Shabu shabu

Can you read this menu? We couldn't either when we got the restaurant. Before we went to the egg hunt we went to Pyongtaek City, about 7 miles south of where we live. We had originally planned to go to a local festival but didn't know exactly where to find it and didn't realize how large Pyongtaek actually was. After being in the car for about an hour and still no signs of the festival, we just found a place to park and walked into this restaurant for lunch. It was a traditional Korean restaurant were you removed your shoes before entering and you sat on the floor. David sat on the floor with us in his booster chair. In the center of the table was a gas burner. We were the only patrons during the entire meal.

Two women ran the restaurant. After a failed attempt to communicate in Korean, one woman pointed at the picture above and we just nodded yes vigorously. We had a choice between spicy or not spicy broth and we picked the later considering David had to eat as well. Soon, a metal wok shaped bowl appeared and was placed on the gas burner. The broth was poured into the burner and allowed to heat up. A plate of lettuce type vegetables, frozen thin slices of raw beef, and at least 4 different types of mushrooms were placed before us. We surmised that we were having some sort of Korean hot pot. Several side dishes of kim chee, spicy jellyfish, and other pickled vegetables were served as well. The food was wonderful. Toward the end of the meal, we had fresh noodles which we cooked in the broth. This is pretty normal since the noodles themselves don't have flavor and by this time we had cooked most of the meat which flavored the broth. But the meal wasn't over yet, when we finished the noodles, she brought a plate of bap (steamed rice) with green onions and seaweed which she fried in the wok with some sesame oil. That was delicious as well.

The restaurant seems to specialize in mushrooms. There was an entire cooler that stored different types of mushrooms and while were there, the restaurant received a delivery of mushrooms. Also, we've noticed that the Koreans love children and don't mind them in restaurants despite the potential noise and mess. It's nice considering David is normally with us when we go out to eat.

Our meal cost 20,000 won. Without knowing it, we ordered the first item on the menu for 2 people. If you look at the third line down in the first column, you can see the price for 20,000 won. The two lines above it are the cost for the same meal but for three or four people. Here's the kicker, the character just before the 35,000 and 28,000 aren't Korean - they are Chinese but don't mean three or four. It took us about 15 minutes and two books to decipher what we ate. Basically, the menu said mushroom shabu shabu and the items in parenthesis say kalguksu (thick handmade noodles in broth) and bokkeumbap (fried rice). Either way we enjoyed our meal.