koreatown of london

i found out that this one area outside of london is their version of koreatown. so i emailed out friends/colleagues to see who wants to take a visit to new malden. three of them decided that they wanted to join me on this korean adventure.

first, we went to jee's restaurant new malden for some lunch. since i was the only korean speaker, i ordered for everyone. we started off with a seafood pancake (hae mul pah jun) for appetizer. then we ordered kimchi chigae (for me), daen jang chigae - miso soup for kitty, dol sot bi bim bap for linda and yook gae jang for bridget. they all loved it! i was actually the only one who was disappointed with my kimchi chigae. however, i enjoyed seeing them so happy.

after lunch, we headed for korea foods supermarket. this was so much bigger than the tiny korean market i found in london a few weeks before. not only did they have korean foods, but they also had chinese, japanese, and thai cuisine.

i was like a kid in a candy store! one of the things i had to buy was a little jar (300g=10.5 oz) of kimchi. i was a bit hesitant to buy it b/c i live with two non-asians. i didn't want to scare them by the kimchi smell, but i gave in and bought the kimchi. for those who are unfamiliar, kimchi has a very distinct strong odor. to the korean, we are all accustomed to this smell that permeates throughout the home especially the refrigerator. but to a foreigner, it could smell like something has been rotten for years.

tonight, i had a bowl of korean ramen with mandoo (dumplings) and dukk (rice cake). but you can't have ramen without kimchi. so i decided it was time to introduce my housemates to the wonderful smell of kimchi. when i opened the jar, i announced to them that it was time for kimchi. they actually weren't offended by the smell at all! so you know what that means? a bigger jar of kimchi for next time.

yeah! i can have kimchi at home here in england.