Korean Food Disaster

There are these little strip mall type shops and eateries just down the street from where G and I live. We often drive by them and say to each other, "We should walk down here and check these out sometime, walk through all of the different places." So, last night we did just that.

There has been a lot of rain and storms lately, so we actually drove over to the area and got out to walk (umbrella in hand which thankfully we never really needed). Our purpose was to find a place to eat that we had not been to before. There were several shops that were closed either in the evenings all together or specifically on Mondays. Indian food, Mexican food, a diner, etc.

After we had walked around the entire area, our choices for food were Mexican, Japanese, and Korean. We just had Mexican the day before and we eat Japanese a lot, so we chose Korean. Now, neither one of us had ever tried Korean food before, but i figured, it's Asian cuisine, so it's probably a little bit like Chinese food.

The host asked us if we wanted to cook or just sit at a regular table. We informed him that we were clueless as to Korean food know-how and for him to recommend and lead us on our dining experience. He sat us down at a table that had a little grill in the middle of it and a giant silver vent above us. Now, as far as the experience of eating at the Korean restaurant, it was fabulous. We had such a great time together and the food was really good. We ordered sweet ribs, which came raw and had to be cooked on the little grill. It also came with an appetizer, so we got dumplings which were very similar to something I've had at a Chinese restaurant. There were loads of extras also. Kim chi, Seaweed, Cucumbers with seasoning, radish, lettuce, rice, bean sprouts and a spicy paste of some sort. I liked almost everything except the Kim chi and the paste. A few of the things kind of turned G's stomach, but he loved the meat and the rice.

The service was fantastic and the process of cooking the food and trying something new was fun. The aftermath... not so fun. Shortly after we got home, we were both burping up the taste of the food. Specifically the dumplings, I think. The food tasted really good the first time around, but the taste in my mouth every time I burped was awful. We both sucked on Butterscotch to try to hide it, but that didn't help too much. I was hoping that when I got up this morning I would be free from the food, but that was just wishful thinking. My stomach feels terrible. It's all gurgly and upset. I guess I should have expected it what with trying something I've never had before.

I don't want this to deter us from trying new restaurants and different cuisines, but despite the excellent experience in the restaurant, the way I feel this morning is enough to make me never want Korean food again.