Kimbop Heaven

I would say we have consumed 3/4 of our meals here at what we call the "cafeteria" but what is properly called Kimbop Heaven. This is a chain in Korea and actually there are a few different chains all of which serve the same things. Everywhere you look you will find one of these places. Kim means laver (dried seaweed) and bop means rice. This is Kimbop and is very popular.

The basic toppings are lavar, rice, pickled radish, cucumber, carrot, ground fish stick thing, and fried egg. There are different types, Justin likes the the tuna version. One roll is 1,000 won so less than a dollar.

“네”, when it’s attached to “a family name + 가(家: house/family)”, means (again) “house” or “family”. And “김” happens to be the word for both “laver” but also the most common family name. So if it weren’t a shop name, 김가네(金家네) means [Kim’s family] or [the Kims].

The “ㅇ가네” expression is not so commonly used these days, but it’s still a clever restaurant name to give people a very familiar and intimate feeling, while being very obvious that they sell as well. (Information gathered from another blog)!

I guess there are two reasons why we eat here. One, the food is super cheap, Justin and I can eat dinner here for about $5.00. Second, it is right by our house.

These women work around the clock. This place is open 7 days a week, 24 hours. It is always the same women every time we go. They are kinda like the neighborhood moms. Kids roll in here shouting out their orders, that is the Korean way and the ladies whip it right up. One thing about Korea is kids are on their own a lot here. You never see 8 year olds out to dinner by themselves back home or taking the city bus alone, but we always see kids out and about without their parents.

Justin always orders the "Jhey-yuk-dop-bop" which is an assortment of veggies in spicy sauce and rice. I usually order some sort of soup, ramen or oh-moo-rice. We have decided you can order anything from their extensive menu and it will taste the same. We have tried numerous things but the general conscience is it tastes the same but is just served in a different form. This meal was $5.50 which included unlimited side dishes (kimchi, soup broth, and a few other changing things).