Food for Thought – Western Food in Korea: The First Wave
by The influx of Western Food in Korea in the early 1990s.
Image by Rob Freiburger via Flickr
Image via Wikipedia
So there I was-the first couple of months I was in Korea-enjoying a steady diet of Korean food with the occasional burger, Chicken Doria (a rice, cheese and chicken casserole) from Coco’s (touted as a California Restaurant-whatever that was suppose to mean because it was from Japan) and breakfast set menu at the Paris Croissant thrown in for good measure.
Health wise, I hadn’t felt better in years. I even lost a few pounds despite working a grueling split shift and not getting any exercise at all. Who knows, if I had stuck to my fish, vegetables, and rice diet when I finally did start to work out when I turned 40 in 1998, I wouldn’t have had to lose so many pounds.
Then one day it happened. A Taco Bell followed by a Wendy’s opened not far from the language institute I taught at in the spring of 1991. An instructor, who had obviously had enough Korean food to last her a lifetime, rushed into school one day waving a menu from Taco Bell. Having what could be best described as a gastronomical epiphany announced to everyone that she would a taco salad for lunch every day until she left Korea.
“Mmm…burritos,” I thought as a few instructors and myself looked at the menu she had tacked up on the bulletin board in the staff room. Could this be true? A Taco Bell in Korea? My legs grew weak. Fast food cravings, which had been dormant for months, began to churn in the lower recesses of my gut. Suddenly, I could have my kimchi and my beef and bean burritos-not at the same time mind you-but if those cravings got the best of my reasoning, well, at least I could do something about it.
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Post CommentMythili Kannan
On October 8, 2009 at 9:41 am
Nice Narration
Darla Cooke
On October 8, 2009 at 9:44 am
Very interesting.
Papa Sparks
On October 8, 2009 at 9:49 am
Thanks so much my friends for your comments!
Christine Ramsay
On October 8, 2009 at 10:09 am
I do like this article. My son in Japan makes me smile when he says he has taken my grandson to McDonalds. He says it is a change from having to eat rice twice a day.
Christine
lindalulu
On October 8, 2009 at 10:36 am
Nice article and glad our food finally made it to Korea!
Melody SJAL
On October 8, 2009 at 11:39 am
Very common in the Philippines nowadays too. Interesting post.
CHAN LEE PENG
On October 8, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I think the world is invaded by western foods- fast foods. Children nowadays prefer eat fast foods than their tradisional foods.
Sourav
On October 8, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Honestly, I love western fast food. And it’s available everywhere! Nice article!
Lady Sunshine
On October 8, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I love fast food…unfortunately, it can kill you. It is sooo bad for you, and even knowing this, I still eat it and love every moment of it. I’m a typical American I guess, lol. Rice is an Asian staple…the comment made by the halmoni made me laugh. Though what Chan said seems to be true…the world is being invaded by western or fast food and developing nasty eating habits at that. Another enjoyable piece.
nobert soloria bermosa
On October 8, 2009 at 6:29 pm
western food had conquered the east…here in the Philippines-almost all fastfood restaurants like mcdo, kenny rogers..etc..offer rice. taco,pizza hut and others don’t
Ruby Hawk
On October 8, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I can’t eat fast food at all, It has so much salt it burns my mouth, since I stopped using salt at home./ and it’s a good thing. I would love the Korean diet of vegetables.
Papa Sparks
On October 8, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Thank you again my faithful readers and friends for all your kind comments on this post. I appreciate them so much.
Guy Hogan
On October 8, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Grandmother was right. As a policy I don’t eat fast food. I haven’t been in a fast food restaurant in years. I like to cook at home. It’s good theraphy just like writing is.
Joe Dorish
On October 8, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Fascinating to read about American fast food joints in Korea. One of the most popular articles all time on Triond which I unfortunately did not write is about the different foods McDonald’s serves in different countries. Has something like 1,000 Likes and 600 Comments and who knows how many views.