12 DAYS - KIMBAP NARA

The literal translation here is "seaweed rice nation." This is Korean fast food. This is the place you get your late night snack, your quick lunch, and your kimbap for the mountain. They sell a little of everything - cheese ramen, kimchi soup (kimchi jjigae), noodles, rice, fried rice with kimchi (kimchi bokeombap), bibimbap (rice and vegetables), curry, eggs and it continues.

A typical menu is posted on the wall: (1,000 KRW is about 1 USD)

Photo by: The Gluten-Free Nomad

I love these shops. Although nothing fancy, they are cheap, fast, delicious and if you make the right choices, relatively healthy. Many are also open 24/7. In the winter I stop in a few times a week to pick up something pipping hot on my way home from work.

You can also eat here alone. In most Korean restaurants you must be accompanied. I've tried to work out the reasoning for this. The primary reason is surely money related. The restaurant uses energy to heat your hot pot or stove. Eating is also very communal. You don't see a lot of people eating or sipping coffee alone. Perhaps it's just most comfortable for everyone if you chose to eat with another.

Here's me in my favorite kimbap shop in my neighborhood. NOM NOM NOM. And between my chopsticks in some tuna kimbap.

Korean food doesn't photograph well. Every shot looks like a terrible blob of rice and weird piles of brownish red food. Fourteen months of attempts, and this is the best kimbap shot.