A Culinary Experience

I knew when I came over here that I would have the opportunity to meet new and interesting people, do new and interesting things, and definitely eat new and interesting things.

This weekend has certainly been the start of the last one.
Friday night kicked off with a trip to a great and energy filled place called Ariana's which was an amazing experience. The evening didn't start out so nice though. Three of us met at the BOQ to head to our destination. We went to the ATM first so we wouldn't start the night out dry. About a thirty minute wait at the taxi stand left us cold and mostly miserable. On a normal day you can get a cab in about 3-5 minutes. Alas we got in the cab and arrived at our destination about an hour after we had intended, only to find that there would be a wait. Another half hour later and we had a table, but not without compromise. The table was for 6 and there were three of us. The host asked us if we would mind sharing the table with a couple of other people. Being that we were mostly new aquaintences it seemed like not a big deal especially since it seemed the only others waiting were natives and so communication would be seperate for the most part. So he called the others to join us and asked if they had a problem. Surprisingly it was a Canadian and a Californian who were in Daegu teaching English. That kind of set the tone for the evening as we had a chance to meet new people and try new things.

The gimmick of the evening is that Ariana's is a club/brew pub/restaurant/hotel/coffee shop... The place we were was the brew pub/club and there was a very popular band from the Phillipines playing that evening. You paid ahead and it was an all you can eat and drink fest with the main focus being the microbrews. The brew was fantastic with one of the better stout's I've had in quite a while. But the buffet is where things got interesting.
There was sushi, sashimi, mussels, Korean favorites, Kim Chee out the wazoo, weird fortune cookie like crackers, raw trout salad, and at the end of the line was a bowl of larvae. Yep that's right larvae, Silk worm larvae to be specific. Sooo being the adventuresome person that I am, I brought a few back to try, and a new stout to wash it down if it didn't work well.
Back to the table with my plat of raw fish, persimmons, and silk worm larvae. With a little thought I crunched down on the first. I actually found it quite appetizing, a corn/earthy flavor with a slight crunch and a slight terryiaki sauce. I ate all of them but didn't have it in me to go for more.
Saturday:
It was time to go to the Pyon'gang Market (I probably spelled that wrong). The market is within walking distance from Walker and Henry. My new friend Adam and I went to discover what the place had to offer. We walked around for a while as I taught him some fundamentals of food perperation and safety and we wached a whole lot of people as they prepared food. It was my goal to find who I would eat from and whom I would stay away. Finally, we settled on a little spot with a nice older lady who was using fresh gloves while prepping the food. She had a small seating area with a heater so we sat down for some grub. I had no idea what we were going to get though. So we just sort of said bring us food and she did. We got a plate of rice sausage and liver, some kim-bap, some dough and pancake in a red sauce, and some soup. It was all good and we ate our fill for two at the high rate of $4.50.
Then we decided to head downtown and check out the scene there. We walked around the upscale market for a while and then made our way to the mall under mainstreet. Adam knew where Krispy Kreme was and they were hot and fresh so we had a doughnut for dessert and then saw an ice cream stand. They had green tea ice cream so we tried a scoop. Neither of us particularly cared for the flavor so he had a small cup of banana (I think) and I had kiwi. About a bite into the sherbet we realized that it wasn't what we expected as it was more like frozen kiwi goo. It was kind of rubbery like they had mixed some rice puree in with the flavor to make it. It was good but the tiny cup I had was all that I wanted.
That evening at Officers Christian Fellowship, I welcomed the home cooked pot roast which was served.