A Night Out with The HOchieS, Part I: For Your Dietary Benefit

It should have been the perfect time for The HOchieS but instead what we got was some serious shade.

H1 and I ran off to K-Town for some eats and I almost took her for the noodles with black beans that Beetchie introduced me to.  However, having no leeway for a mess up as we were hungry and on a schedule, I decided that we should just go to the regular, safe eatery where we could guarantee some meat.

It turns out, that even your safe bet can be anything but.

After the taro, I had the worst meal I have ever had!

Before the details of that mess though, let us discuss the appetizers.

 The banchan was suspect at best, but since I often eat suspect things, I had no problem save one thing I don't recall.

 I always love that there's so much going on.  

It's all the extra 'stuff; that makes it special.

What's not to love about kimchee?

 Who doesn't love tofu? 

But I can understand if the secret sauce may not be loved.

 

The beef dumplings we ordered were okay on the crispiness and I did not mind the taste so much, but H1 was convinced it was not beef.  I think she was trying to suggest 'smeat' but I'm a smeat lover, so maybe I just cannot tell the difference anymore.

 Or maybe, H1's not a beef connoisseur!

I did not want to outright shock all at the start of this blog post, so let this be a warning for everything else to come for this point on.

The first thing presented was something that to us, was a little dicey.  I'm thinking that it was some sort of barley tea or barley drink served in a glass but when it was brought to us at the start of the meal, we were...confused.

Had it been hot drinking water, we would have thought nothing of it.  I mean, it's odd to serve steaming hot water in a glass but when that 'water' is 'hot' and 'yellow', you might find yourself being a bit scared as to what to think.

"Maybe the glass is hot!", we thought.  But no, it was the liquid.

It was alright but I did not really like the taste.

 Next up came our meals. 

Going to eat Korean at this place is always such a headache for me.  There's always so much to try yet when I get there, there's nothing I really want other than the bbq.  I have yet to partake in that feast as it's an expensive fare and requires lots of people.

Usually I am left with a billion and one soup or rice dishes to try with much anxiety as to what to get.

H1 felt the same and eventually just got the kimchee fried rice.  We had that before and I think X loves it but as H1 said, there was a fishiness to it that she just could not take.

What's not to love about kimchee? 

The fishiness seasoned with it in this particular dish, maybe.

I ended up ordering a bone marrow soup with beef and noodles in it.  Sounds good in theory to me...bone marrow, noodles and beef? That sounds more than good, it sounds like a winner!

Heck, it LOOKS like a winner (even if I do have an aversion to chives).
Also, it's served with rice.  What could possibly go wrong?!

It probably would have been a winner but as H1 pointed out, it may not have seasoned as there was no salt in there.  So it ended up that I ate something pretty similar to water and may just as well have had my barley type tea and called it a night.

You see a boob; I see sad food memories flashing before my eyes.

I could not bear to order any dessert for fear of having it crap on me as well (or maybe I could not risk baring any more boob for H1 to take a picture of) but the monstrosities did not end there.  The Korean restaurant was trying to promote a new product and gave all who dined a free sample of something called "Ice Bean".

Ice Bean came in three flavours and we were both given strawberry, although I really wanted to try the sweet potato.

So what exactly is "Ice Bean"?

 Well it looks like this.

It says that it is (ignore the messy paper!)...

Possible excellent dietary benefit? Huh, well that sounds promising! 

Let's have at it, then!

On second thought, let's not get too crazy and dive right in. 

I've seen that kind of slimey before and it wasn't cute on natto, 

taro or raw squid and I'm not sure if I will benefit from this diet either.

Memorable Quotes of the Evening:

Or 2: Nice boob shot you got of me there, H1.

H1: What?

::Or 2 shows H1 the picture::

H1: I didn't even notice!

Or 2: It's so perfect and round too.

Or 2: Oh man, I hope we don't have any dietary benefits later during the show...

H1: I can't get a good picture of the words on the ice bean!

Or 2: Want me to try?

H1: I'll just take this paper!

::H1 folds it neatly and tucks it away in her bag quickly::

H1: I'll just put this here, and they will never know the difference or suspect that it's gone...

 

Or 2: Are you sure they won't notice?

H1's solution:

Or 2: ...  .... yeah, that's better.

End Note: If anyone was wondering, the Ice Bean did not taste bad.  Texture-wise, it was a bit 'strange' on the intake and no, we had no dietary benefits later on - excellent or otherwise.