that resto

I went back to that kalguksu restaurant today, and this time, I remembered to take some pictures. The place is called Go Jjang. To me, that sounds like "High Best" (고/go = "high"; 짱/jjang = "best"), but what do I know?

resto name: Go Jjang (my boss thinks this might mean "hometown," like 고향/go-hyang)

Here's part of the varied menu:

The left column shows seafood kalguksu, brisket kalguksu, spicy makguksu (buckwheat noodles), octopus bibimbap (gonna have to try that one for sure), flatfish sashimi rice, and king-size mandu (gyoza/dumplings). The right column is more street-food themed: rice ddeokbokgi, rosé ddeokbokgi, bacon cream ddeokbokgi, rabokgi (combination of ddeokbokgi and ramyeon noodles), and cheese rabokgi. But that's not all! Look below:

The left-hand menu shows seafood kalguksu and brisket kalguksu again, followed by the octopus bibimbap, and then a hot-spicy meat/rice dish (probably beef, but maybe pork), flatfish rice bowl, and albap-jeongshik. The right-hand menu is harder to see. The upper-left column shows the various ddeokbokgi/rabokgi items we already covered, plus the king-sized mandu. The upper-right column shows a selection of udong bowls (Jpn. udon, thick noodles in soup). The bottom section of the menu is devoted to fried foods: fried jumbo shrimp, fried sweet potato, fried squid, fried seaweed rolls, and lastly, an assortment of fried items.

My meal today was the 알밥정식/albap-jeongshik. Jeongshik normally refers to a sort of "everything" sampler. Al means "egg," but in this specific context, it's more along the lines of "roe" or "caviar." Bap is, of course, the word for "rice." It came out Japanese-style, which I wasn't expecting from a kalguksu place, but it could be that albap is more of a Japanese thing.

Lower-left corner: albap. Lower right: bowl of simple miso soup. Upper right: a salad with a single piece of chobap (vinegared rice inside a fried-tofu pocket), plus a piece of fried shrimp (dipping sauce is bottom center). Upper left: tiny sides of ggakdugi (diced spicy radish), danmuji (sweet-pickled radish), ginger, and marinated onion bulbs (which I never eat).

At first, the guy told me he couldn't make any rice dishes today, but then he relented and said he'd make it for me, although he called across the way to the Chinese restaurant for some rice to use. Normally, Japanese-style and Chinese-style dishes use different types of rice, but when you're in a pinch, I guess rice is rice. Good meal, all in all. Not bowl-you-over good like yesterday's meal, but still good. I will continue to eat my way through this guy's menu.