Korean Kal-bi Etiquette....

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My S/O and I are fond of Kal-bi. However, our favorite (meaning one of two in entire county!) Korean restaurant never gives us enough Lettuce leaves for all of the meat and assorted Kim-chi and other tidbits (dried baby fish! Yum! [Gag]). So my question is this: is it impolite to ask for additional lettuce leaves? I have never seen anyone else request additional, so I am unsure here. Advice?

― I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Saturday, 25 January 2003 06:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Depends on how Korean they are. We have a restaurant around here that answers the phone in Korean and puts you on hold indefinitely unless you respond in kind. Go ahead and ask. I've never personally had a problem with a lack of lettuce leaves for my banchans (side dishes) but perhaps I'm a little confused as to how you eat your kalbi.

― Millar (Millar), Saturday, 25 January 2003 07:02 (twenty-three years ago)

I eat it the way a Korean co-worker taught me, I think (it was a while ago, so maybe I've just "evolved" the original instructions). Anyway, tear off a chunk of a leaf (not a whole leaf, maybe about 1/4 or so), add on the rice, a slice or two of the beef, some of that really good red paste that I can never recall the name of, maybe a garlic clove and then whatever from the banchans (thanks for the word - it had dropped from my memory) looks good, then roll and shove into mouth - preferably in one bite (that much I remember being told.)

Anyway, I am thinking that maybe that the particular restaurant is just stingy with the lettuce - they also try to do the cooking, which drives me crazy (I'm picky about how I want my beef cooked). I've never had the same difficulties at other Korean restaurants.

― I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Saturday, 25 January 2003 07:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Probably best to bring your own lettuce, so as not to risk offending the waitstaff by asking for more.

― Paul Eater (eater), Saturday, 25 January 2003 18:54 (twenty-three years ago)

of course you can ask for more lettuce!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Sunday, 26 January 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't look at me -- I'm just happy to get the Kal-bi without a side of guilt trip about not going to medical school.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 26 January 2003 17:16 (twenty-three years ago)

two years pass...

felicity otm.. im actually afraid to go to korean restaurants without my parents because the restaurant people can tell im korean, but then i have to explain how i don't speak korean. then they look at me ruefully. so sometimes i say that i was adopted by white people.

so i was doing a search for "korean" to see if there was a korean cinema thread, because i just watched that "brotherhood of war" movie on dvd, and was wondering if there are any korean movies out there that aren't really really melodramatic.

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 27 February 2005 07:59 (twenty-one years ago)

anyhow, go ahead and ask for the extra lettuce. they probably don't like you anyway, so might as well be disliked and at least get your lettuce.

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

in my experience, kal-bi and banchan (panchan?) are provided free of charge... it's like asking for more rice.

phil, there is a movie opening here in a few weeks called Save The Green Planet that I saw the trailer for tonight that looks fantastic (and not melodramatic)... there's also Old Boy and Take Care Of My Cat which had recent threads devoted to them.

also, my friend looking over my shoulder says to check out:
You Were Me (2003)
Failan (Song Sae-hung, 2001)
Conduct Zero (Cho Geun-shik, 2002)
2009 Lost Memories (Lee Si-myong, 2002)

― gygax! (gygax!), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Save The Green Planet is supposedly even funnier and crazier than the Resurrection Of The Little Match Girl, I heard about it from a friend of mine who screened it a while back in Chicago. Top on my list is still Attack The Gas Station. My Sassy Girl wasn't too bad, not as dull as I thought it would be. Jakarta was a neat gangster film even if it didn't make a ton of sense, and 2009 Lost Memories is also pretty entertaining just for the whole "WE WOULD RATHER GO BACK IN TIME TO ENSURE THAT WORLD WAR 2 HAPPENS AND THAT OUR COUNTRY IS DIVIDED IN TWO BY THE COLD WAR THAN REMAIN DOMINATED BY THE JAPANESE FOR AN EXTRA 50 YEARS" aspect. Like whoa you folks gotta grudge for serious.

The Humanist was a pile of shit, as is Shiri, to be honest. I'm trying to remember the name of that film where the North Korean spy tries to steal the gene for the super-pig, that's a pretty entertaining one.

― TOMBOT, Monday, 28 February 2005 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

yes yes, please tell me if you figure out the name of the superpig/north-korean-spy one. that sound hilarious. but thanks for the recommendations. i'll look for them on netflix or something.

have you guys seen that "brotherhood of war" film? it was okay, but god the acting and the writing. every line was like "NO! BROTHER I WON'T LEAVE YOU" "YES! BROTHER YOU MUST GO HOME!" "DIE DIE DIE BASTARD BROTHER SAVE YOURSELF!". but it was still okay until the third act when it got really ridiculous. anyhow, rent it.

― phil-two (phil-two), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

nine years pass...

http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2014/08/what-makes-good-korean-restaurant.html

― 龜, Thursday, 7 August 2014 13:13 (eleven years ago)

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/08/how-korean-cuisine-got-huge-in-america.html

― 龜, Thursday, 7 August 2014 13:32 (eleven years ago)

I need to look around town again to see if a good korean food spot has opened. Last I checked, there wasn't one :(

― mh, Thursday, 7 August 2014 13:44 (eleven years ago)

Iirc you live in a state that begins with an 'I'

You're not gonna find one

― 龜, Thursday, 7 August 2014 13:47 (eleven years ago)

completely possible! there's a passable korean spot in a college town near here, but it's pretty basic. there are a number of korean restaurateurs but I think they all have sushi joints

― mh, Thursday, 7 August 2014 13:54 (eleven years ago)

can't help thinking of these
http://www.cheapaschopsticks.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/500x500/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/a/cabee_bbq.jpg

― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Thursday, 7 August 2014 16:10 (eleven years ago)

lol http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.607995411738134644&pid=1.7

― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Thursday, 7 August 2014 16:10 (eleven years ago)

curious what korean place the blogger went to in colorado-utah-arizona-new mexico. pretty much the only passable food you would be able to get on a road trip like that is burgers / mexican. there are a few korean joints in slc i haven't tried yet, including one a few blocks from my house in a converted former blimpie. this being a provincial red state try-hard city i'm a little wary but maybe i'll eat there tonight. my only qualification for "knowing" korean food is having eaten in koreatown a few times which i guess means i could flaunt my expertise and sophistication on yelp.

― mattresslessness, Thursday, 7 August 2014 17:13 (eleven years ago)

I need to look around town again to see if a good korean food spot has opened. Last I checked, there wasn't one :(

― mh, Thursday, 7 August 2014 14:44 (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Iirc you live in a state that begins with an 'I'

You're not gonna find one

― 龜, Thursday, 7 August 2014 14:47 (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idk where to copy and post this to get chicago ilx posters to become amusingly defensive about their city's cultural worth without making it look like that is my intention

― Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (nakhchivan), Monday, 18 August 2014 17:09 (eleven years ago)

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