much too humid in Tokyo for outdoor dining right now, but Pusan was dry with a light sea breeze so I could really enjoy the food, the sea air and the view of that massive bridge.
I was also happy to be able to get a photo of the side dish of pickles that Italian restaurants in Korea always seem to serve - I had told someone about this before and they didn't believe me but now I have the proof.
Occasionally I went somewhere more for the atmos than the food itself. The interior of this waterfront bar was attracted me first (my flashless photo doesn't do it justice),
but when I saw that patrons were treated to a cellist who happened to be playing some of my favourite music, I was sold. To be honest, the food was pretentious and overpriced (truffle and rocket pizza???) but it actually tasted pretty good.
When speaking of holiday food, I must say that nothing makes me happier than a buffet breakfast and this was one of the best I've seen. A wide selection of foods from all over the world and so fresh! I think my face pretty much says it - I could have stayed there all day every day and the holiday would have been a success.
When I came back to Tokyo, it was such a shock that first morning. I was bereft. How are you supposed to survive without a smorgasbord of treats prepared and waiting for you and your morning paper. I am so weak that the following morning I headed to the hotel down my road and ponied up for the full buffet just to keep that holiday mood going. I think this may become my weekly treat.
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