I Ate Korean

Had to make a quick business trip to Bournemouth with an overnight stop on Monday. I'll not mention that it was a fairly hot day and the car rental company managed to supply me with a vehicle with broken air conditioning.

After checking in at my hotel I decided I'd go for a stroll around the thriving metropolis of Bournemouth - fairly busy for a Monday evening. I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, I'd contemplated the standard seaside fish and chips, but after walking down the Old Christchurch Road and seeing the amazing selection of international cuisine available I thought I'd be more adventurous. I made a mental short-list and top of the list was an interesting-sounding Korean Grill. Quite a small venue and there only appeared to be one table with diners. A board outside was showing a promotional "Five courses for £15" so I wandered in.

I was shown to a table by a very friendly waitress. Explained that I'd not eaten Korean before so she took time to go through the menu and explain what the dishes were. I ordered a beer (Korean of course!) which tasted rather good, reminded me of other eastern beers I've tasted from Thailand and India. I went for the five course option, the starter was grilled cod slices in a kind of batter served with side dishes of bean sprouts and cabbage. The highlight was the main course, thin slices of pork in a marinade which was cooked in front of me on a grill built into the table. Once cooked, this was scooped into a large lettuce leaf, sauce and vegetable added, then wrapped and eaten rather like a burrito. Next came a rice dish with fish eggs a and a bit more salad, served in a hot cast iron bowl. Finally dessert was green tea.

Apart from the rice, I managed to eat all of this with a pair of chopsticks, a first for me too. Excellent food and service, probably one of the best meals I've had in the UK for quite a while!

[click on the picture above if you'd like to see more of the food, or take a look at their web site.]